"Welcome to Undead Press, we are a zombie/ horror publisher, as well as apocalyptic fiction." Or as it should have been edited to say... Welcome to Undead Press. We are a horror publisher specializing in zombies and apocalyptic fiction. Except they can't edit. No wait, they can. Or at least they think they can. And they do, to others, recklessly and without notification or morals. Oh but I've gotten ahead of myself... let's back the snark up just a touch. Undead Press's welcome message should be enough to scare a writer away. Unfortunately, when we're young and new to this, we get excited. We don't like to say no, or walk away, and cannot fathom ignoring any opportunity we see. So we ignore our gut instincts. We pretend not to see red flags. We see other writers being published here or there, and think nothing of giving away our sweat, blood and tears. Eventually we learn not to do that. New writers, however, have to learn the rules---sometimes the hard way. It's a passage of youth, so to speak. But that does not give the publishers a right to abuse their innocence. Of course, a real publisher wouldn't do that. This blog actually has a dual purpose. A. Tell the new writers a few rules and help their learning curve. B. Call out the publisher that caused this blog in the first place. Let's start with B... Undead Press. Created and run by hack writer Anthony Giangregorio. Note he's a "writer" as well as a publisher. And considering his skills, I feel it's safe to put him in that category of "publisher" that is really just a bad writer no one wants to publish, so they publish themselves under this publishing house or that (sometimes, like in Tony's case, under several entities---occasionally at the same time, most of the time one after another failed attempt to hide the truth). They're not really interested in being a publisher or the responsibilities that comes with that. They're just interested in seeing their name on books. Which is why it's so odd. I mean really... They do what they do out of desperation, so isn't it cannibalism of some sort to take advantage of those who are just as desperate to see their names on the page? Anthony Giangregorio of Undead Press is a cannibal of unbelievable proportions... Mandy De Geit was his latest meal. I say we make him regurgitate. Mandy's story is in full on facebook and her blog. Read them. The short version is that Tony "edited" her story. He didn't fix grammar and spelling or help her tweak her sentence structure. Oh no. Tony turned a non-gendered character into a boy, named the best friend, created a memory for the main character about animal abuse, and added a suggestion of rape. He didn't fix the its and it's, or their and there. He changed the essence of the story. He changed the feel. He took away the suspense. He rewrote her words into something that wasn't hers. And to make it worse, he added new issues. His own inability to edit (or hire a competent editor) is apparent right from the title of her story. It should be She Makes Me Smile, as she put on both the contract and the submitted file. His version---because it's got a professional editor and everything---is She Make's Me Smile. Go ahead. Take a minute. Try to make that work in your head. Bob's eight-year-old couldn't when we asked him. When she reacted by expressing her disbelief, he turned into a complete doucherocket. No, doucherocket is way too nice for him, and completely mean to doucherockets worldwide. What he did was a deplorable transgression of the trust a writer puts into a publisher. How he reacted only proved just how low on the food chain he lives. I've met pond scum with more morals...and I know some pretty horrible pond scum. He's so bad, he's got a blog dedicated to his suckiness. Oh, but it doesn't stop there. No no. Her blog and facebook page have both exploded---with even Neil Gaiman piping in. (Read. Jump in. Stand up for your rights as a writer.) But the explosion actually started when I told her to stand up, be vocal, and we hit twitter with it. And everyone started coming out of the woodwork. Alyn Day (aka @Z0mbiegrl) had a very similar experience. And with a little nudging, she's got a blog and facebook page explosion of her own. Check them out. Several people on twitter spoke up. Mandy's blog and facebook are full of people with similar situations. It goes on and on... Read the atrocities. Comment. And then go share the love/hate relationship with Undead Press. Leave a message on their facebook, twitter them, feedback on their website, however you'd like to take up arms and join the fight. Because that's what this is, a fight. If we let him get away with this, he'll do it again. And again and again. If you write, make a noise. If you read, make a noise. And for the love of all that is holy, if it happened to you, tell your story and spread the link. Why? Because it's not just a fight. It's what's right. And Tony-boy needs to do more than just tell her the story is now NON-exclusive. He needs to give back her FULL rights, void the contract, buy back the copies she bought for her family and friends (since the story in them isn't hers anymore), and he needs to remove her from that TOC completely. This isn't a representation of her work, and as a fledgling writer, she cannot afford to have people thinking this is her voice, her style or her story. He's a fly-by-night hack. He's probably nothing but a POD (can't confirm that, if you can, tell us). He can change that manuscript and remove her... if he's not POD, too bad. He needs to remove her at whatever cost. Regurgitate his latest victim. Like a bad dog that's eating something it shouldn't, I say we continue to hit him over the head with a newspaper until he spits it out. Now then, that other part: tips for new writers to avoid things like this... I think that's going to be longer than I anticipated and will take the steam from this one, so let's come back to that later. For now, just remember: any publisher webpage with blatant grammatical issues should be avoided at all costs! And Tony G, if you're listening, this isn't going to just go away. Not until you do the right thing and run off with your tail between your legs. UPDATES: 1. For any that may have misunderstood me wondering if Tony uses POD for his publications, it was not meant as a slur against POD publishers, but rather pointing out how easily he could remove her from the TOC before any more are printed. Addressed here. 2. New links to check out:

• Interview with Mandy De Geit
• Interview with Vincent Bilof (the editor for the anthology in question)
• Podcast of Robert Swartwood & JF Gonzalez discussing the Undead Press fiasco and other things
• Nick Mamatas shares Tony's possible* threat toward Alyn.
• And if you haven't been there since this started, you may want to revisit Mandy's blog, as she now has over 400 comments---some supporting, some sharing similar experiences.

3. And finally... while I'm glad that you're confiding in me through email and facebook your horror stories of Tony G, please, please, please---for the love of all that is holy---post them online somewhere. Share them. Stand up for yourself. Help others realize how deep this issue goes with Tony so when he reincarnates himself (again) with a new publishing name, people are warned. Post them here, on Mandy's, or better yet... your own facebook, blog, whatever, and then post links to it here and on Mandy's. Help us use social networking the way Satan intended...