15 Years of Angels on Earth: How the Magazine is Put Together

[MUSIC PLAYING] So my job these days is Editor-In-Chief of Angels On Earth, and we just finished putting together an issue. That’s the first step, we find stories, which we do every day, but especially when we’re ready to put together a new issue. And we look for a variety of stories, different kinds of stories. Some involving children, some involving true miracles, some involving just everyday occurrences. Things that can happen to anybody. Part of what makes this job exciting is that, you know, unlike most other magazines, all of our content comes from readers. So with the exception of, like, in our November-December issue, it’s obviously going to be about Christmas. We don’t have this sort of set schedule, where it’s like this person writes these stories for us, and this person writes these stories, and we always do our, you know, fashion issue in June. We don’t have anything like that. So every month we take all the stories we have, we read all of them, and then we sort of pick what works best for the magazine, to give it sort of, like, you know, a spectrum of kind of balance and different kinds of stories. But because all of those stories come from readers, the job is sort of incredibly open and exciting in that way. Because you know, sometimes unbelievable stories come in every month. Sometimes, like, a particularly compelling or sad story comes in, and we really don’t– we’re not tied down to a lot of the restrictions that other magazines have. And it creates this sort of open idea of, you know, what’s going to happen today? Like, what kind of story is going to come in today? What kind of issue is this issue going to shape up to be? And so there’s something very exciting and unpredictable about this magazine, I think, in that regard. What’s not to love? You know, I mean, you come in, you’re talking to all different people, all of these stories that are all so different. And you know, everyone is so happy to tell their story. And they’re usually telling it, you know, with the best of intentions. And it’s, you know, I mean, the stories are fascinating. And they’re, you know, sometimes I’ll be editing a story, and I’ll totally be crying because they’re great stories. Or you know, they’re sometimes really funny. I love the stories. I love to see what’s going on in peoples’ lives. And as they’re learning about God’s plan for them, and they’re learning different– working through different issues, or deciding which path to take on different crossroads, it really helps me in my own life. And I feel like I’m learning and growing too. And it’s a very special, unique magazine, in that we’re allowed to do something very creative. But we’re also, you know, helping people, or getting that really human interaction with people. And seeing them kind of make it through either celebrating great times, or making it through tough times, and making it to the other side. And then, you know, as an editor, I get to help shape the story. And say, you know, I think this is what this story is saying to me. And you know, is this how it felt to you? And also, I do have to say, it’s a great job to have just to tell people about. Because you know, when people are like, oh, what do you do? There’s something special in being able to say, you know, I work at a magazine that’s for people who’ve had firsthand encounters with angels. We assign artists to illustrate most of those stories, because we find that the imagination that an artist can bring to a story is really– its complements the words on the page. So most magazines rely heavily on photography, but because we deal with angels, it’s a different story. We have to rely on illustrators to present the story. And some of the illustrators I’ve worked with have been amazing. The thing that I like most about “Angels On Earth,” actually there’s three things that I appreciate. And those three things keep me coming to “Angels On Earth” every morning, happy to take on another task. Happy to take on another illustration assignment, and another spread to design. Those three things, I think, that keep me coming back are the people I work with. I love each and every one of them. And the second thing would have to be the illustrations. I love working with illustrators, and I love designing the pages after I get the illustration back. And the third thing, I think, would have to be you, the readers. I love reading your stories. I love reading about your lives and the experiences that you’ve had with angels. And you know, it really does enrich my life. We have a big wall where we post every layout and sort of spread out a magazine, spread by spread on a wall, so that we can have a big overview. And again, making sure that there is a variety of stories, that the titles are all different. That different things appeal to different kinds of people. That we have a lot of photography, good photography. That we have illustrations that are different, that have different colors in them. So it’s really a visual magazine, every much as a story magazine. Because the illustrations do tell a story as well. I’ve always said that “Angels On Earth,” the magazine, is sort of an angel itself. Because what it does, is share these great messages, these great stories that people have. And their stories that they tell their friends and family members, or neighbor over the back fence, but there is a whole world out there who wants to hear those stories. And because of “Angels On Earth” magazine, more people get to hear those wonderful stories. And I think it’s a real community that we have here. [MUSIC PLAYING]