Can you believe it? I'm a published author!

When my student Rommel Bonus ( himself a published author for Mga Ilang Bitbit sa Pagsagip sa Sarili) informed me of his publisher's interest to publish my book, which I planned to independently publish because I don't think anyone would be interested, I nearly lost it. I was on my way home when I received the text message. I was riding on the jeepney that time, and trying my best not to sob uncontrollably. At first, I thought, 'Wow, really?, then after the thrill of it all for the rest of the ride home, it was quickly replaced with, ' ZOMG, what if nobody will support it? What if people will question my gall? What if they will immediately regret it after the purchase? I have so many what ifs, I started to believe that I don't deserve it. But the message is clear: Hinabing Salita- an indie publishing house based in Tarlac- wants my manuscript as fast as I can churn it.

Which is a good thing because I am almost done with it. All the stories and essays were already decided although I still waited for other works to be published in the places that I sent them to. My idea for my first book was simple: collect everything that I have written but only if they were published somewhere else. Why this inspired idea? Because it is empowering that since editors of those publications welcomed me into their lair, my book would be met with the same enthusiasm. So, it's still a dream that 14 out of 19 pieces that I can claim to have written have found homes. You can read all the places that published me here or in my portfolio. Sadly most of these articles were gone now when their respective websites were taken down.

But the process of publishing a book does not happen overnight. There are many, many things to do: you'll have to look for people who will be willing to give you blurbs, will language-edit your harvest of words, will illustrate your vision to its intended reality, all the far and in-betweens to say the least. I'm just really lucky that those I tapped for this passion project were all more than willing. You can read all of them in the acknowledgment part of the book BUT ONLY IF YOU PURCHASE IT. Lol.

And I am so glad to have readers from all over. People that I met once or some never at all or old friends who are willing to shell out their hard-earned money just to support me. These are the people who I write for, who make me believe that my book can endure, can affect a thought process, and can be a repository of my own magic that I can conjure by the words that I wield.

So I tell them this now: Thank you. Because you didn't laugh at my effort. You fully embraced my stories and essays enough to even finish them. Thank you for putting wings to my words. To which places it will go, I still don't know, but I am terribly excited. I can't wait!

And hey, you all look gorgeous!

Below is the compendium of my fabulous supporters!