Same here. The result is so many writers here are forced to play 'palakasan', get tricked into signing bad contracts (esp. in self-publishing), and/or can't reconcile that writing is a business and falter at the latter part.
Thankfully, individual authors and writing orgs here are filling the gap. Some indie authors offer self-publishing and marketing classes (look up Mina Esguerra and #RomanceClass, and Katrina Olan's work marketing her sci-fi novel Tablay on her own). The National Book Development Board has also started offering supplementary publishing and rights seminars alongside its annual grants. Plenty of talks in the year-round book fairs, too.
But business support is still lacking in the academe overall, and established Filipino authors and programs still love gatekeeping. One former professor got me to translate his short story for free because he made it a class requirement. When I asked him for advice on pricing for an outside/non-literary translation project, he ignored me.
I hope you have additional business resources and mentors in your area 💗
Happens to me too when I play lo-fi for background noise: all the songs sound the same after a while. And I think they're working with a limited selection. Licensing, maybe?
I feel it's deliberately limited because it's not really a big part of the brand, unlike H&M which regularly updates their playlists (and puts it on Spotify too).
Could be worse. I once went to a cheesecake place that played the same three J-pop tracks on a loop...
I wish my MFA program covered the topics you mention.
Same here. The result is so many writers here are forced to play 'palakasan', get tricked into signing bad contracts (esp. in self-publishing), and/or can't reconcile that writing is a business and falter at the latter part.
Thankfully, individual authors and writing orgs here are filling the gap. Some indie authors offer self-publishing and marketing classes (look up Mina Esguerra and #RomanceClass, and Katrina Olan's work marketing her sci-fi novel Tablay on her own). The National Book Development Board has also started offering supplementary publishing and rights seminars alongside its annual grants. Plenty of talks in the year-round book fairs, too.
But business support is still lacking in the academe overall, and established Filipino authors and programs still love gatekeeping. One former professor got me to translate his short story for free because he made it a class requirement. When I asked him for advice on pricing for an outside/non-literary translation project, he ignored me.
I hope you have additional business resources and mentors in your area 💗
Wow. Sorry to hear about your professor.
Yeah. Some grifters look super legit, no 🤭
Intrigued about the Muji playlists, although to be honest I have gotten tired of them. (That, and I often have earphones on when I’m there.)
Happens to me too when I play lo-fi for background noise: all the songs sound the same after a while. And I think they're working with a limited selection. Licensing, maybe?
I feel it's deliberately limited because it's not really a big part of the brand, unlike H&M which regularly updates their playlists (and puts it on Spotify too).
Could be worse. I once went to a cheesecake place that played the same three J-pop tracks on a loop...
Pwede rin 🤔 I didn't know about H&M; shall check it out. Thanks, Niko!
Ugh, this is why I love my Loop Switch earplugs. 🤫 That's mild music torture.
Problem was, I was with the ex at the time!
Upside, I discovered AKB48's "Koisuru Fortune Cookie".
Speaking of novels, this was an interesting read: https://substack.com/home/post/p-153255909
Thanks for this! Great read - but it's also a glimpse of our future 🙃