Interview with the Editor of DAMSEL
The Editorial Director of Random House Worlds chats about the publishing industry, working with Netflix, LucasFilm, Marvel, and what she's looking for in submissions from writers. Plus, book recs!
Hello lovelies!
I have such a treat for you today—an interview with Elizabeth Schaefer, my editor for Damsel and also the Editorial Director of Random House Worlds!
If you’ve ever seen books for major pop culture brands like Star Wars, Marvel, Stranger Things, Garfield, Magic: The Gathering, Lore Olympus, and Warcraft, those are all books from Random House Worlds, an arm of Penguin Random House dedicated entirely to licensed book publishing.
I was so lucky to work with Elizabeth and Random House Worlds and Netflix! But before we get to the interview, a quick reminder:
Monday, April 24th, 2023 at 8pm ET / 5pm PT on Instagram
Now, let’s jump into the interview so you can find out more about Damsel and this very cool part of the publishing world you may not have known about.
Evelyn Skye: Working in publishing is a dream job for so many book lovers. How did you become an editor?
Elizabeth Schaefer: “Dream job” is exactly right! Like a lot of future editors, I was a book lover and an English major in college, but was unsure of what to do with those skills. I applied to an internship at a local publisher over the summer to see if maybe editorial was for me. I still have the clearest memory of sitting at my desk and having the thought “I love this” pop into my mind. From that moment, I knew that I wanted a career in publishing. So the second I graduated college, I moved to New York, and applied to every entry-level job posting I could find until someone said yes.
Evelyn Skye: I love the determination of young Elizabeth! So nowadays, what does your “typical” day look like? I know that I sometimes send you several emails a week—sometimes even several per day when we’re in the middle of a big push, like right now when we’re launching Damsel.
You’re also getting emails from your other authors, from your partners at Netflix, Lucas Film, Marvel, etc., plus emails about internal business for Penguin Random House and from agents looking to send new writers your way. How in the world do you manage it all?
Elizabeth Schaefer: Haha! It can be a lot sometimes. I think there’s this romantic idea that editors are “just paid to read books!” Which is….not the case. It’s not uncommon for editors to only be able to work on emails and meetings during the day; they have to do their manuscript reading at night and on weekends. Which is a great way to get burned out and want to quit publishing. Instead, for myself and my team, I encourage editors to block out “editorial only” moments on their calendar where they pause reading emails and Slack DMs, and focus exclusively on a manuscript.
So, in a typical week, I’ll have check-in meetings with each licensor to update them on projects, marketing & publicity meetings to plan out big initiatives for books, Acquisitions meetings for editorial to figure out new projects, and other meetings, meetings, meetings. But Monday morning and Friday afternoon? That’s reserved for Reading Only!
Evelyn Skye: I 100% understand needing to set aside dedicated time for certain kinds of work. I shut off my Wi-fi when I write to get into a “Deep Work” mindset. (ATTN writers: more details in How I Wrote 4 Novels in 365 Days).
Anyway, I want to chat about how your love of books has come together with your love of pop culture. When we hung out in New York last fall, we talked about what a huge fan you are of Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and every other sci-fi and fantasy book series, TV show, and movie that exists.
How does it feel to also be the Editorial Director of a publisher dedicated to bringing those huge fantasy worlds to the pages of readers? This seems like the funnest job ever!
Elizabeth Schaefer: It is wild to think about. I didn’t even know licensed editorial was a job when I was a kid, but I’d like to think that endlessly watching Return of the Jedi on VHS or checking out beat-up comic books from the library was all just prep for my future career.
One of my favorite parts of the job is going to conventions and being able to interact with the folks who read our books. It’s so validating and humbling to see how deeply they care about the work we do. And then you get to connect with them and say “I’m just a geek, too!” It never gets old.
Evelyn Skye: I adore Comic Cons and fan conventions! And I feel so lucky to get to collaborate with Random House Worlds and Netflix on Damsel.
I know a lot of writers would love to get to write something in a pop culture universe like Star Wars, Stranger Things, etc. What advice would you give to writers who want to break into writing these kinds of books?
Elizabeth Schaefer: The first step is to establish yourself and your voice in the original fiction space. Licensed books are almost always written on breakneck schedules, so the people at places like Lucasfilm or Netflix will want a body of work that they can look at to evaluate if your voice fits the tone of the perspective book. They also want to have evidence that you can develop a project on a timeline. That’s the hard part of getting into licensed fiction.
Then the easy part is: let me know what you want to write! I’ve worked with many authors who asked their agent to reach out to me or posted on social media about how much they wanted to write for X property. It’s always exciting when an author you admire turns out to be a huge nerd for one of the properties we publish.
Evelyn Skye: It certainly seems like it would help a lot for the writer to also be a fan!
As an editor, what are the most important things you’re looking for in submissions (or auditions?)
Elizabeth Schaefer: When an author gets on my radar, I’ll ask their agent for samples of their work and a list of their interests. Then I say “Thanks! I might be in touch in a month, or a year, or even longer, depending on what projects come up.” I’m lucky to have more interested, talented authors knocking on my door than I have books to hire for. So, to keep track of prospective writers, we have a big internal database of author samples that we share among our whole team.
After we develop the initial concept for a book, I then go through that database of interested authors and look for a few options to submit to the licensor. It’s all about matching the right voice to the book concept.
All this to say: the best way to become a licensed writer is not to chase a specific style or tone, but instead write your best, most authentic self. If a sample is powerful, we’ll find a book to match that author’s style.
Evelyn Skye: That’s super helpful and I know lots of writers out there appreciate that insight!
Do you have any other advice you’d like to impart for writers who are in the early stages of their careers?
Elizabeth Schaefer: Well, I’ve given the poetic advice above about writing for yourself instead of trend chasing, so I’ll give the practical advice here: Get an agent. Get an agent. Get an agent. It’s so important to have someone advocating for you throughout the publishing process.
Evelyn Skye: I second that! A good agent is an incredibly important part of an author’s team.
Shifting gears a little, what’s a book you’ve read and loved recently?
Elizabeth Schaefer: Since I do so much reading for my day job, in my free time I love to pick up books that are completely different from the ones I work on. So lately, I’ve been reading the Jack West series by Matthew Reilly. It’s an absolutely gonzo action/fantasy/thriller series about an Indiana Jones-style hero who saves the world by solving ancient puzzles. What I love about thrillers is that you can sit down and read for 30 minutes and you’ve somehow read 100 pages. XD
Evelyn Skye: Oh, gosh, I’m going to look up the Jack West series right now. I have a feeling that both me and my husband, Tom, will love it.
Are there any shows or movies you’re currently obsessed with?
Elizabeth Schaefer: Like the rest of the internet, I’m still recovering from the season finale of The Last of Us. In these divided times, I think the one thing we can all agree on is: Pedro Pascal should be in every TV show.
haha, what a great note to end on! Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me today, Elizabeth, and for giving such great advice to all the writers who read this newsletter. I can’t wait to see you again soon—hopefully at another Comic Con!