An Interview with Joe Giordano
Q1: Can you give us some background on your career as a writer? How you got started, how long you’ve been at it, a bit about your publishing history?
A1: One of the positions I held before I became a writer, was to run a business in Greece, Turkey, the Middle East, and North Africa out of Athens. I developed a deep sense of history and the desire to write an historical fiction about the Ancient Greek-Persian Wars. Thirteen years ago, I tackled the task. My prose was terrible, I needed to learn how to write. I attended classes at the University of Texas and began writing short stories. I also attended Write-By-Night workshops in Austin, TX to improve my craft. Years later, after a landfill’s worth of rejections, my work started to be accepted by small, online magazines. Eventually, I developed enough confidence to write another novel, Birds of Passage, An Italian Immigrant Coming of Age Story, published by Harvard Square Editions in October 2015. I enjoy the process of writing. In addition, my experience doing readings and with book clubs was so enjoyable that I felt encouraged to write a second novel, Appointment with ISIL, An Anthony Provati Thriller, which Harvard Square Editions released on June 15, 2017. I continue to write short stories and have had more than one-hundred published in such magazines as The Monarch Review, The Saturday Evening Post, decomP, The Summerset Review, and Shenandoah.
Q2: So, tell us about Anthony Provati. The subtitle indicates that this is the first in a series. Has Anthony appeared as a character in some of your short fiction, or even in your first novel, or is this his debut?
A2: Anthony debuts in Appointment with ISIL. He’s in his thirties, and grew up in Brooklyn. He suffered an abusive father, but his mother channeled him to love art, learn to sail, and play piano. Primo Magazine’s review of Appointment with ISIL, called Anthony a flawed yet likeable character. His attraction to Sophia, girlfriend of Russian mob boss, Gorgon Malakhov clouded his judgment. That conflict catalyzed a chase across the Mediterranean and a life-threatening confrontation with the Islamic State in the Levant.
Q3: Is Anthony an amalgam of characters you’ve drawn in your short fiction, or is he a totally new creation?
A3: Anthony’s new, although I’ve named a few of my short story, Italian protagonists “Anthony.” They’re all different. For example, I wrote a series of coming of age pieces recalling a 1950s, early 1960s Brooklyn neighborhood. That Anthony has loving parents. About twenty percent of my short stories have an Italian protagonist, so part of my author “brand” is Italian. I’m the son and grandson of Italian immigrants. The famed poet, Jorge Luis Borges asked, “What will the world lose when I die?” When my generation passes, the first-hand connection to the turn-of-the-twentieth-century Italian immigrants will be lost, their culture, their thinking, their experiences. These fictional, “old neighborhood” stories seek to preserve some of this heritage as did my novel, Birds of Passage, An Italian Immigrant Coming of Age Story. In Manhattan’s Little Italy, on Mulberry Street, the sacred flame is maintained by Dr. Scelsa and The Italian American Museum. The Manhattan launch for Appointment with ISIL will be hosted by the Museum on Friday, July 7th.
Q4: For our aspiring writers, can you talk a bit about your publication process? Do you have an agent, how did you find publishers for your two books, what was the editorial process like, that kind of thing?
A4: Landing a publisher was more difficult than writing a novel. Drafting Birds of Passage, An Italian Immigrant Coming of Age Story started in October 2013. Following a professional critique and multiple rewrites, I submitted the manuscript to agents and independent publishers. Major publishers can only be approached through agents. Kirkus Reviews called Birds of Passage, a “riveting debut novel” that was “a refreshing rethink of the archetypal mafia novel.” The agency that represented Mario Puzo, one of many literary representatives I approached, said that anything in the genre without Puzo or Corleone attached was a tough sell. Agents will read a chapter or two before rejecting or requesting the manuscript. Writers must compose an opening section that sings on the page. Invest in professional editing. You’ll only get one shot to impress. In January 2015, Harvard Square Editions expressed interest but requested another edit and rewrite. They accepted the novel in April 2015 for release in October 2015, which allowed time for pre-publication book reviews.
Before submitting Appointment with ISIL, An Anthony Provati Thriller to Harvard Square Editions, I approached a slew of literary agents. Half never responded. HSE accepted Appointment with ISIL in October 2016. Release of the novel in June 2017 allowed a period for pre-publication book reviews. Kirkus Reviews featured Appointment with ISIL in their January 2017 newsletter calling the novel “a roller-coaster ride to the finish, this book confirms Giordano as a writer to eagerly watch.” While many writers pursue the self-publish route, I preferred to run the independent publishing gauntlet to confirm the quality of my work and for the prestige of being published.
Q5: So today (June 15, 2017) is the pub date for Appointment with ISIL. Can you talk about what happens on a pub date, and what you as a writer go through, both logistically and emotionally?
A5: Whether a short story or a novel, acceptance is the biggest thrill followed closely by publication. Today, Harvard Square Editions and I blasted out the news through my blog and social media. I shared the Kirkus Review. Selling sites don’t permit the posting of customer reviews until the book is for sale, so I sent the Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Smashwords, and Apple links to pre-publication readers and asked them to post. I contacted bloggers who’ve promised reviews or to publicize the release on their sites.
Q6: So now that the novel is out, what’s next? I know you have a book tour going. Have you started on your next writing project? Are you able to get some good work done while out on the road?
A6: The Appointment with ISIL book launch kicked off with a virtual tour. If your readers aren’t familiar with the concept, I wasn’t either before Birds of Passage was published. Every day, Appointment with ISIL will be featured by one or more book bloggers on their site. The blogger may publish their book review, an author interview, or the author might submit a guest blog post. This tour was my second opportunity to work with Laura Fabiani of Italy Book Tours and iRead Book Tours. She’s professional, efficient, and effective. Virtual tours are a means to connect with a new audience of avid readers. Successful writers have their books read by strangers. Today, folks select books based on recommendations, that’s why getting good reviews is important. Appointment with ISIL has shipped for a week. Already, Goodreads published ten reviews with a 4.7 average rating, and Amazon published seven reviews with a 4.8 average rating. Birds of Passage received forty-two Amazon reviews with a 4.5 average rating. Aside from the virtual tour and book reviews, the marketing plan for Appointment with ISIL will include author interviews, a personal tour reaching book clubs, associations and key book bloggers, direct mail, social media, discounted eBook and book giveaway promotions. Harvard Square Editions insured that the book is available on Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Apple. Ingram distribution insures that Appointment with ISIL is available through bookstores everywhere.
My next project will be another Anthony Provati thriller with the working title, Drone Strike, and will include some of the characters introduced in Appointment with ISIL, but each novel can be read independently. Drone Strike includes a victim whose family was “collateral damage.” Where can he turn for justice? Without a higher authority to arbitrate, is the desire for revenge understandable? When I’m not writing, say when I’m traveling, I’m thinking about the new novel and jot down plot and characterization ideas as they come to me.
Q7: Do you have any words of wisdom for aspiring writers?
A7: Read a lot. Write a lot. Criticism comes by the barrelful. Self-doubt is your enemy. Don’t be deterred. Persistence in an underappreciated success factor. Use rejection to incentivize improvement. Recognize that most writers take an unintended vow of poverty, you’ll spend hours isolated, reading and writing, and you’ll pray that your work will be appreciated and accepted. These descriptors can also be found under the definitions of cloistered nun and monk. Be careful what you become good at, because that’s what you’ll do.
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