02/18/2013
Anthony Gets a Big Idea: His Own Book!
Turning 40 wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but it did leave me with a desire to leave a legacy. Yes, I have the salon, and God willing it will be a Jersey landmark for many years, but I just got to thinking that I wanted something bigger. I wanted to do something that will last the test of time. What could it be? I kept coming back to an idea for a book.
Now, I had no idea how to even begin to get this thing started, but I knew it could be done. I mean, have you seen some of the momo's who've written books? I decided to pitch the idea to some of the people closest to me, like my wife Patty, my sister, the Gioves and, of course, Olivia. I've always thought of Olivia as a kind of muse because her style and chutzpah are great.
Luckily, everyone loved my idea! Thank God! Next, I pitched the concept to the Anthony Robert stylists, and they were also very supportive. Tracy even suggested that I talk to her friend Sammy, who has done some book PR.
Now we're talking!
My whole idea was to do a Jersey-based fashion-meets-history book that commemorated New Jersey's 225th birthday. I loved my concept, but I was out of my comfort zone, which made me a little nervous for the meeting with the publisher.
And that meeting wasn't exactly a hit. See, the publisher needed more than just examples—she wanted full-on photos done to take back to her people. I was prepared for that because Sammy warned me that this sort of thing could happen. But the publisher also said that it could take ten months to one year to get it completed. That I didn't expect, and I don't have that kind of time!
I needed to get this book out during this year so we could push it as part of Jersey's celebration. And this was why I had people I trust weigh in: Olivia suggested that we could self-publish the book faster.
Were we prepared to do that the right way? I didn't want us to be laughing stocks here, but Olivia felt like we could. She was even willing to be a partner on it.
I'm a little worried but what the hell—let's make a book!
