Monday, February 24, 2014

Writing as business and art

Let's get a few things out of the way: Wattpad and its popularity in the Philippines just blew away many misconceptions people have had about writing and the state of reading among Pinoy youth.

An interesting consequence of this is that so many young authors are getting published, or self-publishing. I'm happy for them (I too was a young writer just dreaming to see my name on an actual book), but I also am alarmed at how many of them seem not to know what they're getting into, and are perhaps signing away precious rights for bargain prices.

Maybe it's because they're young, but there's a lot of trust being given here -- trust in the publisher, to provide guidance and expertise. Some publishers are of course worthy of your trust. Some, unfortunately, are not. I always tell my workshop participants to prepare for success -- please don't accept a crappy deal because you don't believe it will ever be worth anything, and that any attention, any offer, is good enough.

I've posted several chapters worth of advice for young writers here on Wattpad. It's in Taglish. (Yes marunong akong mag-Tagalog, friends.) I hope it helps you in some way!

1 comment:

  1. Hi Mina. Salamat sa post mo na ito. Nakaka-inspire ka, sa totoo lang. Kung ok lang sayo, may itatanong sana ako dahil maalam ka naman sa state of self-publishing sa Pinas. Kumusta ang market ng light novels dito and are there Filipinos who write and publish light novels? Yung fantasy na short books with a few illustrations. Salamat sa anumang mai-share mo sa akin :) More power to you!

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