We recently connected with Michael Cieslak and have shared our conversation below.

Michael , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I’ve always been interested in writing. In fact, my mother still has some particularly embarrassing examples of my earlier work which she is holding on to in case I ever hit it big.

My first foray into publishing happened while I was between regular jobs and doing gig work from home. I had submitted to numerous anthologies and wondered what it would be like to put together one of my own. I started researching just how one might go about doing such a thing, talking to a number of editors I have the pleasure of knowing. I found out how to get the word out about the upcoming book (placing announcements on the websites I visited when I was looking to submit my own work). I learned how to properly format an anthology, including a crash course in InDesign. I taught myself the ins and outs of Amazon’s publishing system, how to use Ingram to get books into bookstores and libraries, how to register for ISBNs…there was a lot of leaning involved.

What I really wanted to do was to make sure I was able to give the authors the kind of experience that I hoped for as an author. Hopefully we were able to achieve this. We have had a number of authors who have worked with us multiple times, submitting to multiple anthologies.

I also wanted to do something beyond just publishing the book itself, so I decided that to donate half of the proceeds from the sales of the anthology to the Last Day Dog Organization, the canine and feline rescue group we adopted our two most recent dogs from. This is something that we have carried on for all of the Dragon’s Roost Press anthologies to this day.

That first book, Desolation: 21 Tales for Tail was released 10 years ago. Since then we have released over 35 books with more on the way.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Dragon’s Roost Press is dedicated to publishing the best dark speculative fiction. We love horror, dark fantasy, and the related genres. Since our inception a decade ago we have publishing anthologies, collections of short stories by a single author, collections of poetry, novellas, novels, and other books. Our goal is to entertain and frighten in equal measures. Towards this end we attend a number of conventions and shows as well as selling our books online.

We are extremely proud of the work that we have done to promote new authors from around the world and our financial support of canine rescue.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I feel that the number one threat to creatives of all types in the acceptance of machine learning, what the media has come to refer to as Artificial Intelligence or AI, as a replacement for genuine creativity. It is almost impossible for most creatives to make a living solely through the sales of their artwork. Reliance on computer created artwork only muddies the waters — providing soulless, inferior material while allowing the general public to think that authors, artists, and the like are unnecessary.

It is important to note that there is no actual intelligence, no real creativity in what these programs create. They are based upon the theft of intellectual property of real artists and then passed on as genuine, independently created works of art.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

It is important to remember that when anyone, be they an artist, author, or engineer, sets a price for their work, the individual purchasing it is paying not only for the time that it takes to create that individual piece, but also the years of training that it took that individual to hone their skill to the point where that piece can be made. A prime example is the ebook. With the popularity of digital readers, there was a subsequent call for new writing to be made free to the public. The rationale was that since there was no paper binding, printing, or other physical cost associated with the creation of a book, there was no reason for there to be an associated charge. This discredits the years it took that author to learn how to craft a compelling story and the time it took that book in particular to be written, rewritten, edited, etc. It is important to remember that a book, or any piece of art, is not just the result one holds after its completion, but all of the hard work that goes into its creation.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://thedragonsroost.biz
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cieslak.michael/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DragonsRoostPress
• Other: https://substack.com/@dragonsroostpress