INTERVIEW WITH MY PUBLISHER, LYNDA BURCH OF GUARDIAN ANGEL PUBLISHING

I love learning as much as I can about the publishing world. After perusing Guardian Angel’s website I knew right away I wanted to submit my manuscript for consideration. What caught my attention was the company’s mission statement:

“Welcome to Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. - where our publishing goals are to lovingly create fun, affordable and educational eBook computer & print book experiences for preschoolers and primary age children. And to embed positive, loving and worthwhile meaning into these books.”

As a teacher and parent of three children, I believe it is our responsibility to provide children with well written and wholesome books. To that end, I am proud to be part of the Guardian Angel Publishing Family, and it is with great pleasure I introduce Lynda Burch, founder and owner of Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc.

Thank you Lynda for taking time out of your busy schedule to do this interview.

How did you get started in the publishing industry?
I saw a need for children's ebooks. When I started writing musical eBooks to be played on the computer, I got wonderful feedback from big publishers but they didn't know what to do with them. So I started Guardian Angel as an eBook publisher and opened to submissions, but within about a year we expanded our lines of books and we started going to print, too.

In regards, to manuscript submission, what makes a manuscript appealing to a publisher?

Clean, well written mss - which means properly punctuated, setup in a proper paragraph form and stories that are suitable for the GAP market. You’d be surprised at how many sloppy, poorly written, and punctuated manuscripts we see. And I can’t begin to tell you how many are inappropriate for our market of kids 0-12. People don’t even research our website to see what we are looking for.

How do you choose which illustrator to put with an author?

Often when I read a new story the visuals that pop in my head automatically point me toward certain artists. So after feeling out the author for what style they are thinking I will suggest the artist for that style. The authors get some input.

With your knowledge of the publishing world, what do you think aspiring authors should do if they want to make a living as a writer?

I think that today there are probably too many authors to make a living writing. But a true author will write and write and write and hone their skills and be recognized for their storytelling efforts.







How has the business changed since you first started a career in it?

 Oh it has changed just like I predicted it would. Ebooks are here to stay and will assume its role as a major player in both education and personal reading — just look at the Kindle and ebook readers for all the electronic devices. That market will only grow.

What are your thoughts on e-publishing versus traditional publishing?

I think that as an independent small publisher I recognized the importance of ebooks long before the traditional publishers and if those traditional “big boys” don’t jump on the ebook bandwagon they will fall by the wayside.

Where is GAP headed? Where do you see the company in five years?

I want to see Guardian Angel’s artists and authors recognized for the quality work they consistently produce. That is already happening as more and more are winning awards and getting on bestseller lists at Fictionwise and Amazon. I want us to be increasing our production level to over 100 books per year instead of over 50. And I would like to get a grant to encourage our artists and authors to get into more schools and influence our youth to be better readers and accomplish more in their educational endeavors.

Visit Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. to view and learn about their children’s books

Article first published as Interview with Lynda Burch, Publisher of Guardian Angel Publishing on Blogcritics.