Catching Up: Filipino Fridays #4: 5 Revolutions That Changed the Way I Read

This is the last in the meme and it is a topic worth reckoning.

What are the five revolutions that changed the way I read?

1. JK Rowling. She introduced me to fantasy. And to canon. Reading the Harry Potter books, made me reach out to Tolkien, CS Lewis and more British writers. She also changed the way I look at the author and reader relationship. Imagine my delight when she answered a letter that I wrote to her for my book club in school! She sure does know how to please the fans. And her marketing team is just brilliant!

2. Book to Movie Adaptations. This helped me in reading engagement as well as being enriched with the literary and filmic experience of stories.

3. Ebooks and epublishing. I am leaning more and more on my Kindle, but I stay loyal to the print. I am also curious about self publishing. Given the time, I would venture into that realm. I have a Wattpad account, so maybe, re-activating it is a start.

4. Social Media. My news source and gossip channel is Twitter, FB and Pinterest. I also make use of social media to promote my books.

5. A Busier Philippine Book Industry. A lot has happened the past five years! The slow but measured growth of Philippine YA; Komikon; Booklatan; the annual book fairs; the National Children's Book Awards. The book industry is changing and growing and, in our experience in Manila, Filipino readers are more visible now than ever.

What will the next five years look like?

Catching Up: Filipino Friday # 3: 5 Ways I Can Support Filipino Authors

This is uber late. But.

How can I support Filipino authors?

1. As a school librarian, I will consistently keep an Author Visit program where authors talk about their books to young readers. On the side is a book sale where, after their talk, they can sign copies of their books bought by readers.

2. As a storyteller, I will keep on telling stories written, and illustrated, by Filipino authors.

3. As a blogger, I will review their books and feature them in my blog. I will also participate in blog tours of their books and pimp them to the heavens!

4. As a PBBY member, I will encourage them to continuously join the annual Salanga Writer's Prize. In the board, we shall always seek help from other organizations and agency in the conduct of workshops where they can produce manuscripts for submission to publishers. Through the PBBY, we shall continue the Children's Book Fair held every year during the National Children's Book Day. We shall also keep our eyes and ears open for conferences, contests, grants, writing retreats and off shore publications.

5. As a KUTING member, I will participate in the workshops to help my writer friends become better at their craft. I hope they return the favor.

Mabuhay ang Filipino Author!

Catching Up: The 5th Filipino ReaderCon Panel on Readers Take the Reins

 Aside from missing the PLAI Congress and the seminar-workshop at the University of Perpetual Help Laguna, the Filipino ReaderCon was another event I skipped due to follow up consultations with my doctors. The Readers Take the Reins panel was a session I hoped to take part in along with GFF, Tarie Sabido and book blogger extraordinaire, Blooey Singson. The panel is like a dream sequence where readers assert their needs and their vision of a reading revolution in the country. The question to answer is, if readers have the power to transform the book industry and readership in the country, what would be our environment and behavior towards reading and books?

Paolo Chikiamco has a recording of the session. I still have to listen to the entire thing. I am excited because there is a lot of talk on library development. So I was told.

Feel free to visit and download the recording. Go to Paolo's blog for the MP3.

Filipino Friday #2: Five Things I Wish as a Filipino Reader

For this week’s Filipino Friday question, we ask you What are the five (5) Things You Wish as a Filipino Reader?

This could be anything! What stories do you want to see from our local authors? Which author do you want to visit the country? Would you want to see your favorite comic book become a live action movie? It’s time for you to share your ultimate wishlist from your perspective as a Filipino Reader. Go wild, go crazy!

This Filipino Friday reminds of a previous topic already assigned in the meme. Not complaining. I am actually glad to do the same topic all over again because, there are so many topics and stories out there that I wish to read. So, here goes.

What stories do you want to see from our local authors? 
More LGBT stories for teens. Stories about bullying that cover both sides: the bully and the bullied. Children's books that tackle or discuss indigenous groups and their cultures. Concept books and non-fiction books that can be used to support and enrich content areas, like Math, Science, Social Studies, Religion, etc. I want to see more deconstructed stories for kids and teens.

Which author do you want to visit the country?  
Authors I want to come to Manila: Dianne de las Casas, Rainbow Rowell, John Green, Cora Seton and Tessa Bailey.

Would you want to see your favorite comic book become a live action movie? 
YES! Trese and Sixty Six!