Recently, there has been this craze for publishing books previously published over at wattpad and I don't really see the point in doing those since most have read them before and might not want to spend money to read them again. Or so I thought but it seems that is not the case. So it got me curious as to why the sudden craze for these books so I got myself a copy and find out.
Upon reading the first book, some of the events but mainly the characters remind me so much of the old time fave Meteor Garden. Even though there was no "F4" there, Cross definitely reminds me of Dao Ming Su and Chad reminds me of Hua Ze Lei. I have yet to figure out who Ian is but the point is, the book made me think of those characters the whole time I was reading the book. And as a fan of Meteor Garden, I felt like it was a lame version of the Taiwanovela. I don't want to sound like a hater because a lot of people seems to be in love with the story but I am not. I just could not feel with Eya (the main character of the book).
The book was very informal which I think works for the youth or its target readers nowadays.
To summarized this review, I find the idea of the book a little "gasgas" na... A very light read but not something very funny nor original.
Maybe I have watched one too many Koreanovelas that I don't find them fresh anymore. But since I have already bought the 2nd book, I might as well give it another chance. Maybe some other time but not any time soon.
Next review would be Mina V. Esguerra's Interim Goddess of Love Trilogy. All three of them in one post! Stay tuned!
Martes, Hulyo 23, 2013
Biyernes, Hulyo 19, 2013
#romanceclass: getting through the journey
I have always wanted to become a published author ever since I first started to write short stories when I was in fourth grade. I believe the first fiction I wrote was the "Alamat ng Pagong" but my own version. I don't exactly remember the details of the story anymore since it has been decades ago.
Anyway, I continued with my writing but very few people got to read my stories because most of them were in relation to my personal experiences (most of them wishful thinking) but still, it laid out to be one heck of a story. But years later, I decided I wanted more people to read them and be able to share being a hopeless romantic to everyone so I thought of the last option which was to self-publish my own books.
I decided to start with that project two years ago when I had just graduated from college, but decided to submit to local publishers first so that I no longer have to worry about the printing costs, book designing costs, and copy editing and, the most horrid of all, marketing my books since they have the resources to do so. And two years later, I was still down to ZERO published books.
It really got me very disappointed and discouraged for fear that maybe my novellas are not really worth the attention or time to be read and appreciated after all. I knew I needed to do something about my dream and to be able to fulfill one of my biggest dreams. I thought maybe I needed a mentor. Someone who could tell me what to do, what the local publishers would want to see in my novella, and the like. And when I saw that Ms. Mina Esguerra (author of Love Your Frenemies, My Imaginary Ex, Interim Goddess of Love Trilogy, That Kind of Guy, which by the way, I have all read), I knew it was a blessing in disguise. And since I have little financial resource of my own, I was glad it was all for free! Was really glad that Ms. Mina was so generous to offer this to us and support other self-publishing authors like herself.
At first, I was not sure if I could actually finish her #romanceclass since the nature of my job requires me to be awake at night and asleep in the morning. But still I tried to persevere and sacrificed sleep to meet Ms. Mina's Assignment deadlines. For the first time, I felt like I was back in school cramming for deadline submission of papers, wracking my brains out for the perfect ideas to complete my novella.
I was very happy every time I was able to meet the deadlines and see the progress of my novella. And when I finally reached the end of my novella, though I was never sure it was good enough, I knew that I was proud of myself that I got to finish my novella- the whole 30000 words and more.
Now, finishing a novella is one thing. And marketing my novella and getting it out there is another thing. I am only halfway through the journey and there is still a whole lot more! But am a little nega on these things lately.
The first self-published book I have out there is not really doing so well since I don't really know how else to market my books and nobody knows who I am as an author and it just feels so disheartening. I want my book to look perfect but the cost is too high that most of the people in my target market still can't afford or has difficulty to afford my book. Why would they take a chance on an unknown author with a seemingly expensive selling price of her book, right??
Argh! I just wish I could have the luxury of free time and financial resources to go all out and market my books. I may be too tired by then, but I am already halfway there, should I give up now?
Anyway, I continued with my writing but very few people got to read my stories because most of them were in relation to my personal experiences (most of them wishful thinking) but still, it laid out to be one heck of a story. But years later, I decided I wanted more people to read them and be able to share being a hopeless romantic to everyone so I thought of the last option which was to self-publish my own books.
I decided to start with that project two years ago when I had just graduated from college, but decided to submit to local publishers first so that I no longer have to worry about the printing costs, book designing costs, and copy editing and, the most horrid of all, marketing my books since they have the resources to do so. And two years later, I was still down to ZERO published books.
It really got me very disappointed and discouraged for fear that maybe my novellas are not really worth the attention or time to be read and appreciated after all. I knew I needed to do something about my dream and to be able to fulfill one of my biggest dreams. I thought maybe I needed a mentor. Someone who could tell me what to do, what the local publishers would want to see in my novella, and the like. And when I saw that Ms. Mina Esguerra (author of Love Your Frenemies, My Imaginary Ex, Interim Goddess of Love Trilogy, That Kind of Guy, which by the way, I have all read), I knew it was a blessing in disguise. And since I have little financial resource of my own, I was glad it was all for free! Was really glad that Ms. Mina was so generous to offer this to us and support other self-publishing authors like herself.
At first, I was not sure if I could actually finish her #romanceclass since the nature of my job requires me to be awake at night and asleep in the morning. But still I tried to persevere and sacrificed sleep to meet Ms. Mina's Assignment deadlines. For the first time, I felt like I was back in school cramming for deadline submission of papers, wracking my brains out for the perfect ideas to complete my novella.
I was very happy every time I was able to meet the deadlines and see the progress of my novella. And when I finally reached the end of my novella, though I was never sure it was good enough, I knew that I was proud of myself that I got to finish my novella- the whole 30000 words and more.
Now, finishing a novella is one thing. And marketing my novella and getting it out there is another thing. I am only halfway through the journey and there is still a whole lot more! But am a little nega on these things lately.
The first self-published book I have out there is not really doing so well since I don't really know how else to market my books and nobody knows who I am as an author and it just feels so disheartening. I want my book to look perfect but the cost is too high that most of the people in my target market still can't afford or has difficulty to afford my book. Why would they take a chance on an unknown author with a seemingly expensive selling price of her book, right??
Argh! I just wish I could have the luxury of free time and financial resources to go all out and market my books. I may be too tired by then, but I am already halfway there, should I give up now?
Miyerkules, Hulyo 17, 2013
Review: She's Dating The Gangster by Bianca B. Bernardino
This is my first review of a book and it's going to be a really short one because I don't think I have anything much to say about it. I only read this because I collect all of Summit's books and heard that it was a favorite among wattpad readers and thought I should go check it out.
First of all, this book is the most different amongst all other Summit books especially when it came to its book cover design. It really looked like a gangster book. What really went off track was there was no gangster involved at all. The book cover was not that attractive at all unlike all the other Summit books.
Second, while reading the book, I felt like I was reading a compilation of all the highlights of typical Koreanovelas. Those scenes worked for the Koreanovelas, but having to compile it in one book is just boring. It felt very predictable and kind of "gasgas" na.
Last but not the least was its ending. After all the time I spent reading it, I was devastated only to find out that the characters died in the end. It's very Koreanovela-ish. I should have anticipated the death of the characters but didn't think that Summit would actually publish something like that since they usually go with happy endings.
I guess it was fresh and experimental in a way. I was really expecting to read about the guy defending the girl from rival gangsters or becoming a softie after they met or maybe something Dao Ming Su did for Shan Tsai like getting beat up just to protect her.
I'll give this only two stars because the ideas were not very original and I expected more from this book.
What do you think?
First of all, this book is the most different amongst all other Summit books especially when it came to its book cover design. It really looked like a gangster book. What really went off track was there was no gangster involved at all. The book cover was not that attractive at all unlike all the other Summit books.
Second, while reading the book, I felt like I was reading a compilation of all the highlights of typical Koreanovelas. Those scenes worked for the Koreanovelas, but having to compile it in one book is just boring. It felt very predictable and kind of "gasgas" na.
Last but not the least was its ending. After all the time I spent reading it, I was devastated only to find out that the characters died in the end. It's very Koreanovela-ish. I should have anticipated the death of the characters but didn't think that Summit would actually publish something like that since they usually go with happy endings.
I guess it was fresh and experimental in a way. I was really expecting to read about the guy defending the girl from rival gangsters or becoming a softie after they met or maybe something Dao Ming Su did for Shan Tsai like getting beat up just to protect her.
I'll give this only two stars because the ideas were not very original and I expected more from this book.
What do you think?
The Begginning of My Shelf Life
I love reading books especially YA romance fiction! And since I have a wide collection of books on my shelves, I decided to make a review of those I finished. Hope I get to do this often and not get lazy with updating this blog. It is never too late to start, right?
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