Source: http://www.tnsglobal.com/global/alm/philippines/philippines-tam.aspx
Showing posts with label TR/PHR. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TR/PHR. Show all posts
May 11, 2009
April 25, 2009
Romantic tie-up
Focus
http://www.bworldonline.com/Weekender042409/main.php?id=focus2
BY JEFFREY O. VALISNO, Senior Reporter
Romantic tie-up
When the Filipino romance pocketbook line Precious Hearts Romances started in 1991, it started with just 50 copies of one title. The pocketbook's publisher, Segundo Matias, Jr. of the publishing company Precious Pages Corp., made the delivery himself to an outlet in the Ever-Gotesco Grand Central Mall in Kalookan City. "In three days, all the 50 copies sold out," Mr. Matias told BusinessWorld in an interview last Wednesday. "That is when we knew we had something big on our hands," he said.
Now, the Precious Hearts Romances line of pocketbooks has more than 6,000 titles, with more than 30 million copies sold to date, making it one of the most successful Filipino romance novel series.
And very soon its stories will be told on the small screen.
The novels are sold not only in the publishing company's 16 stand-alone stores in SM Malls nationwide, as well as in most branches of National Book Store, but also in major cities around the world which have a large concentration of Filipino migrant workers, including Hong Kong and Singapore.
From just four titles per month, Precious Hearts Romances now releases 40-60 titles per month. All are eagerly awaited by their avid readers, predominantly females.
Ask Mr. Matias what made Precious Hearts Romances a hit, and he will say it is about the quality of the stories they select for publication. "We strive to come up with pocketbooks that provides the right emotion to the readers. The stories are thrilling, romantic, and heart-warming," he said in Filipino.
Edith Garcia, Precious Hearts Romances editor-in-chief, explained the formula of local romance novels. "Boy meets girl. Boy gets girl. Boy loses girl. Boy gets girl again," she told BusinessWorld in an interview. "All romance novels basically follow this same formula. It is what happens in between-the details, the creative exposition and characterization that sets great novels like ours apart from the rest," she added.
Ms. Garcia said Precious Hearts Romances is very strict in approving manuscripts for publication. Vulgarity, and profanity is strictly prohibited even under the guise of creativity, she said. "Our stories can be naughty at times, but never vulgar," she said. She added that as the editor-in-chief, she is always on the look out for plagiarism, since there are those who submit manuscripts based on Mills and Boon, or Harelequin Romance novels.
Writers whose stories get pass the scrutiny of Ms. Garcia (and her team of 10 female editors) are rewarded handsomely. Mr. Matias said Precious Hearts Romances attract the best writers because it is known for paying well. New writers receive between P6,000-P7,000 per approved manuscript, while more established writers, as well as Precious Hearts Romances exclusive writers, get as much as P20,000.
The standard 128-page Precious Hearts Romances paperback costs P37 each. Special editions cost as much as P109 each. These seem pricey, compared to the other Filipino romance pocketbooks available in wet markets, which are available for as little as P12 each. "We learned that the manuscripts that we reject get published by other companies and sold for P12," she said. Ms. Garcia, however, discourages readers from buying the cheaper pocketbooks. "Have you seen them? They are full of typographical errors!" she said.
Mr. Matias said most of romance novel writers are females, with male writers adapting female pseudonyms. "We tried before to introduce novels with male writers, but readers just do not buy them," he said. "I guess it is because most of our readers are female, and they think they could identify better with a novel written by a female," he added.
He said among the best-selling authors of Precious Hearts Romances is Martha Cecilia. Ms. Garcia said that among their current writers, two are males writing under female pseudonyms.
"Sometimes kasi, there are things that men find corny, but those things are actually the things that women like," Ms. Garcia said. "Our male writers, perhaps, are very attuned to their feminine side [so] that they understand what women want, and how women think," she added.
Ms. Garcia said that based on a survey they recently conducted among their readers, more than 90% are females. "There are also males who read our romance novels, probably because they want to get some tips on how to deal with women," she said.
She added that 56% of the readers of Precious Hearts Romances are professionals, dispelling perceptions that Filipino pocket books are only for the less educated. "Our readers are nurses, bank tellers, office employees, OFWs," she said.
Because of their readership, Ms. Garcia said Precious Hearts Romances are written with the perspective of the female heroine. And of course, a happy ending is a requirement. "It will not be a romance novel without a happy ending," she said.
The popularity of Precious Hearts Romances did not go unnoticed - media giant ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp. is translating the stories for TV.
Laurenti M. Dyogi, ABS-CBN business unit head, explained that he first came to know Precious Hearts Romances last year when he got hold of one pocketbook while he was in Europe for auditions for season 2 of the TV show Pinoy Big Brother.
"That is when I discovered that the pocketbooks are very interesting. They have stories that are very Pinoy," he said in a recent press conference.
Immediately after he returned from Europe, he broached the idea to ABS-CBN executives. After the idea got the green light, Mr. Dyogi began negotiations with Mr. Matias, who previously worked for ABS-CBN as a writer.
"We were asked before to have our stories featured in a TV show, but we declined before because those behind the production did not want to read the books. They just want a synopsis from us," Mr. Matias explained. "That is not the case with Direk Lauren [Mr. Dyogi.] He really made sure that those involved in the production will read the books so they would understand the stories better," he added.
The TV show Precious Hearts Romances Presents will premiere on May 4, 3:30 p.m. on ABS-CBN Channel 2. The program will take over the time slot of the drama series Pieta, which will end on May 1.
For its first offering, Precious Hearts Romances Presents will feature The Bud Brothers series of pocketbooks, written by best-selling romance author Rose Tan. It is about eight college fraternity brothers who put up a business, the Bud Brothers Flower Farm, and the quirky yet gorgeous women these men fall for.
"Romance readers can expect the same flavor of fun and romance they've read in the pocketbooks to be translated on screen," Mr. Dyogi said.
To ensure the success of the new TV show, ABS-CBN has tapped top-notch directors Jerry Lopez-Sineneng, and Cathy Garcia-Molina. Ace scriptwriters Mel Mendoza-del Rosario, Michiko Yamamoto, and Jose Javier Reyes were selected to make the pocketbook stories come alive on TV. Chosen to appear on The Bud Brother series are ABS-CBN's hottest stars including Jake Cuenca, Cristine Reyes, John Pratts, and Mariel Rodriguez. "We want afternoon TV viewing to be light and romantic, not overly dramatic," Mr. Dyogi said.
http://www.bworldonline.com/Weekender042409/main.php?id=focus2
BY JEFFREY O. VALISNO, Senior Reporter
Romantic tie-up
When the Filipino romance pocketbook line Precious Hearts Romances started in 1991, it started with just 50 copies of one title. The pocketbook's publisher, Segundo Matias, Jr. of the publishing company Precious Pages Corp., made the delivery himself to an outlet in the Ever-Gotesco Grand Central Mall in Kalookan City. "In three days, all the 50 copies sold out," Mr. Matias told BusinessWorld in an interview last Wednesday. "That is when we knew we had something big on our hands," he said.
Now, the Precious Hearts Romances line of pocketbooks has more than 6,000 titles, with more than 30 million copies sold to date, making it one of the most successful Filipino romance novel series.
And very soon its stories will be told on the small screen.
The novels are sold not only in the publishing company's 16 stand-alone stores in SM Malls nationwide, as well as in most branches of National Book Store, but also in major cities around the world which have a large concentration of Filipino migrant workers, including Hong Kong and Singapore.
From just four titles per month, Precious Hearts Romances now releases 40-60 titles per month. All are eagerly awaited by their avid readers, predominantly females.
Ask Mr. Matias what made Precious Hearts Romances a hit, and he will say it is about the quality of the stories they select for publication. "We strive to come up with pocketbooks that provides the right emotion to the readers. The stories are thrilling, romantic, and heart-warming," he said in Filipino.
Edith Garcia, Precious Hearts Romances editor-in-chief, explained the formula of local romance novels. "Boy meets girl. Boy gets girl. Boy loses girl. Boy gets girl again," she told BusinessWorld in an interview. "All romance novels basically follow this same formula. It is what happens in between-the details, the creative exposition and characterization that sets great novels like ours apart from the rest," she added.
Ms. Garcia said Precious Hearts Romances is very strict in approving manuscripts for publication. Vulgarity, and profanity is strictly prohibited even under the guise of creativity, she said. "Our stories can be naughty at times, but never vulgar," she said. She added that as the editor-in-chief, she is always on the look out for plagiarism, since there are those who submit manuscripts based on Mills and Boon, or Harelequin Romance novels.
Writers whose stories get pass the scrutiny of Ms. Garcia (and her team of 10 female editors) are rewarded handsomely. Mr. Matias said Precious Hearts Romances attract the best writers because it is known for paying well. New writers receive between P6,000-P7,000 per approved manuscript, while more established writers, as well as Precious Hearts Romances exclusive writers, get as much as P20,000.
The standard 128-page Precious Hearts Romances paperback costs P37 each. Special editions cost as much as P109 each. These seem pricey, compared to the other Filipino romance pocketbooks available in wet markets, which are available for as little as P12 each. "We learned that the manuscripts that we reject get published by other companies and sold for P12," she said. Ms. Garcia, however, discourages readers from buying the cheaper pocketbooks. "Have you seen them? They are full of typographical errors!" she said.
Mr. Matias said most of romance novel writers are females, with male writers adapting female pseudonyms. "We tried before to introduce novels with male writers, but readers just do not buy them," he said. "I guess it is because most of our readers are female, and they think they could identify better with a novel written by a female," he added.
He said among the best-selling authors of Precious Hearts Romances is Martha Cecilia. Ms. Garcia said that among their current writers, two are males writing under female pseudonyms.
"Sometimes kasi, there are things that men find corny, but those things are actually the things that women like," Ms. Garcia said. "Our male writers, perhaps, are very attuned to their feminine side [so] that they understand what women want, and how women think," she added.
Ms. Garcia said that based on a survey they recently conducted among their readers, more than 90% are females. "There are also males who read our romance novels, probably because they want to get some tips on how to deal with women," she said.
She added that 56% of the readers of Precious Hearts Romances are professionals, dispelling perceptions that Filipino pocket books are only for the less educated. "Our readers are nurses, bank tellers, office employees, OFWs," she said.
Because of their readership, Ms. Garcia said Precious Hearts Romances are written with the perspective of the female heroine. And of course, a happy ending is a requirement. "It will not be a romance novel without a happy ending," she said.
The popularity of Precious Hearts Romances did not go unnoticed - media giant ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp. is translating the stories for TV.
Laurenti M. Dyogi, ABS-CBN business unit head, explained that he first came to know Precious Hearts Romances last year when he got hold of one pocketbook while he was in Europe for auditions for season 2 of the TV show Pinoy Big Brother.
"That is when I discovered that the pocketbooks are very interesting. They have stories that are very Pinoy," he said in a recent press conference.
Immediately after he returned from Europe, he broached the idea to ABS-CBN executives. After the idea got the green light, Mr. Dyogi began negotiations with Mr. Matias, who previously worked for ABS-CBN as a writer.
"We were asked before to have our stories featured in a TV show, but we declined before because those behind the production did not want to read the books. They just want a synopsis from us," Mr. Matias explained. "That is not the case with Direk Lauren [Mr. Dyogi.] He really made sure that those involved in the production will read the books so they would understand the stories better," he added.
The TV show Precious Hearts Romances Presents will premiere on May 4, 3:30 p.m. on ABS-CBN Channel 2. The program will take over the time slot of the drama series Pieta, which will end on May 1.
For its first offering, Precious Hearts Romances Presents will feature The Bud Brothers series of pocketbooks, written by best-selling romance author Rose Tan. It is about eight college fraternity brothers who put up a business, the Bud Brothers Flower Farm, and the quirky yet gorgeous women these men fall for.
"Romance readers can expect the same flavor of fun and romance they've read in the pocketbooks to be translated on screen," Mr. Dyogi said.
To ensure the success of the new TV show, ABS-CBN has tapped top-notch directors Jerry Lopez-Sineneng, and Cathy Garcia-Molina. Ace scriptwriters Mel Mendoza-del Rosario, Michiko Yamamoto, and Jose Javier Reyes were selected to make the pocketbook stories come alive on TV. Chosen to appear on The Bud Brother series are ABS-CBN's hottest stars including Jake Cuenca, Cristine Reyes, John Pratts, and Mariel Rodriguez. "We want afternoon TV viewing to be light and romantic, not overly dramatic," Mr. Dyogi said.
The Romantic movement
http://www.bworldonline.com/Weekender042409/main.php?id=focus1
As of 2007,67% of Filipinos read the Bible, 33% (up from 26% in 2001) romance paperbacks, 28% cookbooks, 26% comic books, and 20% other religious or inspirational work. Romances continue to enjoy the patronage of a devoted public (pegged by one publisher from age 13-50).
Love sells
"Romances are the bestsellers," Anvil Publishing Inc. assistant general manager and publishing manager Karina A. Bolasco told BusinessWorld at the sidelines of a book launch last February -- echoing an article she wrote, "Emerging Trends in Philippine Publishing" (BookWatch, December 2004), wherein she stated that romance novels sell the most number of units next to textbooks.
At the time, around 20 romance novel titles were being produced in the country each month, with 20,000 copies per title, generating a monthly gross of P14 million. These days, production is deemed lower, with some publishers diversifying their product line, but insiders still refer to the romance novel as the "backbone" of the publishing industry.
Bookware Publishing Corp. alone has a regular target of 12 titles, but releases an average of eight titles, with 12 copies per title, amounting to 96 units in a month (or 96 titles, 144 copies, and 1,152 units per year). Also, they sometimes make reprints, dub-bed "Bestsellers" of their My Special Valentine series, which placed no. 1 (in-house) in terms of sales. Not too shabby, considering that an average of only around 5,000 titles each year (5,518 in 2007, 5,713 in 2006, 5,429 in 2005, and 5,139 in 2004) are issued an ISBN number as monitored by the Philippine National Library.
Employees of National Bookstore charged with purchasing books confirmed in an official e-mail to BusinessWorld that "absolutely the romance genre, consistently, has been a significant contributor to the overall sales for Fiction & Literature, both in terms of sales quantity and [revenue] amount."
In general, almost half of the sales of locally published titles under Fiction & Literature are either Tagalog romances or chick lit (also referred to as "chic lit") novels by local authors in English. For imported titles, it's the bestselling sub-category next to general fiction and the literary classics. Notably, local romance novels (both in English and Filipino) sell about five times more in quantity than imported romance novels, but total sales amount is almost equal at National Bookstore.
Popularity contest
Ms. Bolasco referred to romances as "soap on print, the same kind that fills up television primetime" -- which underscores how popular and addicting they can be. It also explains why there have been book and television tie-ins in the past, as in the case of PSICOM Publishing Inc.'s experiment with GMA's Love to Love series (TV to books), and the upcoming partnership between ABS-CBN and the Precious Hearts Romances line of pocketbook romances by Precious Pages Corp. (books to TV) [see related story.]
Martha Cecilia, one "best-selling author" -- so it says on the covers -- for Precious Hearts Romances, has a style of writing that apparently ranks with those of Gilda Olvidado and her contemporaries, whose novels were turned into movies during their heyday in the early 1990s. Hang out at the National Bookstore Tagalog romance section and a helpful employee will tell you that the author produces several connected storylines in a series, which readers can summarize easily. The language is so colloquial that you can use whole pages of dialogue in real-life conversations, and the plots may be predictable but are said to have catching twists.
Some readers prefer romance novels that are less dramatic, among them Francia Ramos, a 42-year-old call center agent who spends her free time browsing the bookstore each week in search of the latest from Camilla, another best-selling author for Precious Hearts Romances, distinguished for novels with a more comedic bent. Ms. Ramos deems her literary forays into romance as stress release, and so wants light fare, a break from the mystery/espionage of Sydney Sheldon and John Grisham. "It's like a feel-good movie for me," she told BusinessWorld.
An avid reader since she was 12, she confesses to having grown up reading Sweet Valley and Sweet Dreams romances, and moving on to the likes of Jude Deveraux and Danielle Steele. She still buys romance books twice a month on payday; weighing in favor of Tagalog romances is that they're shorter and can be read in one sitting, which is handy for an agent who doesn't get enough sleep. They're also cheaper than the rest.
Pay-per-read
Of all the come-ons, retail price is the topmost concern, according to National Bookstore.
Bookware editor Malou Medina, in an e-mail to BusinessWorld, likewise said, "I could probably attribute [popularity] to the low price-point of our books and its ability to entertain greatly a number of Filipinos here and abroad. Because let's face it, Tagalog Romance novels are meant to entertain. It's a form of escape."
A cursory canvassing will show that most foreign titles, whether chick lit, romance or general fiction, are worth over P300-P500 and run up to roughly the same number of pages of over 300-500. In comparison, Precious Hearts Romances range from P37 for an average of 120 pages to a special edition selling at P75 for over P250 pages. (These are so popular that they're also being distributed in Hong Kong.) Bookware's My Special Valentine series of books are even cheaper and shorter, sold at a flat P29 for 96-98 pages on average.
Publishers are split on the question of whether a romance originally written in English and translated to Tagalog will be as well-received by the audience of Tagalog romance novels; some say it will work just as well because romance is a universal language, others that the target market won't possibly be able to relate.
According to the NBDB-commissioned readership surveys, Filipino and English are the two main preferred languages of readers; however, there are twice as many readers who prefer to read in Filipino than those who prefer to read in English. Home-grown romance novels are mostly written in Filipino, which the late BusinessWorld columnist Edilberto N. Alegre lauded for its wealth of cultural expressions.
Focus
BY JOHANNA D. POBLETE, Reporter
The Romantic movement
There's a reason why Rizal spiced his subversive novels with a doomed love affair between an ilustrado and a mestiza; a touch of romance is just the trick to hook the reading public.
Filipinos are Romantic. In 2001, a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey documented that more Filipino respondents, compared to Americans (or 84% vs. 74%), professed belief in a "one true love." In 2006, another survey revealed that the Filipino majority (70% ), across all socioeconomic classes, believe that "love is blind." Those beliefs are often used as theatrical and literary motifs.
Not surprisingly, romance novels are the second most commonly read books by adult Filipinos. Nationwide SWS surveys on book readership, reading attitudes and reading preferences commissioned in 2003 and 2007 by the National Book Development Board (NBDB) noted how respondents in the 18-24 age bracket, also the biggest reading segment, favored romance novels, despite a decline in total readership (2%) in the interval.
BY JOHANNA D. POBLETE, Reporter
The Romantic movement
There's a reason why Rizal spiced his subversive novels with a doomed love affair between an ilustrado and a mestiza; a touch of romance is just the trick to hook the reading public.
Filipinos are Romantic. In 2001, a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey documented that more Filipino respondents, compared to Americans (or 84% vs. 74%), professed belief in a "one true love." In 2006, another survey revealed that the Filipino majority (70% ), across all socioeconomic classes, believe that "love is blind." Those beliefs are often used as theatrical and literary motifs.
Not surprisingly, romance novels are the second most commonly read books by adult Filipinos. Nationwide SWS surveys on book readership, reading attitudes and reading preferences commissioned in 2003 and 2007 by the National Book Development Board (NBDB) noted how respondents in the 18-24 age bracket, also the biggest reading segment, favored romance novels, despite a decline in total readership (2%) in the interval.
-- JONATHAN L. CELLONA
As of 2007,67% of Filipinos read the Bible, 33% (up from 26% in 2001) romance paperbacks, 28% cookbooks, 26% comic books, and 20% other religious or inspirational work. Romances continue to enjoy the patronage of a devoted public (pegged by one publisher from age 13-50).
Love sells
"Romances are the bestsellers," Anvil Publishing Inc. assistant general manager and publishing manager Karina A. Bolasco told BusinessWorld at the sidelines of a book launch last February -- echoing an article she wrote, "Emerging Trends in Philippine Publishing" (BookWatch, December 2004), wherein she stated that romance novels sell the most number of units next to textbooks.
At the time, around 20 romance novel titles were being produced in the country each month, with 20,000 copies per title, generating a monthly gross of P14 million. These days, production is deemed lower, with some publishers diversifying their product line, but insiders still refer to the romance novel as the "backbone" of the publishing industry.
Bookware Publishing Corp. alone has a regular target of 12 titles, but releases an average of eight titles, with 12 copies per title, amounting to 96 units in a month (or 96 titles, 144 copies, and 1,152 units per year). Also, they sometimes make reprints, dub-bed "Bestsellers" of their My Special Valentine series, which placed no. 1 (in-house) in terms of sales. Not too shabby, considering that an average of only around 5,000 titles each year (5,518 in 2007, 5,713 in 2006, 5,429 in 2005, and 5,139 in 2004) are issued an ISBN number as monitored by the Philippine National Library.
Employees of National Bookstore charged with purchasing books confirmed in an official e-mail to BusinessWorld that "absolutely the romance genre, consistently, has been a significant contributor to the overall sales for Fiction & Literature, both in terms of sales quantity and [revenue] amount."
In general, almost half of the sales of locally published titles under Fiction & Literature are either Tagalog romances or chick lit (also referred to as "chic lit") novels by local authors in English. For imported titles, it's the bestselling sub-category next to general fiction and the literary classics. Notably, local romance novels (both in English and Filipino) sell about five times more in quantity than imported romance novels, but total sales amount is almost equal at National Bookstore.
Popularity contest
Ms. Bolasco referred to romances as "soap on print, the same kind that fills up television primetime" -- which underscores how popular and addicting they can be. It also explains why there have been book and television tie-ins in the past, as in the case of PSICOM Publishing Inc.'s experiment with GMA's Love to Love series (TV to books), and the upcoming partnership between ABS-CBN and the Precious Hearts Romances line of pocketbook romances by Precious Pages Corp. (books to TV) [see related story.]
Martha Cecilia, one "best-selling author" -- so it says on the covers -- for Precious Hearts Romances, has a style of writing that apparently ranks with those of Gilda Olvidado and her contemporaries, whose novels were turned into movies during their heyday in the early 1990s. Hang out at the National Bookstore Tagalog romance section and a helpful employee will tell you that the author produces several connected storylines in a series, which readers can summarize easily. The language is so colloquial that you can use whole pages of dialogue in real-life conversations, and the plots may be predictable but are said to have catching twists.
Some readers prefer romance novels that are less dramatic, among them Francia Ramos, a 42-year-old call center agent who spends her free time browsing the bookstore each week in search of the latest from Camilla, another best-selling author for Precious Hearts Romances, distinguished for novels with a more comedic bent. Ms. Ramos deems her literary forays into romance as stress release, and so wants light fare, a break from the mystery/espionage of Sydney Sheldon and John Grisham. "It's like a feel-good movie for me," she told BusinessWorld.
An avid reader since she was 12, she confesses to having grown up reading Sweet Valley and Sweet Dreams romances, and moving on to the likes of Jude Deveraux and Danielle Steele. She still buys romance books twice a month on payday; weighing in favor of Tagalog romances is that they're shorter and can be read in one sitting, which is handy for an agent who doesn't get enough sleep. They're also cheaper than the rest.
Pay-per-read
Of all the come-ons, retail price is the topmost concern, according to National Bookstore.
Bookware editor Malou Medina, in an e-mail to BusinessWorld, likewise said, "I could probably attribute [popularity] to the low price-point of our books and its ability to entertain greatly a number of Filipinos here and abroad. Because let's face it, Tagalog Romance novels are meant to entertain. It's a form of escape."
A cursory canvassing will show that most foreign titles, whether chick lit, romance or general fiction, are worth over P300-P500 and run up to roughly the same number of pages of over 300-500. In comparison, Precious Hearts Romances range from P37 for an average of 120 pages to a special edition selling at P75 for over P250 pages. (These are so popular that they're also being distributed in Hong Kong.) Bookware's My Special Valentine series of books are even cheaper and shorter, sold at a flat P29 for 96-98 pages on average.
Publishers are split on the question of whether a romance originally written in English and translated to Tagalog will be as well-received by the audience of Tagalog romance novels; some say it will work just as well because romance is a universal language, others that the target market won't possibly be able to relate.
According to the NBDB-commissioned readership surveys, Filipino and English are the two main preferred languages of readers; however, there are twice as many readers who prefer to read in Filipino than those who prefer to read in English. Home-grown romance novels are mostly written in Filipino, which the late BusinessWorld columnist Edilberto N. Alegre lauded for its wealth of cultural expressions.
-- JONATHAN L. CELLONA
Now, these also have English titles and a smattering of dialogue in English. Primary patrons are young women from a lower economic bracket.
"Its affordability, its storylines, its creator (e.g. a best-selling author's particular writing style), and its ‘pa-tweetums' (cutesy) language" add to the popularity of romances, said Arnel N. Gabriel, Publisher of PSICOM Publishing Inc. "If the setting is in the barrio/province -- it's Tagalog. If the setting is in some coffee shop in Eastwood or Greenbelt -- definitely English."
"Those in the middle, upper bracket are also reading local romance books. But these are books written mostly in English with white, thick paper and with a cute drawing on its cover. The storylines are mostly about yuppies meeting their partners in the urban jungle. That's chick lit. They find those Tagalog romance novels printed on newsprint paper as ‘bakya' (tacky)," he added.
The non-Tagalog romances, love/dating advice books and even the Love to Love series from PSICOM have a more glitzy look to them, with glossier paper and better cover art, and cost P85-P150. Likewise, Summit Books' chick lit and teen lit novels have a trademark streamlined look, and usually cost P150. These novels are mostly targeted to ABC markets, and particularly young, single women.
Chick lit is defined by Mr. Gabriel as "a more diverse lifestyle for a young woman -- shopping, dating, kikay, all done with a bit of humor." Romance he sums up as "boy meets girl or just vice-versa." Speaking only for his publishing company, he said that chick lit is an emerging trend.
"Our Stupid Love series has been a bestseller wherein readers tell their love stories and problems and we try to give them advice on what to do. Blogs turned into books have also become successful wherein real bloggers try to tell all their love/sex experiences ( klitorika.com and jaypanti.blogspot.com)."
Next generation romance?
"Romance as a genre will never slack, although it's possible for their current medium to abate and evolve. At present, there are some publishers venturing towards e-romances. Since online novels have no restrictions, writers are given enough license on what types of erotic content can be included in their story," noted our friends from National Bookstore.
Not surprisingly, erotic content is a selling point for adult Romantic fiction; books with racy titles, said Bookware associate editor Apple Masallo, such as One Night Stand, actually sell better than the wholesome titles, never mind what's on the cover. There's a streak of conservatism in the local fare, although Mr. Gabriel said that if it's for a mature audience, anything sexual is allowed.
National Bookstore also ventured that even romances published two to three decades past already contained graphic and detailed sexual content, which contributes to salability. Still, the bookstore restricts itself from bringing in romances portraying acts that are still considered taboo, such as pedophilia, incest and bestiality.
There is also a movement towards more wholesome chick/teen lit. Since these are lumped together as light fiction catering to the same audience, they are competing more and more with romances, albeit the tendency in the former is to provide more of thrill (kilig) than titillation.
"Most off the chick lit books are romance novels also... I don't really know what the difference is. Chick lit is lighter, funnier, more entertaining, and it's very current, it has all these pop culture references," said Marla Miniano, writer of the three-part Every Girl's Guide series by Summit Books and assistant literary editor for Candy magazine, in a phone interview with BusinessWorld.
"Summit Books launched the first book in 2005, The Breakup Diaries... It's easy to read, it's fun. We publish magazines so we can't really go too far from that. It's something that people can pick up in their spare time and finish in a few hours on weekends at the beach. The word count I'm given is 25,000," she said. New titles are being released this month again, and the 23-year-old Ms. Miniano already has ideas brewing for another novel.
Her three published novels feature three distinct characters that are faithful to type nonetheless - the "super-good girl," the "smart, quirky girl," and in the latest book, the "party girl" as an anti-heroine that appeared in the first two books -- paired with a distinct set of boys. Developing relationships are not just Romantic but also filial, with the family playing a big role. They're wholesome books, even the most recently launched Every Girl's Guide to Flings, the last of the series with its clever tagline "Because even bad girls fall in love," does not contain anything explicit.
What got Ms. Miniano into writing was the realization that there was a dearth of teen-appropriate books in the young adult shelves, particularly locally published ones with characters that young Filipinas "can easily relate to and learn from." She made a point of accompanying her younger sister and screening the books first, only to find a lot of "sex and hooking up." This way, shes able to provide a few books deemed wholesome while addressing the sexual curiosity and emotional issues of young girls.
"In general, teens these days are growing up faster, do things earlier, party and meet boys at a very early age. I'm not sure if its because of media or if media is a reflection of what is going on. Because they are already living that lifestyle, if you give them a book that doesn't talk about boys and dating, they're not interested, they're not entertained...
"Local teens have never had a venue to express themselves. They were always too young to be taken seriously. But these days they're speaking up more (through blogs, technology), and we're noticing them better. It's only now that we're seeing how different they are from children, and we're realizing the need to give them reading material that's distinctly their own."
Makeover
As for the grownups? They're also chartering new territory via experiments with the Romantic formula. Some aren't as successful as expected, as in the case of PSICOM's Love to Love series adaptation, and Bookware's brief dabbling in historical romance. Yet they forge on.
"We try our best not be stagnant with our themes or plots. We encourage our writers to develop new and interesting scenes and explore different characters and storylines. We no longer read about just the typical Boss-Secretary or Artista-Fan romance or damsel-in-distress kind of plot. Readers now want their heroines to be strong, fiery, and aggressive in achieving what they want and they also want their heroes to be like that as well," said Ms. Medina.
As early as 2004, Ms. Bolasco had already mentioned in her article the importance of "books different groups of people will want to read and are accessible to them -- are there right where people are, are reasonably priced, and are enjoyable reads" in that they are well-written and well-designed. In her opinion, these should be "books not above people's heads but those which catch their fancy or captivate their imagination because they are useful, interesting, entertaining and profoundly satisfying, or a combination of all."
Romances are no different in their aims, but competition is fierce. Mr. Gabriel believes that the popularity of romance novels has started its downtrend as reflected by lower sales compared to the previous years, whereas the jokebooks, cookbooks, and horror books are still consistent bestsellers, along with the comics/manga genre in the PSICOM portfolio. Nevertheless he encourages romance writing.
"It's getting the Filipinos into the reading habit... It's just sad that some sectors put down Tagalog romance writers. Institutions are giving more priorities to university-bred writers whose only experience in writing is to please their writing professors -- not in pleasing the buying Filipino market. I hope that they can start to write to please the average Filipino reader, learn their preferences and what they want to read -- and become best-selling authors themselves," he said.
Ms. Miniano believes romance is here to stay. "I don't think [that the other genres are now stronger], even sci-fi and historic novels, they all have a touch of romance, almost all movies have a love story within. It will never go out of style, people like reading of love and talking about love," she said.
"Its affordability, its storylines, its creator (e.g. a best-selling author's particular writing style), and its ‘pa-tweetums' (cutesy) language" add to the popularity of romances, said Arnel N. Gabriel, Publisher of PSICOM Publishing Inc. "If the setting is in the barrio/province -- it's Tagalog. If the setting is in some coffee shop in Eastwood or Greenbelt -- definitely English."
"Those in the middle, upper bracket are also reading local romance books. But these are books written mostly in English with white, thick paper and with a cute drawing on its cover. The storylines are mostly about yuppies meeting their partners in the urban jungle. That's chick lit. They find those Tagalog romance novels printed on newsprint paper as ‘bakya' (tacky)," he added.
The non-Tagalog romances, love/dating advice books and even the Love to Love series from PSICOM have a more glitzy look to them, with glossier paper and better cover art, and cost P85-P150. Likewise, Summit Books' chick lit and teen lit novels have a trademark streamlined look, and usually cost P150. These novels are mostly targeted to ABC markets, and particularly young, single women.
Chick lit is defined by Mr. Gabriel as "a more diverse lifestyle for a young woman -- shopping, dating, kikay, all done with a bit of humor." Romance he sums up as "boy meets girl or just vice-versa." Speaking only for his publishing company, he said that chick lit is an emerging trend.
"Our Stupid Love series has been a bestseller wherein readers tell their love stories and problems and we try to give them advice on what to do. Blogs turned into books have also become successful wherein real bloggers try to tell all their love/sex experiences ( klitorika.com and jaypanti.blogspot.com)."
Next generation romance?
"Romance as a genre will never slack, although it's possible for their current medium to abate and evolve. At present, there are some publishers venturing towards e-romances. Since online novels have no restrictions, writers are given enough license on what types of erotic content can be included in their story," noted our friends from National Bookstore.
Not surprisingly, erotic content is a selling point for adult Romantic fiction; books with racy titles, said Bookware associate editor Apple Masallo, such as One Night Stand, actually sell better than the wholesome titles, never mind what's on the cover. There's a streak of conservatism in the local fare, although Mr. Gabriel said that if it's for a mature audience, anything sexual is allowed.
National Bookstore also ventured that even romances published two to three decades past already contained graphic and detailed sexual content, which contributes to salability. Still, the bookstore restricts itself from bringing in romances portraying acts that are still considered taboo, such as pedophilia, incest and bestiality.
There is also a movement towards more wholesome chick/teen lit. Since these are lumped together as light fiction catering to the same audience, they are competing more and more with romances, albeit the tendency in the former is to provide more of thrill (kilig) than titillation.
"Most off the chick lit books are romance novels also... I don't really know what the difference is. Chick lit is lighter, funnier, more entertaining, and it's very current, it has all these pop culture references," said Marla Miniano, writer of the three-part Every Girl's Guide series by Summit Books and assistant literary editor for Candy magazine, in a phone interview with BusinessWorld.
"Summit Books launched the first book in 2005, The Breakup Diaries... It's easy to read, it's fun. We publish magazines so we can't really go too far from that. It's something that people can pick up in their spare time and finish in a few hours on weekends at the beach. The word count I'm given is 25,000," she said. New titles are being released this month again, and the 23-year-old Ms. Miniano already has ideas brewing for another novel.
Her three published novels feature three distinct characters that are faithful to type nonetheless - the "super-good girl," the "smart, quirky girl," and in the latest book, the "party girl" as an anti-heroine that appeared in the first two books -- paired with a distinct set of boys. Developing relationships are not just Romantic but also filial, with the family playing a big role. They're wholesome books, even the most recently launched Every Girl's Guide to Flings, the last of the series with its clever tagline "Because even bad girls fall in love," does not contain anything explicit.
What got Ms. Miniano into writing was the realization that there was a dearth of teen-appropriate books in the young adult shelves, particularly locally published ones with characters that young Filipinas "can easily relate to and learn from." She made a point of accompanying her younger sister and screening the books first, only to find a lot of "sex and hooking up." This way, shes able to provide a few books deemed wholesome while addressing the sexual curiosity and emotional issues of young girls.
"In general, teens these days are growing up faster, do things earlier, party and meet boys at a very early age. I'm not sure if its because of media or if media is a reflection of what is going on. Because they are already living that lifestyle, if you give them a book that doesn't talk about boys and dating, they're not interested, they're not entertained...
"Local teens have never had a venue to express themselves. They were always too young to be taken seriously. But these days they're speaking up more (through blogs, technology), and we're noticing them better. It's only now that we're seeing how different they are from children, and we're realizing the need to give them reading material that's distinctly their own."
Makeover
As for the grownups? They're also chartering new territory via experiments with the Romantic formula. Some aren't as successful as expected, as in the case of PSICOM's Love to Love series adaptation, and Bookware's brief dabbling in historical romance. Yet they forge on.
"We try our best not be stagnant with our themes or plots. We encourage our writers to develop new and interesting scenes and explore different characters and storylines. We no longer read about just the typical Boss-Secretary or Artista-Fan romance or damsel-in-distress kind of plot. Readers now want their heroines to be strong, fiery, and aggressive in achieving what they want and they also want their heroes to be like that as well," said Ms. Medina.
As early as 2004, Ms. Bolasco had already mentioned in her article the importance of "books different groups of people will want to read and are accessible to them -- are there right where people are, are reasonably priced, and are enjoyable reads" in that they are well-written and well-designed. In her opinion, these should be "books not above people's heads but those which catch their fancy or captivate their imagination because they are useful, interesting, entertaining and profoundly satisfying, or a combination of all."
Romances are no different in their aims, but competition is fierce. Mr. Gabriel believes that the popularity of romance novels has started its downtrend as reflected by lower sales compared to the previous years, whereas the jokebooks, cookbooks, and horror books are still consistent bestsellers, along with the comics/manga genre in the PSICOM portfolio. Nevertheless he encourages romance writing.
"It's getting the Filipinos into the reading habit... It's just sad that some sectors put down Tagalog romance writers. Institutions are giving more priorities to university-bred writers whose only experience in writing is to please their writing professors -- not in pleasing the buying Filipino market. I hope that they can start to write to please the average Filipino reader, learn their preferences and what they want to read -- and become best-selling authors themselves," he said.
Ms. Miniano believes romance is here to stay. "I don't think [that the other genres are now stronger], even sci-fi and historic novels, they all have a touch of romance, almost all movies have a love story within. It will never go out of style, people like reading of love and talking about love," she said.
March 11, 2009
petition
REPOSTING Aemee's online petition
Dear ABS-CBN,
Ako po at ang iba pang RoseTanians ay nag tipon-tipon upang bumuo ng Dream Cast for your next teleserye hit, The Bud Brothers. Ang aming dream team po ay as follows
Book 1: STUPID CUPIDS
Book 5: He's The One
Book 6: Pepper's Roses
TO THE FANS: Kung nagustuhan niyo ang aming "love teams", please sign up! And spread the word! Mas maraming signatures, mas maririnig ito ng ABS-CBN. Salamat mga katoto!
Dear ABS-CBN,
Ako po at ang iba pang RoseTanians ay nag tipon-tipon upang bumuo ng Dream Cast for your next teleserye hit, The Bud Brothers. Ang aming dream team po ay as follows
Book 1: STUPID CUPIDS
JERICHO ROSALES as Vicente Banaag at KC CONCEPCION as Georgina Yulo.
Yung VINCE-GEORGIE tandem po kasi parang ang sosyal at ang simpleng magsasaka. Kaya po sana marinig ito ng ABS-CBN. Kasi po parang walang makakaisip na pag-team up in si KC at Jericho dahil ang random talaga. But that's what the characters calls for. Kung iisipin niyo naman po ay pumatok na ang ganyang team up noong araw. Wala ring nakaisip na pag-partnerin si Sharon Cuneta at Robin Padilla sa isang movie pero pumatok po sa box office ang MAGING SINO KA MAN. Dahil bagay po sila sa roles nila. Ganun din po ang tingin namin sa Jericho & KC love team. Hindi nga lang po bad boy si Vince/Jericho.
Book 2: My Golly, Wow Betsy!
SARAH GERONIMO as Betsy Panganiban & PIOLO PASCUAL as Wayne Alban.
Simple lang po ang rason namin sa tandem na ito. Kasi po si Piolo ay magaling mag-drama. Sa lahat po ng Bud Brothers si Wayne lang po ang may drama. Bagay rin po kay Piolo ang mga roles na tipong Tall, Dark, Handsome & Mysterious ang character. Si Sarah naman po ay magaling sa comedy at pang-masa po talaga. Kami pong mga tunay na fans ng Bud Brothers Series ay naniniwala kaming kayang gampanan ni Sarah Geronimo ang funny role ni Betsy.
Book 3: Tail You Lose, Head You're Mine
BEA ALONZO as "Tammy" and JOHN LLOYD CRUZ as "Pete"
Hindi po namin sila pinag-pareha dahil magka-"love team" na sila. Katulad po ng sabi namin noon, talaga pong pinag-papareho namin ang mga artista based on how they fit the characters. Nagkataon lang po na pareho silang nababagay sa role nina Tammy at Pete. Magaling po na actor si John Lloyd at naniniwala kaming fans na kaya niyang i-portray ang slightly complex character ni Pete (masungit na mabait na mama's boy). As for Bea naman po, kayang-kaya niya pong iportray ang pagiging "baliw" ni Tammy. Si Betty nga po eh, on the spot talaga ang portrayal niya..si Tammy pa kaya? Isang factor rin po kung bakit si Bea ang "Tammy" para sa amin ay dahil may chemistry din po siya kay Luis (who we have chosen to play D-ick):
At sana po katulad nang sa books yung D.i.c.k.-Tammy-Pete love triangle. Sa books po kasi hindi ganoon ka obvious na in love si D.i.c.k. kay Tammy, parang mapapa-isip lang po kayo as you read the book. Tapos na-confirm lang namin na talagang in love nga si D.ick kay Tammy sa dulo ng libro. Sana po makuha yung right amount of love triangle para hindi nakakabad-trip (sana wag masyadong i-drag, after all, the book is about Tammy & Pete's love story). Kasi po, ang role lang naman po ni D.ick sa book ay nandoon lang siya sa love triangle para matauhan si Pete. Saka mas nakakakilig po kasi yung ganoon.
Book 4: Red Roses For A Blue Lady
RYAN AGONCILLO as Carlo Domingo and PHOEMELA BARRANDA as Coco Artiaga
Heto po ang pinaka-favorite ko out of all the books in the series simply because the story is just so unique. Medyo nahirapan po kami maghanap ng artista na magpoportray sa role ni Coco. Kasi po one of the cutest and unforgettable thing about the Carlo-Coco love team is the height non-issue.
Sabi ko po noon si Luis ang gusto ko sa role ni Carlo kaso po, the other fans told me na hindi daw maari dahil masyadong matangkad. Si Ryan Agoncillo na lang daw po sa role ni Carlo kasi po talented naman si Mr. Agoncillo saka napanood po siya ng mga kasama ko sa MMK may role po siya doon na kamukha ng role ni Carlo, pang-masa talaga.. kaya carrying carry niya talaga po yung role ni Carlo Domingo. I've seen the clips and I agree with them.
As for Phoemela naman po, ang hirap maghanap ng Filipina actress na over 5'6 1/2 (Ryan Agoncillo is 5'6 1/2)! Si Phoemela lang po ang nakita namin kahit na she's only 5'8 pwede na po sa amin yun. 2 inches is better than nothing! Saka pwede naman pong mag-heels siya while filming para mas ma-emphasize pa yung height difference nila ni Carlo.
I really really love this book. And I know I'm not the only one. Marami pong may favorite kay Carlo dahil nga po he is not your typical paperback hero. At kahit ganoon ay nakaka-in love pa rin siya!
Heto po yung height list ng mga Bud Brothers na napili namin:
Vince/Jericho = 5'11
Wayne/Piolo = 5'10 1/2
Carlo/Ryan = 5'6 1/2
Pete/John Lloyd = 5'11
Ed/Zanjoe = 6' (take note, taga-Batangas siya talaga)
Rei/Deither = 5'10
Monty/Sam = 5'11
D-ick/Luis = 5'11
Book 5: He's The One
ANGEL LOCSIN as Hiromi "Lady Picachu" Santa Maria & ZANJOE MARUDO as Dr. Ed Lacson
Another random pairing po pero papatok po itong team up na ito. Kasi po just like the Jericho-KC team up, it's what the characters calls for. Si Dr. Ed Lacson po ay ang nag-iisang PhD holder na mukhang BOLD STAR at habulin ng mga matrona at bakla. No offense po kay Mr. Marudo pero mukha po siya talagang sexy star (in a good way!) kaya po sa tingin po naming mga fans ay babagayan siya talaga ng role na ito. Kahit naman po mukhang BOLD STAR si Doc Ed ay matalino naman!
As for Angel naman po, ang role po kasi ni Hiromi ay masungit na mukhang hapon (kaya po "Lady Picachu" ang tawag sa kanya ni Dr. Lacson). At the beginning of the books, talaga pong masungit siya at diring-diri kay Ed (dahil nga po parang macho dancer daw). Opposite attracts nga daw po kaya maganda po ang chemistry ng dalawang characters na ito.Book 6: Pepper's Roses
DIETHER OCAMPO as Reynaldo Arambulo a.k.a. Rei at TONY GONZAGA as Peppermint Nuque a.k.a. Pepper
Another pairing po based on how well the actors will fit the role. Yung pong character ni Rei ay very Type A. Mr. Ocampo is a very versatile actor plus he is also very good looking which we think will give the bland personality of Rei a little more life. Magaling po si Diether umarte kaya feeling po namin ay mabibigyan niya ng justice ang character ni Rei. Si Rei po kasi yung tipong super boring pero super adorable pa rin (nagiging romantic---as in nagiging Balagtas---po siya kapag in love). Kabaligtaran naman po ni Rei ang character ni Pepper. Kung gaano po ka-perfectionist at ka O.C. si Rei ay baligtarin niyo na lang at makukuha niyo na po ang character ni Peppermint. In the books, para po silang aso at pusa dahil laging nag-aaway. Tony is also a very good actress and comedienne. Isa po si Pepper sa pinaka-weird and funniest female heroine ni Rose Tan. The fans feel she will be able to portray the eccentric/funny side of this character really well.
Book 7: Once In A Lifetime Love
ALESSANDRA DE ROSSI as "Sabel" and SAM MILBY as "Monty"
Another random pairing. Para pong wala talagang makakaisip na pagpartnerin sina Alex & Sam sa isang teleserye kundi kaming mga fans. Sabel is described as being really skinny and morena. Physically, talaga pong si Ms. De Rossi ang nababagay sa character.Talented rin po si Alessandra at naniniwala po kaming mga fans na she can portray Sabel & her eccentricities. Half Spanish naman po si Monty. His mother is from Madrid. Kaya mestizo po siya. Physically, si Mr. Milby po ay talagang nababagay sa character na ito.Talented din po si Sam at naniniwala kaming kaya niyang i-portray ang pagiging sosyal na palikero ni Monty. Together, kahit po parang ang random talaga ng tandem sigurado po kaming mabibigyan nila ng justice ang characters therefore creating a very believable chemistry.
Book 8: Bewitched, Bothered, Bewildered
Napag-isip isipan ko rin na mas bagay nga po kay Mr. Manzano yung role ni D.i.c.k. lalo na po nung makita ko itong picture na ito (yung may ice cream). Yung character po kasi ni D.i.c.k. ay very sporty kahit matakaw. In the book, athlete po ng SEA games si D.i.c.k. Kaya po talagang babagay itong role kay Mr. Manzano. At sa mga characters po sa books sina Carlo at D.i.c.k. ang super nakakatawa talaga. Kaya po sana matupad itong dream cast namin cause we cannot imagine anyone else doing justice to these characters.
ANG AMING TANGING HILING
Sana po wag po nating pairalin kung ano ang "uso" na love team sa ngayon para sa cast ng Bud Brothers Series. Kung tutuusin po ay hindi naman talaga random ang pairings ng mga artista na pinag-partner namin for the books. We based our decision on the fact that these actors FIT the roles so well it would be impossible for them not to have any kind of chemistry with each other. Kung sa book nga po, napaka-opposite din ng mga leading characters pero naging BEST SELLERS. Ito pa po kayang TV Adaptation? Eh mas marami pong tao na nonood ng TV kaysa nagbabasa ng libro!
Isipin niyo na lang po, kung i-teateam up niyo po sina Jericho at KC, Sarah at Piolo, Angel at Zanjoe, Nikki at Luis.. marami ang ma-cucurious lalo na ang mga tao na hindi pa nakakaalam ng book series na ito. This would be something NEW. Something DIFFERENT from the rest of the teleseryes out there. Romantic Comedy po ang The Bud Brothers Series. Kung baga pang-masa po talaga. It has the same formula as the Boys Over Flowers of South Korea (na naging BIG HIT din po doon at sigurado po ako magiging HIT din sa Pilipinas. Congratulations po sa nakaisip na kunin ang rights to broadcast the drama sa ABS-CBN). Good looking TALENTED lead actors, Humor, Great Love Story na may konting drama (Book 2 & a little bit on Book 4). Ganoon lang po ang kailangan niyo para ma-addict ang mga tao. Matanda man po o bata, basta babae. Maaddict po diyan. Pagsamahin po ba si Piolo at Jericho at Diether sa isang teleserye kung saan silang tatlo ay mga bida? Tapos yung comedy po makaka-pull ng mga male viewers (alam ko po dahil may mga kakilala akong lalaki na nagbabasa ng Bud Brothers dahil nga po nakakatawa yung books).
At sana rin po ay may mga scenes ang bud brothers together. Katulad po ng sa book, kahit na naka-focus ang isang book sa isang love story, nag-jujump ung mga characters sa mga libro. Kailangan rin po un sa plot dahil yung story ni Book 3 at Book 8 ay may connection. **spoiler** D.i.c.k. was in love with Tammy who ended up with Pete. Super kinilig po ako dun! Nagsuntukan pa sila eh! haha..
ANYWAY, GOOD LUCK PO ABS-CBN! YOU'RE MY FAVORITE TV STATION (we're a subscriber in TFC) AND I'M REALLY HAPPY MY FAVORITE BOOK SERIES WILL BE A TELESERYE IN YOUR TV STATION. THANK YOU!!
Yours sincerely,
your BUILT-IN Audience, the FANS
(die hard fans po talaga. yung tipong kapag maganda po ang production ng book-tv adaptation ay kahit 10,000 pong commercials araw-araw ay ayos lang sa amin just to see the characters we have imagined in our heads for so long---finally be brought to life on TV)
TO THE FANS: Kung nagustuhan niyo ang aming "love teams", please sign up! And spread the word! Mas maraming signatures, mas maririnig ito ng ABS-CBN. Salamat mga katoto!
March 06, 2009
February 16, 2009
cited
Pinoy pop literature: Romancing in Tagalog
Pam Brooke A. Casin
In this day and age where J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter is the current poster icon of "elite" literature, where bookstores like Fully Booked have taken the country by storm, and where blogging has paved way to the rise of the new media and perhaps, literature, it is quite surprising to learn that even with all these advances, the cultural phenomenon that is Tagalog romance is still breathing in the country, leaping with the transition of time, swinging its way to patronizing readers, and carrying in it the traditions of Filipino culture.
Although considered by many as bakya and baduy, local romance novels have sustained their power over many years and have created a niche in the halls of Philippine culture alongside with the komiks (comics) of the past decades.
Liwayway Magazine, which had its maiden issue in 1923, is one of the predecessors of the Tagalog romance novel. Established by the late Don Ramon Roces, the oldest existing Tagalog magazine has been catering its pieces to the masses and showcasing ordinary human relations that people could easily identify with.
The emergence of the Tagalog serial novels in Liwayway Magazine and in some others set the stage for other fiction sub-genres, including the local romance novels of today which retails at an average of P30-40. Widely read all over the country, these 100- to 125-page pocketbooks with sensual and intimate graphic covers are patronized by people from all walks of life.
Perhaps, Precious Pages Corporation (PPC) is one of the more recognized publishers of these novels which started its business in 1992 at a time where many businesses have closed down due to an energy crisis in the country. Not feeling undermined by the energy crisis and the probable failure of their business attempt, Segundo Matias Jr. and Richard Reynante, two men from advertising, film, and television, gathered all their resources and came up with the book imprint Precious Hearts Romances (PHR). It was timely because "romance pocketbooks were gaining popularity among Filipino romantics, especially women."
Within five years since its birth, the company was able to pool a stable roster of romance writers, acquire printing machines, employ a core staff of mostly production workers, and rent a place for both its business office and printing office. Thereafter, book releases reached up to 25 titles per month, and PHR became the household name in the local romance scene.
Shortly after, PPC decided to organize summer writing workshops for aspiring romance novelists. With these workshops, the company was able to sift through potential writers and eventually adopt them to the growing pool of writers they had.
Love affair
Jernalie Dumapay, a journalism graduate, started falling in love with romance novels back in high school and had her first romance novel published at age 19 after she attended one of PHR's annual summer writing workshops. "It was never my plan to become a Tagalog romance writer," she explains. "I wanted to be a hard-hitting journalist, actually. But then I attended a PHR workshop and opted to try my luck with a manuscript. Before I knew it, I had myself published, and the rest is history." Now, she is considered as one of the most prolific writers of Precious Hearts.
It was almost in the same manner too that Almira Jose found herself writing for Precious Hearts. The psychology graduate got hooked with the foreign romance novel Sweet Dreams at age 10. She also devoured Harlequin and Mills and Boons during her high school and college days and swore by Tagalog romance pocketbooks. Upon entering the corporate world, Jose got busy with office work that she excused herself from her hobby of reading romance.
But the monotony of the corporate world got into her system, and she eventually lost appetite in working and began complaining of being confined in the formulaic, corporate box altogether, frequently absenting herself from office and coming in late if and when she decided to give her conventional work another chance. Soon, Jose quit her job and passed two manuscripts to Precious Hearts. She was rejected at her first two attempts. Unnerved by rejections, Jose had her first romance novel published in 2003 under Precious Hearts.
The withstanding love affair of writers and readers alike with these novels may just lie in its ability to recreate romance and folly all in the context of an expected happy ending.
Keeping it real
Writers say the parochial approach of the genre has something to do with the plot of any typical romance. Many agree that reading these novels has the same effects as when one watches a movie--it instantly gratifies and warms the heart. In an interview with web writer Amadis Ma. Guerrero, Tess Parayno claims she writes romance novels patterned to the guidelines of her publishing company.
"The narrative must be fast-paced, truthful, and all the more realistic," tells Parayno. She explains that romance novels must not border on the whimsical so that readers can relate to the storyline and may find themselves in place of the
characters themselves. It is as good as saying that the characters and the plot must be believable and credible enough so that the novel subsumes the readers.
And since the main purpose of romance novels is to entertain audiences, sensitive issues like terrorism, politics, or religion should not be discussed in the local novel along with long narratives. Likewise, Parayno believes that every Tagalog romance novel should have in itself a "redeeming factor" which comes into play at the end of every story. "For instance, if the protagonist is a villain, he should reform by the end of the novel," says Parayno.
Some novelists, on the other hand, feel the need to inform their audiences and not just resort to plain entertainment. While the main purpose of local novels is to entertain, writers should make it a point to research well, lest they want to insult readers. A novel should not intimidate readers but educate and entertain them.
An air of mystery
One difference of Tagalog romance from Western romance novels is its use of highly romanticized language unlike the graphic and explicit tools Western writers use. In the country, most novels have to pass a certain standard of morality. Writers follow ethical guidelines set by their publishing company.
The use of pseudonyms is apparent in almost all romance novels. Almost all romance fictionists make this seem the rule of thumb rather an anomaly.
Dumapay reasons, "Para kapag hindi bumenta ang mga gawa ng writer sa isang pen name o kapag hindi bumenta ang pen name, pwedeng magbagong-buhay ang isang writer gamit ang panibagong pen name at magsulat ulit."
Flawed
However, these novels written in conversational and informal Tagalog and Taglish have always been mocked. Part of the reason for this is probably the use of the local language as the primary mode of communication in the genre. It is with this usage that most elite Filipinos and critics alike mock the genre--regarding the local novel as trash and embracing all the more literature written in English.
The apparent competition among Filipino writers and foreign ones adds up to the problem of the Filipino language deemed by many as an illegitimate medium of literature in the country.
Ultimately, there are many flaws that critics and careful and choosy readers see and notice about the genre itself. The eminent predictability of the Tagalog romance novel plot dissuades critical readers from accepting wholly the genre. Its stereotypical portrayal of the damsel-in-distress lead and the overtones of the male leads are also much to blame. Also, the typographical and grammatical errors found in some poorly edited romance novel accord to the lack of seriousness granted to the genre.
Here to stay
One of the literati observes "there is no specific novel that stands out like a banned book the masses can call their own. When it comes to works written in Filipino, we could really use a poster boy, the equivalent of Harry Potter, that will sweep the masses off their feet and yet be similarly embraced by the literati."
Not perfect as they are, more often than not predictable, fairly conventional and all the more cheesy and tacky, the Tagalog romance novels have survived more than the average Filipino comics and are here to stay. Their staying power is sure a mystery to some, but for as long as the readers demand their dose of romance from publishing companies and writers as well, people can be very sure that in one way or the other, a romance novel either from their local convenience store or from some sidewalk in Divisoria and Recto will undoubtedly ooze its way in--bringing Filipino culture and tradition within their reach and bridging time through musings of the heart.
Pam Brooke A. Casin
In this day and age where J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter is the current poster icon of "elite" literature, where bookstores like Fully Booked have taken the country by storm, and where blogging has paved way to the rise of the new media and perhaps, literature, it is quite surprising to learn that even with all these advances, the cultural phenomenon that is Tagalog romance is still breathing in the country, leaping with the transition of time, swinging its way to patronizing readers, and carrying in it the traditions of Filipino culture.
Although considered by many as bakya and baduy, local romance novels have sustained their power over many years and have created a niche in the halls of Philippine culture alongside with the komiks (comics) of the past decades.
Liwayway Magazine, which had its maiden issue in 1923, is one of the predecessors of the Tagalog romance novel. Established by the late Don Ramon Roces, the oldest existing Tagalog magazine has been catering its pieces to the masses and showcasing ordinary human relations that people could easily identify with.
The emergence of the Tagalog serial novels in Liwayway Magazine and in some others set the stage for other fiction sub-genres, including the local romance novels of today which retails at an average of P30-40. Widely read all over the country, these 100- to 125-page pocketbooks with sensual and intimate graphic covers are patronized by people from all walks of life.
Perhaps, Precious Pages Corporation (PPC) is one of the more recognized publishers of these novels which started its business in 1992 at a time where many businesses have closed down due to an energy crisis in the country. Not feeling undermined by the energy crisis and the probable failure of their business attempt, Segundo Matias Jr. and Richard Reynante, two men from advertising, film, and television, gathered all their resources and came up with the book imprint Precious Hearts Romances (PHR). It was timely because "romance pocketbooks were gaining popularity among Filipino romantics, especially women."
Within five years since its birth, the company was able to pool a stable roster of romance writers, acquire printing machines, employ a core staff of mostly production workers, and rent a place for both its business office and printing office. Thereafter, book releases reached up to 25 titles per month, and PHR became the household name in the local romance scene.
Shortly after, PPC decided to organize summer writing workshops for aspiring romance novelists. With these workshops, the company was able to sift through potential writers and eventually adopt them to the growing pool of writers they had.
Love affair
Jernalie Dumapay, a journalism graduate, started falling in love with romance novels back in high school and had her first romance novel published at age 19 after she attended one of PHR's annual summer writing workshops. "It was never my plan to become a Tagalog romance writer," she explains. "I wanted to be a hard-hitting journalist, actually. But then I attended a PHR workshop and opted to try my luck with a manuscript. Before I knew it, I had myself published, and the rest is history." Now, she is considered as one of the most prolific writers of Precious Hearts.
It was almost in the same manner too that Almira Jose found herself writing for Precious Hearts. The psychology graduate got hooked with the foreign romance novel Sweet Dreams at age 10. She also devoured Harlequin and Mills and Boons during her high school and college days and swore by Tagalog romance pocketbooks. Upon entering the corporate world, Jose got busy with office work that she excused herself from her hobby of reading romance.
But the monotony of the corporate world got into her system, and she eventually lost appetite in working and began complaining of being confined in the formulaic, corporate box altogether, frequently absenting herself from office and coming in late if and when she decided to give her conventional work another chance. Soon, Jose quit her job and passed two manuscripts to Precious Hearts. She was rejected at her first two attempts. Unnerved by rejections, Jose had her first romance novel published in 2003 under Precious Hearts.
The withstanding love affair of writers and readers alike with these novels may just lie in its ability to recreate romance and folly all in the context of an expected happy ending.
Keeping it real
Writers say the parochial approach of the genre has something to do with the plot of any typical romance. Many agree that reading these novels has the same effects as when one watches a movie--it instantly gratifies and warms the heart. In an interview with web writer Amadis Ma. Guerrero, Tess Parayno claims she writes romance novels patterned to the guidelines of her publishing company.
"The narrative must be fast-paced, truthful, and all the more realistic," tells Parayno. She explains that romance novels must not border on the whimsical so that readers can relate to the storyline and may find themselves in place of the
characters themselves. It is as good as saying that the characters and the plot must be believable and credible enough so that the novel subsumes the readers.
And since the main purpose of romance novels is to entertain audiences, sensitive issues like terrorism, politics, or religion should not be discussed in the local novel along with long narratives. Likewise, Parayno believes that every Tagalog romance novel should have in itself a "redeeming factor" which comes into play at the end of every story. "For instance, if the protagonist is a villain, he should reform by the end of the novel," says Parayno.
Some novelists, on the other hand, feel the need to inform their audiences and not just resort to plain entertainment. While the main purpose of local novels is to entertain, writers should make it a point to research well, lest they want to insult readers. A novel should not intimidate readers but educate and entertain them.
An air of mystery
One difference of Tagalog romance from Western romance novels is its use of highly romanticized language unlike the graphic and explicit tools Western writers use. In the country, most novels have to pass a certain standard of morality. Writers follow ethical guidelines set by their publishing company.
The use of pseudonyms is apparent in almost all romance novels. Almost all romance fictionists make this seem the rule of thumb rather an anomaly.
Dumapay reasons, "Para kapag hindi bumenta ang mga gawa ng writer sa isang pen name o kapag hindi bumenta ang pen name, pwedeng magbagong-buhay ang isang writer gamit ang panibagong pen name at magsulat ulit."
Flawed
However, these novels written in conversational and informal Tagalog and Taglish have always been mocked. Part of the reason for this is probably the use of the local language as the primary mode of communication in the genre. It is with this usage that most elite Filipinos and critics alike mock the genre--regarding the local novel as trash and embracing all the more literature written in English.
The apparent competition among Filipino writers and foreign ones adds up to the problem of the Filipino language deemed by many as an illegitimate medium of literature in the country.
Ultimately, there are many flaws that critics and careful and choosy readers see and notice about the genre itself. The eminent predictability of the Tagalog romance novel plot dissuades critical readers from accepting wholly the genre. Its stereotypical portrayal of the damsel-in-distress lead and the overtones of the male leads are also much to blame. Also, the typographical and grammatical errors found in some poorly edited romance novel accord to the lack of seriousness granted to the genre.
Here to stay
One of the literati observes "there is no specific novel that stands out like a banned book the masses can call their own. When it comes to works written in Filipino, we could really use a poster boy, the equivalent of Harry Potter, that will sweep the masses off their feet and yet be similarly embraced by the literati."
Not perfect as they are, more often than not predictable, fairly conventional and all the more cheesy and tacky, the Tagalog romance novels have survived more than the average Filipino comics and are here to stay. Their staying power is sure a mystery to some, but for as long as the readers demand their dose of romance from publishing companies and writers as well, people can be very sure that in one way or the other, a romance novel either from their local convenience store or from some sidewalk in Divisoria and Recto will undoubtedly ooze its way in--bringing Filipino culture and tradition within their reach and bridging time through musings of the heart.
February 15, 2009
thanks zafina for the heads up :)
ABS-CBN partners with Precious Heart Romances
In its tradition of bringing the best drama series on television, ABS-CBN has partnered with Precious Heart Romances in coming up with teleserye based on well-loved romance novels. The Kapamilya network and one of the leading publishers of romance pocket books have signed the deal last February 12. Present in the contract signing were ABS-CBN Head for TV Production Cory V. Vidanes, Direk Lauren Dyogi Precious Heart Romances Publisher Jun Matias, and Precious Heart Editor-in-Chief Edith Garcia.
Direk Lauren will be spearheading this project and he talked about what viewers can expect from these stories. "First time ito for ABS-CBN that we acquired lots of titles para gawing teleserye. Gagawin natin ang 'Bud Brothers' na isinulat ni Rose Tan at 'Kristine' na isinulat ni Martha Cecilia. Usong uso naman ngayon 'yung libro na ginagawang TV series o pelikula tulad ng Harry Potter at Twilight. Maraming elemento sa libro ang sigurado akong magugustuhan ng mga tao kapag napanood nila sa TV. 'Yung mga libro nina Rose Tan, Martha Cecilia, at iba pang writers, binabasa mo pa lang nakikita mo na kung paano siya lalabas sa telebisyon. Ang lakas ng kilig, ng romance element, kaya maraming makaka-relate."
Publisher Jun Matias said that he is honored with the trust that ABS-CBN gave to their books. "Masaya kami. Noong una pa lang, sa 18 years ng Precious Heart, nakikita ko nang may potential ang mga books namin na magawa into TV or movie. I think now it's about time kasi malaki talaga ang market ng romance pocket books. Hindi ako naniniwalang hindi nagbabasa ang Pinoy kasi ang sales namin sa Precious Heart, kahit wala kaming promo, bumebenta kami. Also most of Hollywood films ngayon based na rin sa mga books. Ngayon may market na ang mga books namin, confident kami at ang ABS-CBN na may makukuha market sa TV."
Matias added that he is very confident ABS-CBN will do justice in translating their pocket book stories into teleserye. "We trust ABS-CBN. Malaki na ang napatunayan nila. Thankful din naman kami that ABS-CBN trusted us. Of course may mga technicalities na dapat i-adjust pero open naman kami doon. Basta nandun pa rin 'yung essence ng story which I'm sure hindi pababayaan ng ABS-CBN."
Keep it here on www.ABS-CBN.com for more updates as Precious Heart Romances makes it TV debut very soon.
November 12, 2008
one more time - another reprint
ALL I WANT IS MY GIRL CHRISTMAS
Palibhasa ipinanganak ng araw ng Pasko, likas na kay Christmas, aka Cee-cee, ang pagiging matulungin sa kapwa niya. She was sunny, cheerful and merry. Wala nang lalambot pa sa puso niya. Hindi siya marunong magalit at minsan sa isang taon lang kung sumimangot siya. She was forever an optimist and a living and breathing good Samaritan. Sa katunayan, isa siyang volunteer sa isang foundation na kumakalinga sa mga batang palabuy-laboy sa kalsada.
But one December morning, hindi batang palaboy kundi isang lalaking hindi na makahinga sa sobrang atake ng hika at may gabundok na galit sa mundo ang sinagip niya—si Luigi Arellano. He was grouchy, grumpy and testy. Katumbas nito ang sampung old maids na may PMS. Aktibong miyembro ito ng Samahan ng mga Bato ang Puso, record holder ng kasungitan, at nuknukan ng kasupladuhan.
Akala ni Cee-cee, iyon lang ang tulong na maibibigay niya kay Luigi. Pero hindi pala. Kailangan niyang turuan itong magmahal uli.
Would love blossom between Miss Big Heart and Mr. Truckload of Emotional Baggage?
September 23, 2008
unforgotten
Just a little backgrounder, although Unforgotten Love wasn't my first published novel, it was the very story I wrote. It was rejected TWICE before finally getting the okay. Years later, it's out on the shelves again. I'm honored and flattered that my publisher chose to reprint it.
Punung-puno ng insecurity ang buhay ni Laurice. At sinisisi niya ang kanyang ina dahil doon. Sa buong buhay niya ay hindi niya naramdaman ang pagmamahal nito.
Nang makilala niya si Basti ay biglang nagkakulay ang kanyang mundo. She fell in love with him the first time she saw him. Lalo pa siyang natuwa nang malaman niya na may katugon din ang damdaming iyon. Pinunan ng pag-ibig nito ang mga puwang sa kanyang puso na nilikha ng kanyang mama.
Ngunit bumalik ang insecurity niya nang pasukin nito ang mundo ng musika. Alam niya kung gaano ka-demanding ang ganoong propesyon. But she was ready to sacrifice. Ayaw niyang agawin ang kaligayahang nakikita niya rito kapag umaawit ito.
Subalit may natuklasan siya. Tila hindi lang career nito ang kaagaw niya sa atensiyon nito...
Mahirap para kay Laurice ang paglimot kay Basti; ngunit kailangan niyang gawin iyon, gaano man kalaki ang pag-ibig niya rito. Marahil nga ay hanggang doon na lang sila. She had to move on with her life.
But when she had finally gotten over the pain of losing him, saka naman ito nagbalik sa Pilipinas. Sa pagkikita nilang muli, nais sana niyang sumbatan ito sa ginawa nito noon. Pero inunahan siya nito ng galit na para bang siya ang may kasalanan kung bakit sila nagkahiwalay. Lalo pa at may nadiskubre ito sa kanya na inakala nitong matagal niyang inilihim dito.
Alam niya sa sariling mahal pa rin niya ito. Pero kaya pa ba niyang magtiwala? Isa pa, kaya ba niyang buwagin ang pader na iniharang nito sa sarili?
September 05, 2008
overthinking again
Camilla and I were talking yada-yada last Saturday when out of the blue I asked her how long does she sit in front of the PC. Translated, this question meant how many hours in a day does she spend writing. The answer she gave me was this: "Halos hindi na ako tumatayo."
Grabe. No wonder she's last years second most prolific writer. This year she claims that she'll get number one. I believe her. Last year her output was in the fifties. Now I'm sure it'll be in the sixties. A far cry from my pathetic six! Boo-hoo me. Really pathetic and I hate myself with a capital H for it.
I wanted to tell her, "Ako rin naman."
This is true. In any given day I spend close to 16 hours in front of the PC. The sad difference between us is that my short attention span prevents me from making those 16 hours as productive as I would want them to be. Focus is something lacking in my genes. I'm not exaggerating about this. Even if I'm only chatting with my friends, I jump from one topic to another without being aware of it. ADD? I guess so. Sometimes I even think I have Asperger's Syndrome. But then again, that's probably just the hypochondriac in me talking.
There's this phenomenon they call creative trance or lucid dreaming. I've experienced this. Any creative writer, esp. the prolific, I'm sure have been through one. The thing with me is whenever I find myself in this state, I tend to doze off. Pray tell, how then will I be able to write when I'm asleep?
To combat this, I drink coffee. Loads and loads of coffee--hence the insomnia. Or energy drinks. RIght now I have three bottles of Cobra chilling in the fridge for later, hehe. The only problem is, when my head's buzzing with caffeine, I find it difficult to dive into the writing zone.
My oh my, what a nasty cycle I've managed to weave myself into.
August 06, 2008
April 19, 2008
another interesting read
Ang kuwento sa likod ng romansa
BAKYA.
Ito ang karaniwang persepsyon sa Tagalog romance pocketbooks. Ilan-ilan na rin ang nagsasabi, partikular na sa akademya, na nakakapurol ng kasanayan sa pagbasa at panlasa sa “mas mataas na sining” ang pagkahumaling rito.
Gayon man, bakas pa rin sa mga mukha ng mga mambabasa ang kilig at kasiyahan sa pagbabasa ng mga nobelang tila pabalat at pangalan lamang ng mga karakter ang nagbabago. Hindi rin maikakaila na sa kabila ng pagdaan ng panahon at paglabas ng mga alternatibong libangan, nananatiling malakas ang industriyang ito.
Read the rest of the article here
BAKYA.
Ito ang karaniwang persepsyon sa Tagalog romance pocketbooks. Ilan-ilan na rin ang nagsasabi, partikular na sa akademya, na nakakapurol ng kasanayan sa pagbasa at panlasa sa “mas mataas na sining” ang pagkahumaling rito.
Gayon man, bakas pa rin sa mga mukha ng mga mambabasa ang kilig at kasiyahan sa pagbabasa ng mga nobelang tila pabalat at pangalan lamang ng mga karakter ang nagbabago. Hindi rin maikakaila na sa kabila ng pagdaan ng panahon at paglabas ng mga alternatibong libangan, nananatiling malakas ang industriyang ito.
Read the rest of the article here
interesting read
while bloghopping, i came across this site
http://gladyegimena.blogspot.com/2008/04/undying-romance.html
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my comment on the post pending approval
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http://gladyegimena.blogspot.com/2008/04/undying-romance.html
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my comment on the post pending approval
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isang malugod na pagbati sa iyo bb. gladi. una sa lahat, gusto kong magpasalamat sa iyo at ibinahagi mo ang mga pananaw mo tungkol sa paksang ito.
kung iyong mamarapatin, gusto ko lang sanang ibahagi ang mga saloobin ko.
nakakalungkot isipin na sadyang marami ang bumabatikos sa panitikan ng tagalog romance. sang-ayon ako sa punto mo hinggil sa grammar, spelling atbp. lalong bumababa ang impresyon ng mga mambabasa/kritiko sa TR dahil sa mga nabanggit. isang konkretong halimbawa itong blog na ito mula sa isang dismayadong mamabasa.
mapunta naman tayo sa mga nabanggit mo hinggil sa kontento ng istorya. sa pagkakaintindi ko, hindi ka nasisiyahan dahil hindi mo makuhang "maglaro" sa iyong panulat. ngunit sa iyo na rin nanggaling na ang romance genre ay may sinusundang formula. kaya malamang ay nauunawaan mo ang dahilan kung bakit nililimitahan tayo ng mga publishers.
masasabing ang formula na ito ay hango lamang sa formula na ginagamit sa ibang bansa. formula na nakasanayan na at inaasahan na ng mga mambabasa. pinili nating magsulat ng romance--genre writing ang romance--samakatuwid pinili nating
isailalim ang panulat natin sa mga pamantayan ng genre na ito.
sa isang banda, may nabasa na akong mga libro kung saan lumihis sa formula ang manunulat (halimbawa: rape o phedophile victim ang bida) at sa tingin ko ay epektibo naman ang kinalabasan ng kuwento. suma-tutal, nasa paraan ng paghilot ng plot ang kasagutan.
ngunit ang paglihis sa kahon sa puntong mamatay ang bida o hindi magkakatuluyan ang mga bida, sa palagay ko ay ibang usapan na iyon. hindi na maaaring ikategorya sa kombensyonal na romance genre ang kuwento. huwag nating kalimutan na hindi talaga maaaring mawala ang HEA sa romance genre.
kung gusto nating magsulat ng kuwentong kakaiba, huwag nating asahan na malilimbag ito sa ilalim ng tagalog romance kung sadyang hindi ito maaaring ikategorya sa naturang genre.
marami pa sana akong gustong sabihin ngunit gahol na ako sa oras. kaya bilang panghuli, gusto ko lang sanang ipunto/ipaalala na ang romance genre sa kabuoan ay nagsisilbing behikulo ng mambabasa upang makalimot kahit pansumandali sa realidad ng buhay. kaya naman tungkulin natin bilang manunulat ng genre na ito ay tulungan silang makamit ang hangad nila.
peace :)
December 22, 2007
November 02, 2007
back to back
congrats sis!
too bad you weren't able to make into a series like you originally planned... sayang
and it's a good thing too that our plan of me continuing where you left off didnt push thru.. a back to back is a tough act to follow. just think, after having back to back RCs and then in comes my toka and then it turns out to be a dud. yikes! nakaka-dyahe
again congrats, so proud of you!!
too bad you weren't able to make into a series like you originally planned... sayang
and it's a good thing too that our plan of me continuing where you left off didnt push thru.. a back to back is a tough act to follow. just think, after having back to back RCs and then in comes my toka and then it turns out to be a dud. yikes! nakaka-dyahe
again congrats, so proud of you!!
June 14, 2007
i sway you not
Interesting read, this post
I agree with his POV on TR, at least the part where he said and to quote: "there's no one specific novel that stands out like a banned book the masses can call their own."
Why could this be? Allow me to give you my take.
If one is in search of a media that promulgates social awareness, then one should turn his head away from TR novels, else expect to be disappointed. The thrust of TR as a genre is to entertain. It is what the readers were counting on when they willingly shelled out their precious thirty-five bucks. It is what we as writers aim to deliver so as not to disappoint. Can I put it any more succinctly than that?
If you are writer and your aim is to heighten social awareness and you decide take TR as an avenue (since unarguably it is being read by a better number of the reading public), you must be prepared to write within the confines of the genre's "box" whilst putting your point across.
I know of others who have tried particularly during the onset of genre in the early nineties. Unfortunately, they did not succeed to "stand out like a banned book the masses can call their own" as the Bibliophile Stalker so colorfully puts it.
Again, here we are back with the why. To reiterate, readers of the genre expect to be entertained. They expect to escape from the all too harsh reality. They expect to be transported to a make believe world where everything ends happily ever after. A world where each hero gets the price of love everlasting at each end, and so on and so forth.
Such being the case, is it any wonder why readers bent on diversion would turn a blind eye on the underlying social theme (subtly or not so subtly) meshed in with the story?
I agree with his POV on TR, at least the part where he said and to quote: "there's no one specific novel that stands out like a banned book the masses can call their own."
Why could this be? Allow me to give you my take.
If one is in search of a media that promulgates social awareness, then one should turn his head away from TR novels, else expect to be disappointed. The thrust of TR as a genre is to entertain. It is what the readers were counting on when they willingly shelled out their precious thirty-five bucks. It is what we as writers aim to deliver so as not to disappoint. Can I put it any more succinctly than that?
If you are writer and your aim is to heighten social awareness and you decide take TR as an avenue (since unarguably it is being read by a better number of the reading public), you must be prepared to write within the confines of the genre's "box" whilst putting your point across.
I know of others who have tried particularly during the onset of genre in the early nineties. Unfortunately, they did not succeed to "stand out like a banned book the masses can call their own" as the Bibliophile Stalker so colorfully puts it.
Again, here we are back with the why. To reiterate, readers of the genre expect to be entertained. They expect to escape from the all too harsh reality. They expect to be transported to a make believe world where everything ends happily ever after. A world where each hero gets the price of love everlasting at each end, and so on and so forth.
Such being the case, is it any wonder why readers bent on diversion would turn a blind eye on the underlying social theme (subtly or not so subtly) meshed in with the story?
March 18, 2007
2007 phr fan's day
Kahapon ginanap ang fan's day ng phr at sa sm san lazaro ang venue. successful naman ang pagtitipon, kaya lang sobrang nakaka-conscious. pinaupo kasi nila kami sa harapan tapos nakatutok sa amin yung spotlight. ang init ha, kahit naka-aircon kasi nga nasa loob ng mall, ang init pa din. tapos pinagsalita pa nila kami sa mic... traumatic! sobrang hindi ko alam ang sasabihin ko. hindi ko naman kasi napaghandaan ‘yon. tapos never ko talagang nakawilihan ang magsalita sa harap ng maraming tao. i'm shy eh (seriously). nag-auto mode na lang tuloy ang utak ko. hindi ko na maalala yung mga pinagsasabi ko doon.
ang pinaka-hindi ko makakalimutan ay yung flowers na binigay sa akin ni marge. sobrang unexpected, sobrang nakaka-tats. kamuntik na nga akong maluha eh (seriously ulit)… thank you marge. ang sweet mo, as in :)
bale, nagsimula ang kaganapan dakong alas tres ng hapon at natapos bandang alas sais. sinabay na rin nila yung launching ng phr website. tapos in-introduce din yung gold card ng precious stores. masaya sya. ewan ko sa iba pero ako, nag-enjoy ako. may song numbers. kumanta si jessie ng editorial tsaka si amanda (the writer) tapos dalawang fan (rowena & icah)… may parlor games pa, may raffle, may question and answer, tsaka siyempre book signing. ang host eh isang nilalang na kung tawagin ay richard agtaparap.
click n'yo ITO. nandiyan ang ilang pictures nung event. kung isa kayo sa mga mukhang naririyan at gusto n'yo ng kopya ng picture, e-mail n'yo lang ako, papadalhan ko kayo ng mas malinaw na kopya, okie?... almirajose@gmail.com
ang pinaka-hindi ko makakalimutan ay yung flowers na binigay sa akin ni marge. sobrang unexpected, sobrang nakaka-tats. kamuntik na nga akong maluha eh (seriously ulit)… thank you marge. ang sweet mo, as in :)
bale, nagsimula ang kaganapan dakong alas tres ng hapon at natapos bandang alas sais. sinabay na rin nila yung launching ng phr website. tapos in-introduce din yung gold card ng precious stores. masaya sya. ewan ko sa iba pero ako, nag-enjoy ako. may song numbers. kumanta si jessie ng editorial tsaka si amanda (the writer) tapos dalawang fan (rowena & icah)… may parlor games pa, may raffle, may question and answer, tsaka siyempre book signing. ang host eh isang nilalang na kung tawagin ay richard agtaparap.
click n'yo ITO. nandiyan ang ilang pictures nung event. kung isa kayo sa mga mukhang naririyan at gusto n'yo ng kopya ng picture, e-mail n'yo lang ako, papadalhan ko kayo ng mas malinaw na kopya, okie?... almirajose@gmail.com
ps. singit ko lang. MARIE if you're reading this, i wore the pants you gave me sa event :)
February 23, 2007
January 27, 2007
asked and answered
Here's another questionnaire sent to me.
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I. Personal Information
II. On authorship, audience and the writing craft
1. When did you begin to have the passion for writing?
2003. I have always been a fan of the romance genre. When I found I wasn’t happy doing what I was doing anymore, I thought about trying my hand at writing.
2. Who/what are your writing influences?
No one and nothing specific. I get my ideas from the books I read or the shows I see or the people I interact with and encounter
3. What practices and activities (e.g. day-to-day writing regimen, writing workshops, etc) do you undertake to polish your craft?
I read a lot. From time to time I browse how-to articles here in the net. I am also a part of a mailing list where we (fellow writers) exchange views about the craft.
4. Do you undergo writing workshops? How many times? What are the activities involved in the workshop process? (You can briefly tell a bit about your experience)
I attended an in-house workshop early in my writing career. It was a four day affair which tackled mostly the technical side of things. I picked up a lot but I know I can learn more that’s why I have plans to attend more workshops in the future. Unfortunately, workshops specific to the genre are a rarity here.
5. How many books do you publish in a year?
A meager twelve or so. That’s about a book a month. I’m way behind my contemporaries who publish twenty plus or so a year.
6. How much does a writer earn per publication? How much do you earn in a year? (Estimates are accepted)
Depends on the publication, some pay as little as one thousand per manuscript to about seven thousand. I’m talking about entry rate here. In Precious, the publication which I write for, their rates vary depending on the seniority /salability of the writer
7. Who are the people you expect to read your novels? (Or, who are the people you intend to write for?) Middle class, female, with some college, late teens to late thirties.
8. Do you personally know the readers of your novels? Who are they? (Please be specific as possible: age, gender, social status, education, job, etc) same answer as above
III. On creating stories in the style of Tagalog romance
1. Why do you choose to write Tagalog romance novels?
I grew up reading romance books. Its something I enjoy doing and haven’t outgrown. Writing romance in my native vernacular seemed like the natural progression.
2. How would you describe your writing style?
Definitely not category romance. My conflicts are usually light and I rarely do heavy drama.
3. Where do you draw inspiration in creating stories? Creating characters? (You can cite other media forms like movies or magazines). I favor light romantic comedies and coming of age stories in films. In TV, I watch a lot of talk shows (Oprah, Ellen, Dr. Phil, Jay, Conan, etc.), sitcoms, and dramas (Grey’s, House, Desperate etc). One way or another, they’ve rubbed off on my writing. Magazines help me some too particularly in terms of keeping myself abreast with fashion/food/lifestyle trends but I rarely read them.
4. Who are the authors that you read that serve as inspiration for writing your novels?
Foreign – mostly Aussie Harlequin/M&B romance authors ie. Emma Darcy, Helen Bianchin and the like. I prefer them over Brit (too formal) and American (too casual).
Local - Rose Tan (for her comedic, laugh-out-loud approach) and Vanessa (for her tug at the heart until you weep approach)
5. Who are other Tagalog romance writers that you read?
The two authors I mentioned above and some others, usually those that give me complimentary copies of their work.
6. How would you compare your style and your stories to the Tagalog romance novels of earlier decades? Lighter now, less drama of the tele-soap kind. The women are more empowered. They have careers and they wont just cry and whittle away when faced with a problem.
7. Do you employ comedy/humor in your stories? Why do you think humor is necessary in a romantic story? Yes. Sometimes. It’s easier to write, at least in my case because heavy conflict isn’t my strongest suit. I believe it’s easier to read also.
8. Do you follow a standard formula or storyline? How would you describe it?
Yes. The romance genre by nature is formulaic. Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl in the end.
9. Have there been instances where you deviated from this formula? How did your editor and readers react?
No. The “Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl in the end” formula is a standard to the romance genre. Without this, the novel cannot be considered as such. Chick lit on the other hand, doesn’t follow this formula. The heroine in a chick lit novel at the start of the story posses flaws typical to what women today have (ie. Shopping to fill a void as in the case of Kinsella’s series, low self-worth as in Bridgette Jones Diary). Flaws that they overcome or realize and work on in the end. As the story progresses, the characters here “grow” so to speak. The romantic plot in chick lit play second fiddle or not at all.
IV. Conceiving/conceptualizing the “modern girl”
1. What kinds of women (heroines, supporting characters) are portrayed in your stories?
Usually mid twenties to early thirties, they have careers, they have good values, not slutty, not wimps.
2. How is your Tagalog romance heroine different from the Tagalog romance heroine of the earlier decades (such as the heroines of Gilda Olvidado)? I’m guessing, less of a martyr and more of a go getter.
3. Do you create women heroines that have to be admired by your readers (because they set good examples)? My characters aren’t perfect because in reality no one is. They have quirks, they have weaknesses, but all in all, they’re good people. Instead of ‘to-be-admired’, I’d go for ‘that reader’s can relate to.’
4. In your view, what makes a "modern girl"? What is her profile?
Please refer to my answers to questions 1-thru-3 in this section.
5. What kinds of values and beliefs does a modern girl have?
I find this question too general, sorry.
V. On chick literature
1. Are you familiar with chick lit? Do you read chick lit?
Yes and yes but not always. Truth is, I’m not a fan of chick lit. I find the heroine’s here a little bit whiny for my taste. I still prefer the romance genre where the conflict lies mainly on the relationship and not the heroine’s internal dilemma.
2. Are you familiar with Pinoy chick lit, initiated mainly by Summit media?
Yes I’ve a copy of Almost Married by Tara FT Sering. I got curious because of the uproar it caused in the literati community a couple of years back when it won a critic’s choice award (I cant remember which one). Although up till now, I haven’t read it yet.
3. Did the development of Pinoy chick lit affect Tagalog romance in any way?
No, I think not. Chick lit has its own market
4. Do you use chick lit as inspiration for your stories and/or writing?
Not really.
5. Would you consider your writing as Pinoy chick lit (only written in the vernacular)?
No. I believe I’ve suitably pointed out the difference between the two in my answers above. They are two entirely different genres. What makes them similar is that they cater mostly to female readers but that’s about it.
6. How do your novels differ from Pinoy chick lit in English?
This is in answer to your pahabol question. No I haven’t written anything for Modern Girl--yet. Therefore, I don’t have any Pinoy chick lit work of my own to compare.
7. How are your heroines different from the chick lit heroines?
Both characters may present the same personality or share the same values, background, description etc but the primary difference between the two genres go way past that. It is in the conflict. Again, the conflict in romance fiction center around the relationship between the hero and the heroine. As opposed to the chick lit genre, where the conflict lie in the heroine’s internal dilemma. The romantic plot in chick lit only serves a secondary element in the story.
VI. Views on the future of Tagalog romance
1. In your opinion, does the development of chick lit in the literary scene affect the writing of Tagalog romance? How?
No. Romance is romance and chick lit is chick lit. Even before the rise of chick lit here, some TR writers have already begun depicting their heroines as strong, empowered, modern, witty, etc. This character type is not a monopoly of the chick lit genre. Even the comedic tone, Rose Tan in particular have been writing this way since the early nineties which is about a decade before pinoy chick lit came into the picture.
2. What can you say about the perception of Tagalog romance as “bakya” or “jologs”?
It still irks me sometimes when I hear such comments but I have long since accepted the fact that we cant please everybody. My attitude is, to each his own. The important thing is we’re being read.
3. What accounts for the success of Tagalog romance here and abroad?
I really cant say. I guess deep inside people are all, well, romantics at heart.
4. Is the industry losing out to other media forms, or is it here to stay?
If the success and position of the romance genre abroad is anything to go by then I think the TR genre is here to stay. True, some years maybe better than others but the genre will always be here.
5. Would you encourage aspiring writers to write Tagalog romance?
Yes. There is so much room for growth in the industry.
-------------------------------
I. Personal Information
II. On authorship, audience and the writing craft
1. When did you begin to have the passion for writing?
2003. I have always been a fan of the romance genre. When I found I wasn’t happy doing what I was doing anymore, I thought about trying my hand at writing.
2. Who/what are your writing influences?
No one and nothing specific. I get my ideas from the books I read or the shows I see or the people I interact with and encounter
3. What practices and activities (e.g. day-to-day writing regimen, writing workshops, etc) do you undertake to polish your craft?
I read a lot. From time to time I browse how-to articles here in the net. I am also a part of a mailing list where we (fellow writers) exchange views about the craft.
4. Do you undergo writing workshops? How many times? What are the activities involved in the workshop process? (You can briefly tell a bit about your experience)
I attended an in-house workshop early in my writing career. It was a four day affair which tackled mostly the technical side of things. I picked up a lot but I know I can learn more that’s why I have plans to attend more workshops in the future. Unfortunately, workshops specific to the genre are a rarity here.
5. How many books do you publish in a year?
A meager twelve or so. That’s about a book a month. I’m way behind my contemporaries who publish twenty plus or so a year.
6. How much does a writer earn per publication? How much do you earn in a year? (Estimates are accepted)
Depends on the publication, some pay as little as one thousand per manuscript to about seven thousand. I’m talking about entry rate here. In Precious, the publication which I write for, their rates vary depending on the seniority /salability of the writer
7. Who are the people you expect to read your novels? (Or, who are the people you intend to write for?) Middle class, female, with some college, late teens to late thirties.
8. Do you personally know the readers of your novels? Who are they? (Please be specific as possible: age, gender, social status, education, job, etc) same answer as above
III. On creating stories in the style of Tagalog romance
1. Why do you choose to write Tagalog romance novels?
I grew up reading romance books. Its something I enjoy doing and haven’t outgrown. Writing romance in my native vernacular seemed like the natural progression.
2. How would you describe your writing style?
Definitely not category romance. My conflicts are usually light and I rarely do heavy drama.
3. Where do you draw inspiration in creating stories? Creating characters? (You can cite other media forms like movies or magazines). I favor light romantic comedies and coming of age stories in films. In TV, I watch a lot of talk shows (Oprah, Ellen, Dr. Phil, Jay, Conan, etc.), sitcoms, and dramas (Grey’s, House, Desperate etc). One way or another, they’ve rubbed off on my writing. Magazines help me some too particularly in terms of keeping myself abreast with fashion/food/lifestyle trends but I rarely read them.
4. Who are the authors that you read that serve as inspiration for writing your novels?
Foreign – mostly Aussie Harlequin/M&B romance authors ie. Emma Darcy, Helen Bianchin and the like. I prefer them over Brit (too formal) and American (too casual).
Local - Rose Tan (for her comedic, laugh-out-loud approach) and Vanessa (for her tug at the heart until you weep approach)
5. Who are other Tagalog romance writers that you read?
The two authors I mentioned above and some others, usually those that give me complimentary copies of their work.
6. How would you compare your style and your stories to the Tagalog romance novels of earlier decades? Lighter now, less drama of the tele-soap kind. The women are more empowered. They have careers and they wont just cry and whittle away when faced with a problem.
7. Do you employ comedy/humor in your stories? Why do you think humor is necessary in a romantic story? Yes. Sometimes. It’s easier to write, at least in my case because heavy conflict isn’t my strongest suit. I believe it’s easier to read also.
8. Do you follow a standard formula or storyline? How would you describe it?
Yes. The romance genre by nature is formulaic. Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl in the end.
9. Have there been instances where you deviated from this formula? How did your editor and readers react?
No. The “Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl in the end” formula is a standard to the romance genre. Without this, the novel cannot be considered as such. Chick lit on the other hand, doesn’t follow this formula. The heroine in a chick lit novel at the start of the story posses flaws typical to what women today have (ie. Shopping to fill a void as in the case of Kinsella’s series, low self-worth as in Bridgette Jones Diary). Flaws that they overcome or realize and work on in the end. As the story progresses, the characters here “grow” so to speak. The romantic plot in chick lit play second fiddle or not at all.
IV. Conceiving/conceptualizing the “modern girl”
1. What kinds of women (heroines, supporting characters) are portrayed in your stories?
Usually mid twenties to early thirties, they have careers, they have good values, not slutty, not wimps.
2. How is your Tagalog romance heroine different from the Tagalog romance heroine of the earlier decades (such as the heroines of Gilda Olvidado)? I’m guessing, less of a martyr and more of a go getter.
3. Do you create women heroines that have to be admired by your readers (because they set good examples)? My characters aren’t perfect because in reality no one is. They have quirks, they have weaknesses, but all in all, they’re good people. Instead of ‘to-be-admired’, I’d go for ‘that reader’s can relate to.’
4. In your view, what makes a "modern girl"? What is her profile?
Please refer to my answers to questions 1-thru-3 in this section.
5. What kinds of values and beliefs does a modern girl have?
I find this question too general, sorry.
V. On chick literature
1. Are you familiar with chick lit? Do you read chick lit?
Yes and yes but not always. Truth is, I’m not a fan of chick lit. I find the heroine’s here a little bit whiny for my taste. I still prefer the romance genre where the conflict lies mainly on the relationship and not the heroine’s internal dilemma.
2. Are you familiar with Pinoy chick lit, initiated mainly by Summit media?
Yes I’ve a copy of Almost Married by Tara FT Sering. I got curious because of the uproar it caused in the literati community a couple of years back when it won a critic’s choice award (I cant remember which one). Although up till now, I haven’t read it yet.
3. Did the development of Pinoy chick lit affect Tagalog romance in any way?
No, I think not. Chick lit has its own market
4. Do you use chick lit as inspiration for your stories and/or writing?
Not really.
5. Would you consider your writing as Pinoy chick lit (only written in the vernacular)?
No. I believe I’ve suitably pointed out the difference between the two in my answers above. They are two entirely different genres. What makes them similar is that they cater mostly to female readers but that’s about it.
6. How do your novels differ from Pinoy chick lit in English?
This is in answer to your pahabol question. No I haven’t written anything for Modern Girl--yet. Therefore, I don’t have any Pinoy chick lit work of my own to compare.
7. How are your heroines different from the chick lit heroines?
Both characters may present the same personality or share the same values, background, description etc but the primary difference between the two genres go way past that. It is in the conflict. Again, the conflict in romance fiction center around the relationship between the hero and the heroine. As opposed to the chick lit genre, where the conflict lie in the heroine’s internal dilemma. The romantic plot in chick lit only serves a secondary element in the story.
VI. Views on the future of Tagalog romance
1. In your opinion, does the development of chick lit in the literary scene affect the writing of Tagalog romance? How?
No. Romance is romance and chick lit is chick lit. Even before the rise of chick lit here, some TR writers have already begun depicting their heroines as strong, empowered, modern, witty, etc. This character type is not a monopoly of the chick lit genre. Even the comedic tone, Rose Tan in particular have been writing this way since the early nineties which is about a decade before pinoy chick lit came into the picture.
2. What can you say about the perception of Tagalog romance as “bakya” or “jologs”?
It still irks me sometimes when I hear such comments but I have long since accepted the fact that we cant please everybody. My attitude is, to each his own. The important thing is we’re being read.
3. What accounts for the success of Tagalog romance here and abroad?
I really cant say. I guess deep inside people are all, well, romantics at heart.
4. Is the industry losing out to other media forms, or is it here to stay?
If the success and position of the romance genre abroad is anything to go by then I think the TR genre is here to stay. True, some years maybe better than others but the genre will always be here.
5. Would you encourage aspiring writers to write Tagalog romance?
Yes. There is so much room for growth in the industry.
January 11, 2007
couldn't resist posting this pic here
here's a pic taken during phr's annual xmas party. credit goes to sofia. i got this from her blogsite.
jasmine esperanza, claudia santiago, sofia, and me
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