Libro atbp.

[Warning: long post ahead]

Neil Gaiman is coming HERE. Again. In NOVEMBER!!! Ata.

The long-awaited book compilation of the winning entries from the 1st Philippine Graphic Fiction Awards will be launched by end-November at Fully Booked Bonifacio High Street, together with the awarding ceremony of the 2nd Philippine Graphic Fiction competition with Neil Gaiman as co-presentor!

Co-presentor. I take it to mean that he'll be here. In the flesh. Di ba? Haha, sabay via webcam lang pala. Ngyeeee.

But I feel so PSYCHED! Who wouldn't be? This is way better than consoling myself that I'd get to see him in six years' time (you know, when I'm not tied to my parents' apron strings anymore... -_-).

Anyway, tapos na pala ung 2nd Philippine Graphic Fiction competition! Parang hindi ko alam na nagsimula un a. Haha. At natapos din nang hindi ko nalalaman. I kept an eye on the first one though; the winners were pretty good reads. I just wasn't able to finish reading any (they were posted online) cause the pc had to be reformatted then, so I lost the adobe acrobat reader plus all the downloaded pdf files.

Ay. Wait.

Due to the success of the first nationwide competition, we are proudly bringing you the sequel in the name of filipino unrealism!

We want you to be the next big name in the science fiction, fantasy or horror genre!

Send in your original work for the two categories: comics and prose fiction. All winning entries will be compiled and published by Fully Booked, with a foreword by Neil Gaiman.

Over P300,000 worth of prizes will be given away!
Including P100,000 grand prize for the first place winners!

Deadline of submission is October 31, 2007.

Coming soon this November!
Catch Neil Gaiman again in Manila when he visits Fully Booked for the Awards Night and book launch of "Expeditions," the 1st Philippine Graphic/Fiction compilation.

Aaah. So hindi pa pala tapos. :)) You can check out the article and the contest guidelines here; I copied the other article from here.

Speaking of links, you might want to check out the following:

http://www.powerbooks.com.ph/ PMJ is having a book signing of Pugad Baboy 19, on September 29. Check the site for more details.

http://www.nationalbookstore.com.ph Well... sale sila ngayon e. I think it has a better variety of books online, compared to what it stocks in its outlets (which are quite pathetic actually...). I'm seeing The Sandman series priced at around p600++, quite a huge difference compared to its price in Powerbooks or Fully Booked. I'm not sure if it's still applicable after tomorrow though; their big sale ends on Sunday.

http://read-or-die.org/ Haven't explored the site much yet. I got a leaflet from their booth during the International Book Fair. Looks interesting. I actually wanted to buy a shirt of theirs, but I wasn't sure how mom would react if she knew I bought a shirt at a book fair.

http://www.booktopia.com.ph A modest site for an independent book store. I like it. I have yet to check out their shop though.

http://www.booksale.com.ph/ HAHA! May site pala yung Book Sale. They should catalog all their books and enable a search function. And I really mean ALL of their books. :)) Leastways, I'd like to see them try. The site has a link to a new section: their "Rare" and "Medium Rare" book sections. They make it sound like steak. Or Grade A beef. Hm.

Books for Less also has a site, but it's not really worth clicking. On second thought, Book Sale's isn't worth clicking either...

http://webservice.mnl.ust.edu.ph/publishinghouse/index.htm UST Publishing House. I spent a good deal of time wandering around the International Book Fair, just looking for a particular book. It was only much much later that I found out that the UST Publishing House actually had a booth. I could've saved myself a lot of grief! But nooooo, I had to walk through ALL the booths on this side before I bothered to look at the other side. The sad part about it is that I didn't buy the book even though I found it. (It was Angelo V. Suarez's The Nymph of MTV, if you're wondering. The only collection of poems by a local author that I truly like.)

It seems that Aeon bookstore in Katipunan doesn't have a website. The bookstore still exists, right? RIGHT??? I passed by a while ago but I couldn't find it. I dunno... maybe it's my natural ineptitude for locations but I don't think I was looking at the wrong building...

Whew. What a long post. I didn't mean to go on and on about book shops all of a sudden, but I haven't had a really good book in a long time. And I seem to be craving for a decent book. At nakakarindi din kasi yung book fair sa school. I mean, Scholastics lang?! And all of it was for keeeeeeeeeds. *tears hair* All of them were for "bringing kids into the wonderful world of reaaaading", but BAH. It's another disgusting commercial ploy. They were even giving out flyers to the kids which said, "Dear mommy and daddy, I'd like to buy these books at our book fair..." And then the grade schoolers would list everything they wanted while the evil Scholastics overseer would flash greedy smiles at them. If they want to bring kids into reading, they should give them substantial literature, not the flimsy frappery they have the balls to call books.