Name Antonne Jones | Role Author | |
Books The Family: A Philadelp, Equal Verdicts: The True, The Family II: Life After Death, The Lex St Massacre: The True | ||
Antonne Marquis Jones, (born April 23, 1972) is an American book publisher, author, screenwriter, and film producer. He has garnered much critical acclaim for his pioneering of urban fictional literature 'street lit' during the late 1990s.
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Antonne has been awarded the key to the city in Lubbock, Texas and graced many best seller lists for his work. He is noted as the first independent publisher to secure a distribution deal with Ingram Book Company, the biggest wholesalers in the United States.
Early life
Antonne Jones was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1972. His mother, Mardrena Jones was a legal secretary and prolific writer born in Philadelphia. His father, Marvin Thomas was a SEPTA bus operator born in South Carolina and raised in Philadelphia.
Jones attended grammar school at Sacred Heart of Jesus then the prestigious Roman Catholic High School in Center City, Philadelphia. At Roman he played basketball for two years with some of the country's top athletes such as Allan Watkins, Bernard Jones and future Hall of Fame wide receiver, Marvin Harrison. After getting involved with the wrong crowd Jones quit playing basketball and transferred to a local public school.. During this time he also began trafficking in narcotics which eventually lead to him temporally dropping out of school. After getting arrested in 1991, he decided the lifestyle he so desired was no longer for him and returned to school to earn his diploma that same year. "That decision changed my life", Jones later said, because I would have been dead in the direction I was going. Most of the guys I was hanging out with at the time are wasting away in jail today or laying in a graveyard. They were nice guys but fell victim to the streets". After graduating high school he received numerous academic scholarships to various colleges but he chose Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, Arkansas. He stayed there for one year before returning to Philadelphia to find employment to provide for his one-year-old daughter and newborn son. During this time he also attended Cheyney University of Pennsylvania and the Community College of Philadelphia.
Early career
In 1995, after seeing the movie 'Dangerous Minds' starring Michelle Pfeiffer, he took offense to the film and wrote and editorial and sent it to the South Philly Review, a local newspaper. To his surprise, the article was published in the paper the following week. Following this trend he continued submitting articles about various social issues and current affairs to not only the local paper but also to the Philadelphia Daily News. Jones credits his mother and his love for the hip hop culture as his creative inspiration. "My mother was a great writer. She would allow me to read from her quote book or from some of her diary and I was always impressed, he said. My real love for storytelling came after watching a hip hop film called 'Wild Style 'back in 1982. I remember pioneer Grand Master Caz of the Cold Crush Brothers telling this story about this girl named Yvette and it blew me away. From that point on I was inspired to be a storyteller. My love for writing, Jones continues, maturated with writing graffiti". Jones said he also credits LL Cool J as someone who inspired him not only as a writer but also as a person.
In 1997, Jones started his own publishing company, ELDON Publishing Company and released his first novel, 'The Family: A Philadelphia Mob Story’, under his imprint in August 1999. To date, the book remains as one of all-time top selling urban fiction books with over 3.5 million copies sold worldwide. The book also was the first and only book of its kind translated in Spanish. It also became a hot topic in the rap community with many artists using it as a basis for their lyrics such as Jay-Z, Beanie Sigel, and The LOX. The Family would also become the book from which the motion pictures, 'State Property' and 'State Property 2' were derived. Jones sued the producers, Damon Dash, Roc-A-Fella Films, and Lions Gate Films in 2007 for $20 million. After brief litigation the case was quickly resolved.
In 2001, Jones would release the sequel to his best seller, The Family II: Life after Death. The sequel would enjoy success but received mixed reviews because he wrote the story without the use of any profanity, glorified violence, or illicit sexual innuendos.
In 2007, Jones released his third book, the true crime thriller 'The Lex Street Massacre', which chronicled the worst mass murderer in Philadelphia history. Four young men were falsely accused of viciously killing 7 people in a dilapidated crack house in West Philadelphia. Despite a mound of evidence exonerating the young men of the murders, the Philadelphia District Attorney's office aggressively continued to seek the death penalty for these accused men. Jones interviewed the presiding judge on the case, witnesses, lawyers, reporters, and even one of the convicted murderers who happened to be legendary rock star Chubby Checker's grandson. Jones also produced a documentary for the project that was submitted to the prestigious Sundance Film Festival. The motion picture for the book is currently in pre-production.
In 2009, Jones forces with the 'Godfather of Urban Fashion' Daymond John, CEO of FUBU and Coogi apparel company, and started another publishing house called Display of Power Publishing. In April, the company released its first book, 'The Brand Within', by Daymond John and New York Times bestselling collaborator, Daniel Paisner. They are also releasing, 'Why Men Cheat' by BET's 106 & Park host Terrence J in April 2011.
In 2005, Jones donated 5000 books to various Latino-based organizations to increase literacy in their community. He also speaks in prisons, schools, and youth groups.
He is good friends with NFL Pro Bowler and NY Giants star lineman Shawn Andrews.