Tony gave me my first start in the business, and I will always remember him for that. I had just written my first short story titled, "Faye Believes," and was lost at what to do next. I had no idea I could be a writer, let alone any clue on how to get my story in print. I went to Google, and typed in ZOMBIE SHORT STORY SUBMISSIONS. His company, Living Dead Press, was the first to pop up. I sent him the story, and to my surprise I received a phone call from him the next day.
He loved it. Raved about it. Said I was the next big thing; I had real talent; etc. The person who had never written a story before was told he had a home with him forever. Real mind-blowing and overwhelming for a newbie author such as myself. I was flattered, I had tears in my eyes, I was a writer! A published one!
I read his contract. No money...hmmmm...but my story in print! Yes! Yes! I signed the dotted line and off we went. There was no open ended editing conversation, but I just assumed that was how its done. I'll still remember the feeling when I got that book in print. It was breath-taking. So I wrote more, and only sent them to him. His tag line had always been "some publishers take months to print books, I make them fast." I thought I was building my resume. "Look at me, Horror community! I've been published in a dozen books!"
The problem was, no one cared. No one read them. And after reading the books (my contributor copy), I realized the majority of stories weren't very good. The editing was poor, and more than one of Mr. Giangregorio's stories would appear in his own anthology. "It was his press," he said, and true, it was. He makes the rules and we choose to follow. But a young author doesn't know the rules. They don't know they are giving away their story for free and it will be read by no one!
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This is the first book I appeared in from Living Dead Press
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Time marched on, I wrote more and gave it all to him. He was my friend, my buddy. We spoke on the phone often. He told me about his past problems, how people were out to get him, how it was everyone's fault that his name was ruined in the writing community. I believed him. He was so convincing, and I wanted so bad to be "The Man" for this press. I was the golden boy, and I loved it. Of course, not all phone conversations were good. He would take shots at other authors who I considered friends (I never agreed with him). He would also take shots at me because he would start to feel threatened, knowing I was going to leave him at some point and if I could "take him with me."
I finished my novel, Hollow Point. It is a zombie novel, and a damn fine one at that. It is entertaining, there is a slight twist to it, likable characters, and plenty of action and gore. It is a zombie novel. Period. I submitted it to a few companies, one of them being the newly formed Open Casket Press. I was thrilled to hear about the opening of OCP. It was a new start for Tony. A way for him to put aside the demons that followed and plagued him constantly with LDP. I told him on the phone how exited I was. This would be a chance to form a company that focuses on quality, not quantity. Tony didn't see it like that. It would be the same company, just a different name. My heart sank.
OCP accepted Hollow Point in a day. I received emails from other companies who wanted the book as well, but the contract had been signed. It was a mistake I rushed into because I didn't know better. Ignorance isn't an excuse, but an inexperienced writer relies on people who are supposed to have their back. This is what I did. The royalty rates were very low. The contract was for five (5) years. Hollow Point was the debut novel for OCP.
I put aside my negative feelings and got excited again. I was a published author of a novel! I told everyone, and the congratulations flowed in. Tony edited my book. I never received galley copies of his edits, but I was allowed to read his edits over (I was the proofreader of my own novel). He did this because I was one of his star authors. He'd never do this for most of the people who write for him. Once again, I was special. The entire editing process took maybe two weeks (if that). Luckily, I had a friend do the cover art for the book. Tony is very cheap when it comes to art (he readily admits its the Italian in him) and he will not pay for art. If he does, it won't be much. He wanted to originally go with this awful looking zombie woman for the cover (which had nothing to do with the story). Fortunately, he allowed me to seek art on my own. I was also encouraged to add to my novel. He wanted more gore, more brains, more sex, more everything. I refused and he was dissapointed. This was MY story told the way I wanted to tell it. I wasn't making changes because he felt my characters should smash a bunch of zombies for no reason.
My book came out and I received my author copy. It was littered with grammatical errors, spelling errors, and there were sentences added to the book that weren't in the master copy (I checked). It was depressing, and instead of being happy, I was embarrassed. But I continued on with him. My confidence was shot and I was at a low point. I went on to "edit" an anthology for him called Bigfoot Tales. I love this anthology. The stories are good and I met a lot of great people while putting it together. But it isn't my work. I didn't edit it. Tony made sure to edit everything for me. I had original art for the book (cover and inside). This book was something special, but it sadly will never be read. I was paid $50 to do this book, and I worked my ass off collecting and reading stories. Toward the end, when it was obvious what was going on, I checked out. It wasn't right, but I was at the end of my rope.
I was done after this. Working directly with him was stressful and there was just no point. No one read the books. I received no feedback for my work. No one knew me even though I was the author of multiple short stories and a novel. It sucked and I needed a break. I needed to prove myself all over again, and that is what I set out to do.
Do not fret for me (haha). My novellette "The Glass Coffin" was a hit on Kindle. I am the proud editor of Horror for Good: A Charity Anthology, and the owner of Nightscape Press. I am working on two novels currently, and am preparing a novella for submissions soon. I am well-known and have made a ton of friends in the horror community. I have pulled myself out the muck that is the vanity press.
In closing, hear me out. I do not believe Anthony Giangregorio is an evil man. He is a man who simply lost his way. He was an author once. He dreamed like we all did. But something happened, and it jaded him forever. He ruined his name early on, and instead of working to get out of the hole he dug, he just dug deeper. He started his publishing companies with good intentions, but sadly they went down in a hurry. To try and understand him is pointless, because one cannot. He truly believes he is giving brand new authors a chance to be published, and he is, but there is also plenty of lying and deceit in the way he does it.
I spoke with him yesterday on the phone for a hour. He called me and apologized to me for everything that was happening. He wouldn't free me of the contract for my novel (I asked him), but he was sorry I was embarrassed to have my novel with him. He shouldn't be apologizing to me. He has wronged others far worse than he ever wronged me. Though he was defiant as usual, there was a tone to his voice. A worried, nervous tone. He was a man hunted, and he knew it. One cannot simply feel a tinge of remorse for a person in this state. It is only being human. He deserves all he gets, but its still sad it got to this point.
Will he recover from this? Who knows. There have been several times his name has been splashed across the internet, but not like this. This is a movement. This went viral. Everyone knows and all have united to stop him and all publishers they view as taking advantage of novice writers.
So to the new author, take the time and research who you submit to. Ask other authors questions. Do not get swayed by the idea of being a published author. It can be great, but it can also be your worst nightmare.
