Larry Rood and his wife Leah started Gryphon House in 1971 with a typewriter, an adding machine, and a few boxes of children's books. They paid $125/month to rent space in a Washington, DC, fourth-floor walk-up office where the roof leaked when it rained. ("There is no such thing as the good old days," Larry says.) They didn't publish, but distributed preschool children's picture books to child care centers and preschools. But in 1979 they published their first two activity books, which they kept in print for fifteen years. A small family company, Gryphon House now publishes 12-15 books a year for parents and early childhood teachers, and has a backlist of over 150 books.

Anna Olswanger: How is Gryphon House different from other publishers of early childhood books?

Larry Rood: We publish books of active, hands-on, creative learning activities which teachers and parents can share with young children. We try to include activities that are easy to do, but which also reflect good pedagogy and the best current information about how children learn and grow. We think it's important that learning experiences respect children's individuality and tap into their natural desire for learning.

Olswanger: Are there disadvantages to being a publisher outside New York?

Rood: I don't think there are any particular disadvantages, aside from the lack of good bagels. You need a good source of free-lance and part-time help, and any fair-sized metropolitan area can provide that. It might be tough to run a publishing company in a truly remote corner of the globe, I suppose, but with the advent of the "Electronic Miracles," location becomes less and less important. We travel to New York twice a year to attend our distributor's sales conference and meet the reps, but that's the only event requiring our bodily presence in New York.

Olswanger: Have you changed as a publisher since you founded Gryphon House?

Rood: You mean besides the gray hair? When we started, I thought we were publishing books. Don't misunderstand, that's the thing we do. But what we really are is a complicated and wonderful pattern of relationships with the people who work at Gryphon House and our authors, customers, distributors and suppliers. This web of interconnectedness is what makes Gryphon House work. And the trick is to maximize the communication between the various people involved, and to make clear to everyone his or her importance and value. Every role is indispensable. You cannot publish without people to read the books, people to write them, people to open the mail, and people to pack the books in boxes. I have a special reverence for book packers. They stand in one spot all day, their back hurts, their feet hurt. They pay attention to each book and make certain that the order ships correctly.

Olswanger: Do you go out looking for new writers?

Rood: We sure do. We constantly search the literature in our field, which means that we read the journals of the major professional associations and the independent journals Early Childhood Today, Early Childhood News,and Report on Preschool Programs. We check the Web and attend workshops at conferences sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, the Association for Childhood Education International, the Southern Early Childhood Association, and the International Reading Association. We see what new things people are talking about at these conferences and what sessions and meetings have the best draw.

Olswanger: What's the best way for a writer to approach you?

Rood: We do not want to receive manuscripts. We prefer query letters, but will accept proposals. Our manuscript guidelines are available by clicking on "About Us" at our Web page www.gryphonhouse.com. Our guidelines will tell you what we want to know about you and your book. The reason we prefer this approach—queries and not manuscripts—is that we want to have some input on how you organize and present your material. We prefer to be involved from the beginning.

Olswanger: What do you look for in a cover letter?

Rood: We want to know that you are knowledgeable in the subject matter. In addition to a resume or curriculum vitae, if you are not well-known, send us a couple of samples of your published writing, say, from a periodical or newsletter. Of course, if you have written previous books, let us know that. Our real question is, "Can we sell this book in quantities beyond our wildest dreams?" Anything you can tell us to help answer this question will be useful.

Olswanger: Do you expect your authors to help with marketing?

Rood: Yes, our authors help by giving workshops at conferences, either national or local, of the organizations I mentioned above. However, some authors set up their own workshops for parents and teachers. Many authors give workshops in bookstores when they travel, and give demonstrations on local radio and television stations. Most of our authors write for periodicals in their field, including the many smaller publications by affiliates of the national organizations.

Olswanger: Is it more important to you that your authors be good writers or good educators in the field?

Rood: We require both. Authors must have an innovative, useful, and easily accessible approach to their subject matter. They must also have material that teachers want.

Olswanger: What's the best way for illustrators to approach you?

Rood: They should send us their promotional pieces and a description of their previously published work. We keep these on file and go through them when we need a new illustrator.

Olswanger: Does the editor-author relationship ever go wrong at Gryphon House?

Rood: We have nifty editor-author relationships; many of our authors are repeat authors and have been writing for us for years. But, having said that, we have occasionally had problems. From our point of view, these come about when an author doesn't understand the publishing process and how a real-life business operates. An editor may be working on several books at once, and a first-time author may expect an immediate response to daily phone calls. Also, it takes time to move from manuscript to printed books in the store, but the new author assumes that once the manuscript is in, the book should emerge immediately. In addition to demands on the editor's time, there are issues around advertising and publicity. If, on publication, the book is not as successful as the first-time author envisioned, he or she feels it's the publisher's fault. All of this is why one successful, mid-size trade publisher I know refuses to publish first-time authors.

Olswanger: What's the editor's responsibility in the author-editor relationship?

Rood: It's important for editors to assure authors that the manuscript they have sweated blood over is in good hands. Publishing, if done well, is a personal process. This mostly has to do with the bond the editor establishes with the author. I was recently in a roomful of editors from small publishing houses and they all agreed that the act of submitting a manuscript contains within it an element of vulnerability. A good editor recognizes this, and treats the author-editor relationship as a human relationship.

Olswanger: What do you want to leave as your legacy in the publishing world?

Rood: Years ago I was in a workshop lead by the publisher David Godine. I will never forget what he said: "Fifty years from now, no one will remember whether you were profitable or ran a good business. You will be known by the books you publish." I think that's the legacy most serious independent publishers want to leave. It's certainly mine.

Text copyright © 1999 and 2003 Anna Olswanger and Larry Rood. Cover of The GIANT Encyclopedia of Art & Craft Activities, designed by Michael Freeman, reproduced by permission of Gryphon House. Visit Harold Underdown's The Purple Crayon for other interviews by Anna Olswanger.