Abby Zidle is the Editor-in-Chief of XOXO After Dark [1] and a senior editor at Gallery Books, a division of Simon & Schuster. She edits a variety of commercial fiction and nonfiction, but her first love will always be romance. Find out what she had to say about her job editing romance novels in this interview.

POPSUGAR: What does a romance book editor do on an average day?
Abby Zidle: Funnily enough, the thing I do the least during an average day is edit! Most of my editing is done nights and weekends; during the day, I'm working on all the other elements that go into making a book publishable. An average day might see me meeting with my publisher and art director to discuss what we want on a book's cover; a conference call with an author and our marketing and publicity experts to plan how we'll promote his upcoming book; receiving new submissions from literary agents; and always email, email, email!

PS: Do you read romance books off hours?
AZ: Absolutely! I don't have as much time to read for pleasure as I used to, but I've been enjoying romance novels since I was 13 years old, and I don't plan to stop now. You don't get into publishing unless you love reading, and I'm always getting new book recs from fellow editors and authors. Often, I like to read romances that my fellow editors have worked on — so I might put down the Laura Griffin novel I've been editing and pick up a Kresley Cole paranormal romance or a saucy Christina Lauren contemporary.

PS: What's your favorite romance novel right now?
AZ: That's like asking me which of my children I love this week! (Good thing I don't have any actual children.) I'm in between books at the moment, but looking forward to starting Suzanne Enoch's Some Like It Scot [2] on my next free weekend. Other favorite writers (besides the ones I publish!) include Susan Mallery, Eloisa James, and Kristan Higgins — and I must give a shoutout to my all-time favorite romance, Amanda Quick's Ravished [3].

PS: What makes a book really sexy?
AZ: It's not the sex itself (though don't get me wrong, that part's good too), it's the sexual tension between hero and heroine. When you can feel how desperately the couple wants to be together, when it's a physical ache, that's the sign of a great romance writer. And for me, the sexiest thing of all is watching a hero do something that proves he knows and understands the heroine better than anyone else in her life. When the man you love really sees you, what could be better?

PS: What makes a book cheesy instead of romantic?
AZ: Bad dialogue! Anything that makes you think, "No real person would ever say/do/think that." Characters who speak in the lame cliches that people often (and wrongly!) assign to romance novels — these days, there are relatively few heaving bosoms to avoid.

PS: What's the craziest book premise or excerpt you've ever read?
AZ: Well, some pretty crazy premises have made amazing books; think of Flowers in the Attic [4], where twins are locked in the attic their whole lives until they fall in love, or Outlander [5], where a WWII nurse travels back in time and falls in love with a sexy young Scotsman. Craziest premise that didn't get published (as far as I know)? Let's just say it involved a talking whale.

PS: What's your favorite part of your job?
AZ: Working closely with authors on their manuscripts. Even though people grumble that "editors don't edit anymore," all the editors I know do! I love nothing better than delivering pages of notes to an author about how to revise her book, and having that author take your direction and run with it. When your conversation starts, "What if they had a fight in chapter 7?" and then the author replies, "Oh! Then he wouldn't be at her house in chapter 10, which means that she doesn't know about the secret in the office, which means . . ." it's incredibly satisfying — because I get to watch an artist doing what she does best.

PS: If you weren't doing this, what job do you wish you had?
AZ: Maybe yours! Since getting involved with XOXO After Dark, I've become fascinated with the new ways we create, curate, and deliver content. I love the opportunity to have a foot in "Old Media" and in the new millennium. But on the flip side, if I wasn't working with words, I'd probably like to run a riding stable, since I'm a horse nut.

PS: What's one piece of advice you'd give to aspiring editors/writers?
AZ: Read. Read some more. Write. Then read even more. I think editors and authors both need patience, perseverance, and confidence.

PS: What "sexy" trend do you think is next on the literary horizon?
AZ: The popularity of very sexy self-published titles has really pushed the envelope, so we're in kind of an "anything goes" era! I think we're going to see more exploration of sexual subgenres, far beyond the post-Fifty Shades BDSM explosion. And on the flip side, contemporary romance with small-town settings are having a resurgence — but the men and women in those small towns are getting up to some very sophisticated sex!

And check out Abby's interview with me on XOXO After Dark [6]!