There is no value in trashing a man's reputation, and that's what I saw earlier in this thread. This whole thread seemed to start along those lines, and was along those lines until I came along, makes me wonder, in all due respect, whether that was part of the "expert advice" of such great caliber that I should expect from the wise people here with such extraordinary credentials.
I was, frankly, astounded even that there's someone with such a vendetta against the man that they actually created a website called "Tony Sucks."
And, frankly, if being a successful person with great credentials means that, some day, when I'm up to the great level of the people here, I'm going to have to create a message board with a thread that trashes a man's reputation, I honestly do not ever want to become that successful. I'd rather be unsuccessful and see the good in others, then to be successful so I can sneer about how much "Tony Sucks," and talk about how clueless he is and how not-ready-for-prime-time he is. Tony puts on his pants one leg at a time just like everyone here. He's a human being, and he's a good person in my experience. My message to the people who want to trash him... well frankly, to put it in words that people of such caliber seem to understand... that really sucks.
Now you're just being rude.
I'm sorry it bothers you to see the unvarnished opinions of publishing professionals here, who are thinking solely of what will benefit writers and will allow them to grow. The purpose of this forum is to provide exactly those opinions, to help writers make informed decisions. I suggest you take a look at
http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showpost.php?p=151224&postcount=3 this post, a very long index of publishers. The ones in gray are generally houses just like LDP; small houses started by one person with no publishing experience. Those houses are listed in gray because they closed. There are links to the discussion threads here about them. It would probably be interesting to read them.
No one in this thread has attacked Tony personally. No one here has said "Tony Sucks." This is a thread full of information members have collected in order to provide the most complete picture possible for writers wondering whether or not they should submit to this house. You're not looking for national distribution at the moment; you're not worried about being paid, you simply want some experience. That's great. But most of the writers here want to start careers as writers, and they want to know which houses will help them do that.
No one here has been snotty or rude to you. We've offered advice and encouragement. Your response to that has been to snap at us, to insult us, to snipe about our supposed "Tony Sucks" comments (none of which are made here, by members of this forum, who are certainly not trashing anyone's reputation) and now to be sarcastic about and belittle our experience and credentials in the industry.
I'm also sorry you have decided to forego internet forums altogether. AW is a lot more than just the Bewares, Recommendations, and Background Checks forum. We have forums for every genre, we have forums for every sort of discussion, be it writing-related or not. I wouldn't be published if it weren't for the advice and help I was given here at AW and what I learned from all of these people you're attacking without bothering to see what they actually said, or get to know them in the slightest.
This is a place to learn about writing and publishing, to participate in discussions about it, to meet people in the industry you probably wouldn't have met otherwise, and of course to just have fun. There's a lot of information here, and
every single member of this forum gives their time freely and generously to help new writers find their way and reach their goals.
If you choose not to look around and learn from this place, if you choose to ignore the hand that's offered to you, that's fine. But there's no reason for you to be rude about people who have in no way been rude to you or anyone else. That's completely uncalled for, and I am personally offended by your harsh response to my own post, which I certainly tried to make as supportive and helpful as possible. I offered you help and advice and encouragement, and in return you gave me your contempt. Thanks for that. It's always nice to meet a true gentleman.