Miscellany: scams, fanfic, author visits, and noping out of Meta

-
Not much of an update these last few days. Unless we're talking about what's happening in the world. Which is extremely disturbing that I found myself giving into the doomscroll again, albeit on different apps. 

But there are still other interestingnesses--still in the realm of books and publishing--that can distract from <gestures to everything> this. Among my faves in the last few days are:

  • This news item about a company based in Cebu called Innocentrix (aka PageTurner Press and Media) who apparently ran publishing scams victimizing several people in the US--and perhaps elsewhere--by promising them fame and fortune through publishing in exchange for a lot of money. Their CEO and VP were arrested by the FBI last December. Is it weird to include this as a "favorite"? Perhaps. I'm not making light of what happened to the victims or the seriousness of the money laundering and fraud. But I suppose among the things I find interesting are that the news was reported in Writer Beware on Jan. 3, and on Jan. 18, a Cebuano news site also reported on it. Yet I didn't see anyone from the local publishing industry talk about it until Jan. 20. Strange (and maybe again symptomatic of silos?) for an industry where gossip seems to spread very quickly. 
  • I find this is also a funny bit of irony since the publishing establishment are gung-ho about breaking out local authors internationally and are still navigating their way through how different markets work, and yet you have a publishing scammer who, despite non-delivery of services, seems to understand quite well the steps and entities needed to break authors out in the US.
  • The ALCHEMISED cover reveal is out! - Alchemised is the reworked version of the uber-popular Dramione fanfic Manacled, which I "accidentally" read (inasmuch as you can accidentally read 70+ long chapters + an epilogue) last year and which led me to read a number of other Dramione fics, including my other favorite, Draco Malfoy and the Mortifying Ordeal of Being in Love (DMATMOOBIL), whose author will also have a Dramione-coded book coming out this year. For context, I am not a HP fan. I also do not agree with the author's current politics. But I've come to really appreciate Dramione, because you know what I am? A sucker for good E2L (enemies-to-lovers). And it helped quite a bit that my first foray into Dramione involved two very good fics. So I've learned to appreciate the world of HP again through the fanfic, not through JK's original works. I've already made Manacled my headcanon.
  • Haemin Sunim is arriving for a couple of book events this week! Yes, this is a work thing. (For the record, Alchemised is also a work thing, but also just a fan/reader thing?) I'm really looking forward to Haemin's events, though, and finally meeting him. He honestly sounds like a lovely person. You can find the details and registration link to his events here.
Original image from Fully Booked

  • Pretty sure there were more things that caught my attention the last couple of days, but at this hour, I can no longer remember them.
Ok, when I wrote the first-blog-post-in-4-1/2-years two days ago, I shared it on IG and FB with a note that I'm trying to go back to blogging because I can no longer stand Meta. Which is quite a shame, because though I honestly hate Facebook and can live without Threads, I do love the bookstagram community in IG. I don't think I can fully leave the platforms for work/networking reasons, but I have kind of resolved to try my darndest not give them any more of my content. Which also means spending the least amount of time on them. And as with many other people, I've been looking for alternatives.

Blogging is one of them. I fully understand that most people now won't be bothered to read blogs. I mean, even I struggle to read individual blogs now. And I'm kind of ok with that? Because frankly, when I started this blog in 2008, I didn't mind talking into the void. I just wanted a record for me and maybe the five people who'll read it. And I liked the archive function. I like knowing exactly where to go to find something I wrote on a specific day. 

But I do want the bookish and reading community, always, so here are the other alternatives I'm trying out to scratch that itch: 
  • BlueSky - Ok so far as a Twitter alternative (old Twitter, which was my favorite among all the socmed platforms). I could use more PH/SEA/Asian friends, though!
  • Reddit, specifically r/PHBookClub - literally just today, so we'll see how that goes.
  • I also lurk in some Discord book clubs (see previous post), but haven't really engaged much.
  • Feedly - not a social media platform and not where I talk to people, but I'm trying to go back to feed readers for the interesting stuff that I used to get via Meta timelines. Except now, it's really more from websites than individual social media profiles.
And that's where you'll find me now, I guess. Except I suppose on IG, where I will find you.

Also, if you've actually read this far...thank you! (I meant this to be a short 30-min post. It's been over an hour. In my defense, I was also eating cake.)

Comments

Mina V. Esguerra said…
Welcome back to blogging! The news about that company is starting to pick up on tiktok but in BPO circles! With one video having commenters saying they were agents of it before? So I guess the footprint it has sa Pinas is as a BPO selling...something. To non Pinoys. Eye emoji
January 22, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Soledad's Sister by Jose Dalisay, Jr.

-
Image
Soledad's Sister  by Jose "Butch" Dalisay is the first Philippine novel to be shortlisted for the distinguished Man Asian Literary Prize  in 2007. I remember reading about the Man Asian at that time and finding out about Dalisay's shortlisted novel. And I recall thinking, "Well, that sounds about right." After all, Butch Dalisay is one of the country's premier writers.This much is evident when you read Soledad's Sister . Way back in college, I was fortunate enough to have Butch Dalisay as one of my professors. The class was an undergrad course on Survey of American Literature, and I remember every single story and poem we took up to this day. I also remember him reading to us one of his essays during class. He had his Mac open on his desk and was reading his essay from the screen. Back then, I was thinking, "This should be boring. But it isn't." And I realized it wasn't boring because I was entranced by his words. The summary...
Read more

Filipino authors with internationally-published books

-
Image
Some of the books from Filipino authors published by intl. publishers. Clockwise from top left: Age of Blight by Kristine Ong Muslim; The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco; The Courageous Princess Vol. 1 by Rod Espinosa; Learning To Fall by Mina Esguerra, Smaller And Smaller Circles by F.H. Batacan; The Last Time I'll Write About You by Dawn Lanuza. It seems an exciting time for Filipino authors. A Filipina YA author was at the Brooklyn Book Festival and other festivals, some Filipino authors just wrapped up panels during the Fil-Am International Book Festival in San Francisco , a few other Fil-Am authors are coming out with new books from a major publisher in the next few months ( literary fiction , young adult , and middle grade ), and another classic author was recently published by Penguin Classics. Not to mention that a few Filipino authors have been pitching at #dvpit and have already found agents . And I'm pretty sure I'm barely scratching the surface her...
Read more

The El Bimbo Variations by Adam David

-
Image
When reading a poetry collection, one of the last things you expect to do is laugh out loud. But, if you were to read Adam David's new edition of The El Bimbo Variations , that is exactly what you'd be doing. My advice: try not to read it in public, unless you're okay with people looking at you weird because your shoulders are suddenly shaking in laughter or you have a snap-happy grin on your face. I first read The El Bimbo Variations back when it was still in pdf format. Four years ago, the poet Adam David gave a talk to one of our high school junior classes during a yearly activity where we expose students to real-life writers. In preparation, he sent us  a copy of his El Bimbo Variations , and told me that we could distribute it to the students so that they'd know his work. We photocopied them for the classes assigned to Adam and, on the day of the talk, I went in and listened to his session where he got riled up about big publishers and their limited repertoire...
Read more