Bantam/Dell

1. Shauna Summers represented the editors at this spotlight session. She recently returned from a two-year hiatus but is back as a senior editor.
2. They are looking to acquire new authors.
3. No slots for romance—it all depends on the book.
4. They enjoy historicals, romantic suspense, and paranormals.
5. Wide range of sensuality.
6. Will accept query letters from unagented writers.
7. “Less is more”—they don’t need a long synopsis.
8. If submitting chick-lit, it needs to be fresh/original, and great in terms of quality.
9. This is two books combined together for a competitive price.
10. They publish in all formats (hardback, paperback originals, etc.)

St. Martin’s Press (I came in late to this session)

1. Monique Patterson enjoys African American romance, commercial fiction, or just great stories. She likes “world building.” You may call her to check on a partial after three months.
2. Kim Cardascia (pronounced car-day-sha)—She wants you to make her care about the characters. She enjoys women’s fiction, chick lit, anthologies, all types of romance. She doesn’t like western historicals, however.
3. Jennifer Enderlin—loves westerns (in contrast to Kim). She wants intense emotion in a story.
4. Unagented authors may send a query. Response time is usually one month.
5. Word count is 90,000-110,000 words.