I.

I have a tendency not to follow good advice. It doesnʼt matter what advice that is,
whether it be career, academic, relationship, or life in general, I will probably
listen to what is told me, and then fail to do it. This has resulted in a number of
failed relationships, entering the MA program much sooner than I should have
(and as a result staying in the MA program much longer than I should have), a
ramshackle career path (which to many would constitute no career path at all),
and a future of liver and kidney problems. On the bright side, it has also led to a
wealth of writing material, the co-founding of the renegade publishing outfit The
Youth and Beauty Brigade, and an exposure to many aspects of the writing life
which few writers bother to explore.
The majority of MA level introductory essays to theses focus on the
writerʼs poetics and how the writer situates herself in the context of Philippine
literature. This does not move far from what is written for the thesis at the
undergraduate level. In my case the major differences would be the changes that
I have undergone in my attempts at writing, and in the development of my writing.
Iʼve switched genres, Iʼve changed my worldview (which can only be a good
thing, as my worldview at the time was pretty bleak and angsty) and Iʼve decided
to explore different narrative territory and be more observant of form.
But beyond the usual discussions of poetics and tradition, I would like to
strike out in this thesis and discuss the business side of Creative Writing. Seeing
business and creative writing together in the same sentence seems icky, brings a
bad taste to the mouth, and screams of artistic compromise and the much
dreaded label “sell out.” Despite the negative connotations that come with a
discussion of business in the creative arts, I believe that it is essential for young
writers to think about marketing, branding, and distribution of our literary works.
Starting with bull-headedness and then refining my methods through reading,
practice, experimentation, and a healthy willingness to fail and learn from those
failures, I believe that I have amassed experiences in self-publishing that would
be a substantial contribution to the knowledge in the field, and would more

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importantly be beneficial to writers who would like to explore their own alternative
options in publishing, marketing, and distribution.
This introductory essay to the thesis will begin by discussing the writing
that Iʼve done while in the MA program. Since Iʼve been in the MA program a
while, it will cover about seven years of my writing career, but will limit itself to the
writing that appears in the creative portion of the thesis (excluding the poetry and
some of the fiction that was written as course work and some of the works written
and published during this period but do not fit into the thesis thematically). I will
discuss the directions that I have explored in my writing and how I believe this
writing has developed, and how it humbly attempts to contribute to the larger
body of Philippine Literature in English.
Next I will discuss the experiences that I have had with publishing. First Iʼll
talk about having a major publisher and coming out with my first book. Then I will
cover the experiences that led to my decision to self-publish my second book. In
relation to self-publishing, I will also discuss the various aspects of publishing,
such as marketing and distribution, and my initiatives in finding alternatives to the
dominant modes of publishing. Iʼll discuss not only traditional marketing, but my
initiatives in online marketing and my participation in online communities, comic
book conventions, and other avenues which arenʼt normally explored by
traditional writing/publishing.
And then the bulk of this thesis will be the creative work, which will be
comprised of my two non-fiction books and my collection of short stories.
Like I said before, I have a tendency not to follow good advice. I was
advised that publishing and the business side of things donʼt belong in an MA in
Creative Writing thesis. I can only hope that not following that bit of smart advice
can result in a successful experiment.

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II. The Poetics of Insecurity

" Having to commit what one believes to be good writing to the page, and
thus make something that your own work will be measured by is frightening. My
own apprehensions about laying out my poetics are further compounded by an
inherent lack of confidence in my writing in general (which I try not to betray in
my work but I will admit to in a poetics paper).
" I like to think of myself as a fictionist. Most of my literary publication has
been fiction. My previous two workshop fellowships were for fiction. And my
ongoing projects are in fiction. I see my nonfiction writing not as a lesser form but
as what I turn to when there are things that I want to talk about or express which I
cannot do in my fiction. I found myself writing in my blog about everyday things
that werenʼt the stuff of fiction, but realizing that I could stretch out those
everyday things into something more fun and entertaining. I could not take, for
example, my predicament with buying pirated Xbox 360 games and turn it into a
compelling work of fiction. But I found that I could turn it into something that I
would have fun writing and that I hoped people would have fun reading.
" Fiction is what I work hard at. Itʼs what I aspire to be great at. If Iʼve been
focused primarily on the development of my fiction, my fiction poetics and the
like, then it would be difficult to map out what nonfiction is for me, when honestly
I think of my nonfiction as just me riffing on ideas.
" Those of a more literary or erudite background might begin with some
discussion of major nonfiction writers, how those writers inspired their own
writing. I suppose then that it might seem crude and un-literary if I were to say
that a lot of my nonfiction writing attempts to emulate Jerry Seinfeldʼs
Seinlangauage or Tim Allenʼs Donʼt Stand Too Close to a Naked Man. And yet, as
a young boy these were the things that I was reading for fun.
" I had wanted to become a stand-up comedian for a time. Of course I had
also wanted to become an astrophysicist and a member of the A-Team, but I did
spend much time watching comedy on TV. As a youth I wasnʼt allowed to join
Little League or any of the other after-school things that my classmates did. I was

3
stuck at home with the TV and I wound up watching a lot of comedy, be it stand-
up, sitcoms, or skit shows, and these all informed my sense of humor. My humor
grew very far from that of my parents, who loved TVJ and Rene Requiestas. I will
admit that I did love those things very much as well. When we watched those
things as a family we would all laugh together. But when I tried to get my family to
watch the classic SNL reruns that had the likes of Bill Murray and Dan Akroyd
there, or even the then contemporary hi-jinks of Adam Sandler and Chris Farley, I
would be left to watch alone. On a side note, this might explain why up to this day
I wind up laughing by myself often.
" I imagine a lot of my literary contemporaries, those with smashing new
visions for literature, those that seem to straddle the worlds of writing and theory
effortlessly, those who at such a young age are racking up awards and pushing
the envelope of Philippine literature as youths; I think of them being exposed to
literature early in their lives, I imagine their parents supporting their writing, I
imagine the books around them, the teachers that encouraged their writing.
While others get this, I spend the majority of my time watching Gallagher smash
watermelons. That might be something to help define my poetics: with others
locked in various intellectual and aesthetic struggles, striving for beauty,
pondering the art for artʼs sake vs. art for society debate, trying to question and
transcend the limitations of form, forwarding new genres, I aspire for the same
effect that Gallagher got when he put a watermelon on a table and smashed it
with a mallet.
" In my nonfiction I try to make people laugh. While Iʼm not above a cheap
Three Stooges poke in the face, I canʼt really pull that off with words. And thus I
find myself looking for material that would allow me to be funny, allow me to crack
jokes. This search for material is greatly informed by the kind of comedy I have
watched, as all these stand-up comedians, writers in their own right, find the
funny in the mundane and everyday. They look at their own personal
experiences, find the ironies, the neat incongruencies in society, and point them
out.
" I found that I had to look no further than myself to find something funny. I

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always wanted to be funny, but more often than not I was thinking of the smart
funny thing to say well after the moment had passed. Maybe thatʼs why I turned
to writing instead of stand-up comedy. That and my extreme shyness at the time.
I found that when put in certain situations, the weird things about me, the
geekiness, the inability to navigate social situations, coupled with the quirky
perspective that I had, allowed me to find the funny things in many situations.
The overactive imagination and my insecurities also allowed me to throw things
in that people normally wouldnʼt think.
" One of the things that might set my nonfiction apart is my ability for self-
deprecation. Usually people are concerned with what people think of them. In
literary circles, you want people to admire your writing; in academic settings you
want to establish your authority; in workplaces you want to establish respect.
None of these things can be accomplished (or so people think) if people make
fun of you and if you make fun of yourself. How many poets do we see poking
fun at their creative process? Or fictionists making jokes about their striving for
epiphanies? We want these higher standards and we donʼt think that laughing
can be a part of that. People arenʼt used to being made fun of. However, Filipino
nonfiction writing has people making fun of other people, or putting other people
down. I suppose thatʼs why some of the nonfiction thatʼs out doesnʼt appeal to
more people; there are times when authors take condescending tones or donʼt
win their readers over. Granted that their material is funny, but the tone in which it
is presented throws people off; think of the stand-up comedian and how their
persona is so crucial to the kinds of jokes that they make: Gilbert Gottfriedʼs
irritating voice makes way for his abrasive commentary and Steven Wrightʼs
almost monotone voice, hunched stance, and always seemingly uncomfortable
demeanor onstage allows for offbeat observations. Filipino “stand-up” comedy
usually means gay hosts making fun of people in their audience. The comedians
and the writers take aim at others, and it doesnʼt make for a good stance. People
will laugh in that bar, but then itʼd be a cheap laugh making fun of how fat or ugly
someone is. I think that itʼs much easier, and much nicer to make fun of myself
than other people. And I have no qualms about getting laughs at my own

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expense, because hey, sometimes the things that happen to me are funny and I
guess that Iʼve been making fun of myself for so long that self-deprecation comes
easily.
" Another point that I exploit in my writing is the intersect between geek and
macho culture. I am a self-confessed geek and this does become a problem
when say, I make a joke and Iʼm the only one who gets it because it refers to Star
Trek or Star Wars or BSG. But thereʼs this funny space that the geek inhabits in
Filipino culture, especially when thrust against the everyday. I believe that tech
geek writing has been explored, but with the proliferation of even more
technology as well as new geekdoms to be explored it seems very viable
material. Mix in the expectations of being a macho Pinoy with geek culture and
thereʼs some fun to be had. I still look forward to writing about my tech savvy vis-
a-vis my inability to fix our toilet when it wonʼt flush. I believe that in the future my
material will continue to explore the realms of the geek, and as I mature and
have more experiences (I still look forward to getting married, having a family,
and other things which Iʼve put off because Iʼve prioritized video games and
playing in a band) then these will lend themselves to funny writing.
" In terms of the style in which I write my nonfiction, as mentioned earlier, I
attempt to capture the comic rhythm of the stand-up comedian. I know that I can
say some things that arenʼt too funny, or that are only moderately funny, but
these have to build towards a punchline, and I have to string together a series of
punchlines to keep the reader going. Often, itʼs stand-up comedy mixed with the
sit-com in terms of telling a story in my nonfiction pieces. Iʼve got to find a
situation that would lend itself to a series of jokes, and figure in how these jokes
can be told so that they build. Unlike fiction, which allows you to build up towards
one big climax, I find that the way that Iʼve written my nonfiction attempts to keep
the canned laughter going.
" In much the same way that people who donʼt normally read local fiction
were out in droves fawning over Neil Gaiman, I found that people who donʼt
usually read local nonfiction were out to see and listen to David Sedaris. This guy
had hit upon something; though he wrote about things that were, culturally, half

6
the world away from our own culture, his personal experiences, feelings, and
thoughts, had struck a chord with many Filipino readers. And at the reading
people were laughing, and laughing regularly at the right points. So it wasnʼt
material that Sedaris had an upper hand with (though he does have great
material) but it was in the presentation of his material, which developed a rhythm
of regular jokes and punchlines. I found myself there wondering why we didnʼt
write nonfiction in that way. There are many funny writers, and there are many
nonfiction writers that can be funny, but Iʼve seen no one read and get that kind
of reaction. And thatʼs where I found that it wouldnʼt be so bad to calibrate my
nonfiction to provide regular laughs. It could also be compared to TV series like
Friends where youʼve got regular jokes, regular laughs every few seconds. These
things, after so many seasons of Friends, become predictable, but if applied to
literature then perhaps the plotting out of laughs at regular intervals might spark
more readership.
" Now Iʼd like to consider some of the problems of nonfiction. First off is that
my friend Adam David wrote a scathing review of the Milflores nonfic line,
indicting it for pandering or for promoting the “Spectacle of Me.” A denizen of the
social networking sites, I am all too aware of this trend that is the Spectacle of
Me, this self-centered glorification of the moment. And while I hope that I am not
guilty of that, I suppose that my material can fall in with it because it does deal
with my personal experiences. However, I believe that my work attempts to
transcend the Spectacle of Me by doing what all good literature does, which is by
trying to make the material relatable or universal, by presenting the material in
such a matter that I donʼt come across as needy or wanting attention, but rather
sharing an experience which many people will be familiar with but will find in my
writing of it a certain level of novelty and insight. Indeed the Spectacle of Me is
something to be avoided, but nonfiction isnʼt the only culprit as we find much
poetry being read at readings subscribing to the same kind of affectations. Itʼs
probably just that the confessional nature of poetry is accepted, whereas
nonfictionʼs parameters are still being established and thus, as a still developing
form it is still unclear what nonfic can express and how it can express it. We also

7
take into consideration that our own local nonfic writing covered such important
topics as WWII, the Martial Law years, and many other momentous things that
when we put the present content of nonfic it has no way of measuring up.
Nonfiction then has to perform doubly well, establishing itself in terms of quality
as well as material.
" Another problem is that nonfiction is usually considered a lesser genre,
when put beside poetry. I remember in classes some professors would say,
“Thereʼs poetry, and thereʼs everything else.” I will add on. “Thereʼs everything
else. Then thereʼs Creative Nonfiction.” The everything else was fiction, drama,
and the essay. Nonfic is a new form, and it combines elements of the other
various forms. But at this point, it is seen as inferior to poetry and fiction because
the act of creation is supposedly lesser. This problem has been discussed by
many others before, and discussed better. I just feel the need to mention it
because it should be mentioned as an ongoing problem for the genre. Iʼve been
chosen to represent the genre, and I find myself favoring my fiction as more
artistic than my nonfiction.
" An advantage of this though, of not considering myself a poet, not
considering myself someone concerned with producing high art, winning the
Palanca (who would give the Palanca to an essay about wanting to look at
womenʼs panties?), etc., is that because I write nonfiction it gives me free space
to write about things that arenʼt necessarily deep, philosophical, or socially
relevant. This is not to say that I donʼt have politics, but rather to say that these
things arenʼt expected from my writing or donʼt have to come out.
" Another advantage of nonfiction is that people do prefer the true story for
some reason. “Totoo ba ʻyan” or “Nangyari ba talaga?” becomes a question that,
if answered with yes draws more people in. We see this in all the movies with the
“Based on a True Story” or “Based on Actual Events” tagged on them.
" This advantage leads to another problem, and a problem shared by all
genres, which is the lack of publication venues. Nonfic is easily accessible, but
itʼs hard to find a place for it. The length of nonfiction pieces varies greatly (my
own pieces will range from two to twenty pages) and as such it is difficult to place

8
them in magazines or other publication venues. There are no regular anthologies
to look forward to, and it seems that genre writing like Speculative Fiction has
many more avenues for publication than nonfiction, even though Milflores does
publish a lot of nonfiction books. Regular anthologies have yet to be established.
" Nonfiction faces the same problems as the other genres when it comes to
lack of readership, lack of marketing, and things like that. However I find that
Nonfiction has greater potential to develop a readership quickly. You donʼt have
to educate readers to appreciate nonfiction in the way that you have to teach
them how to read poetry or the short story. Further, people are intimidated by
poetry and afraid that theyʼll feel dumb if they donʼt understand. We have to look
no further than Bob Ong (and there is the necessary Bob Ong reference) to find
peopleʼs willingness to read nonfiction writing as leisure, as fun.
" In attempting to encapsulate my poetics it becomes clear that I want to be
funny. I want to make readers laugh, and by making readers laugh develop an
audience. These laughs come from my personal experiences, but attempt to be
relatable to the audience, as I believe that the experiences I have are similar to
those of the readers.

III. Marginalized Fiction

" Many years back, at a workshop, I presented a horror story. It had a guy
and a girl. But the girl was a ghost. It was received generally favorably. But then
one panelist said, and among all the comments this is what stuck with me the
most, “You write well, but until you stop telling ghost stories and fantasies, no one
is going to take you seriously.”
" When youʼre a young writer trying to make a name for yourself, you do
want to be taken seriously. And as a result I wrote a lot of realist fiction. I wanted
a Palanca, I wanted a Free Press Award or whatever. I believed that I needed
those things to be considered a good writer, and to be recognized (because at
the time recognition meant so much).

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" This drive forgot, unfortunately, what I had started writing fiction for in the
first place. When I shifted to the Creative Writing program as an undergraduate
and I decided to major in fiction, I wasnʼt interested in the quiet, mundane
tragedies of middle class life. I wanted flash and bang and whiz and kaboom. I
wanted to write fantasy and science fiction, inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien and Ray
Bradbury. Though I still wrote genre stuff, I shifted focus to realist fiction and to
attempts at magic realism, which was considered an acceptable literary mode.
" After graduating and entering the MA program, I still tried my hand at
realist fiction, but found that it I wasnʼt getting better at it. Considering that my
literary production dropped from maybe four or five stories a year to only one
story a year, or sometimes even one short story for two years, I had to decide
what stories I would devote my time to. And thus I decided to concentrate in
genre writing. I wrote science fiction mostly, but also tried my hand at detective
and action stories.
" The pieces collected in the book Geek Tragedies are a mix of science
fiction, fantasy, horror, and realist fiction that references genre things. There were
a number of attempts made in these stories.
" The major attempt was to apply the literary training of realist fiction to non-
realist or genre writing. By the time I had devoted my efforts in fiction to genre
writing, there was already a growing tide of writing in the genres. This was helped
largely by the internet and by the fan fiction movement, as many young writers
graduated from writing fan fiction to writing their own work. This became an
opportunity for me, as I had that aforementioned literary training that these other
young writers were still in the process of getting. As a result, a good number of
my science fiction and fantasy stories were featured in various publications.
" Though Iʼd rather Dean Alfar, Joey Nacino, or Paolo Chikiamco take over
and discuss what “speculative fiction” is, I know that I have to at least make an
effort to talk about what it is for me. And in this case Iʼll talk about my approach to
science fiction.
" I have always been a fan of Harlan Ellison, and I think one of his
descriptions of science fiction serves us best. Sci-fi is the shield that Perseus

10
uses to see Medusaʼs reflection. To break down the metaphor, we, writers and
readers are Perseus. And Medusa is our society. So sometimes we canʼt look
directly at our society, but rather we have to see it from a different vantage point.
And science fiction is that vantage point, reflecting our present society but
distorting it enough that we can bear to see whatʼs wrong with it.
" This is to say then that science fiction has to be rooted in oneʼs society.
And this invokes the inevitable and incessant argument against science fiction in
the Philippines, and that is that science fiction is invalid here because we are still
largely agricultural, that we still live in a feudal system, and that we are
technologically backward so we canʼt dream of these technologically driven sci-fi
futures. But to wield these arguments against the creative young sci-fi writers is
to assume that their imaginations are limited, as well as to limit the narrative
capacities of science fiction.
" I suppose one of the things we have to do is admit the inherent
“kaburgisan” of science fiction. Which probably stems from the inherent
kaburgisan of Philippine fiction in English anyway. Few today are the NVMs who
grew up on a farm and then started writing short stories in English. The majority
of short story writers in English are middle class to affluent, giving them access to
and grasp of the language. Exposure to science fiction as a genre is further
indicative of the background of the young science fiction writer. Granted that now
thereʼs a lot of science fiction, at the turn of the decade when I started writing sci-
fi stories the genre was still in the margins in this country.
" And thus the background, and as a result the perception and the
framework, of the science fiction writer will be different from, say, whatever it is
those people who demand something to do with the agricultural-feudal traditions
expect of them. The consciousnesses of the young science fiction writer, middle
to upper class, metropolitan, studying in private school and reading Neil Gaiman
and watching Dr. Who and Star Trek, is one where there is a lot of gadgetry, a lot
of futuristic stuff. Heck, when the iPod came out it was mind-blowing, and that
was just a clunky box with a clickwheel, and now weʼve got touchscreens and
motion-capture-based user-interfaces for our video game consoles and soon

11
enough the UIs in Iron Man and Minority Report are going to be in our (upper
class) living rooms.
" This isnʼt a justification of the class divide, a rationalization of the ongoing
oppression of the working class and the farmer. But it is a plea that the young sci-
fi writer not be indicted for growing up and developing the consciousness that he
has developed. Itʼs unfair to ask these writers to write about the plights of farmers
when they have absolutely no connection to them. I do believe that it is important
that we all develop a social consciousness that makes us care and work for all
people. But we canʼt impose on young writers the idea that they must write about
this or that issue. Otherwise, weʼd just be asking for propaganda.
" I believe that the social issues that are most immediate donʼt always have
to be addressed in science fiction. There are numerous issues that we all face,
depending on where we are in the social ladder, economically, geographically,
etc. And the science fiction writer, the good one anyway, will attempt to make a
commentary about these things that she perceives in society, in hopes that the
story will lead people to some kind of realization. To deny the sci-fi writer their
issues is to deny their experience. Let them write whatever they want, and then
judge them by the quality of the writing and the depth and perception with which
the experience is rendered, rather than dismissing it because it is burgis and
does not conform to a particular framework.
" Beyond issues of representation and socio-political relevance, which I
think come out when a writer has reached a certain level of consciousness, there
was an added thrust in my stories. And this was to have stories that were fun and
accessible to people who didnʼt have degrees in literature, people who couldnʼt
define what an epiphany was in technical terms, but who love reading. I wanted
to open up and tap the market which had captured imaginations and led to things
like fan fiction and other kinds of user generated content. People wanted to read,
but they wanted to have fun doing it. And I wanted people to read my stories, and
I wanted to tell fun stories.
" So there is this attempt to appeal to more readers by having more plot
driven stories. As a genre speculative fiction allows for a lot of plot, and I wanted

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to see how far I could push these stories. I attempt to be funny as well, injecting
as much humor as I can into my stories, keeping them playful and trying to
embed Easter eggs of geek references which lead geek readers to then
reference my stories.

IV. First book and exposure to the publishing industry

" One of the greatest times in my life was the launch of my first book, And
the Geek Shall Inherit the Earth. Iʼll owe Milfores Publishing and Rock Drilon and
Mag;net for that experience. It felt massive, as if I had finally made it. I had a
book, it would be in bookstores, I was finally the author of a book. And yet, in the
aftermath of the launch, it seemed that there was something missing.
" It began when I went to a comic book convention a couple of months after
the launch. At the con, people were asking me about the book, and more
specifically why it wasnʼt being sold there. These people at the con, they were
the kind of people who would like my book and who would buy it, so why wasnʼt it
around for them to buy?
" Then I went to some other places, and they were asking if they could sell
my book in their store. These were small bookstores offering me prominent shelf
space. But because my publisher catered to the larger chain bookstores (and I
am well aware of how demanding that can be) these other bookstores were
below their radar and not worth the effort to distribute to.
" And then I was invited to read from my book at Geek Fight, a regular
gathering of geeks where they (well, we play, as after that event Iʼve become a
regular) play a trivia game. After reading people were coming up to me asking to
buy copies, and again, because itʼs such a small thing and itʼs something not
worth coordinating, I didnʼt have any books to sell.
" This all got me started thinking about the limitations of publishers. In the
scheme of things Milflores is a medium-sized publisher, and it wisely caters to a
target audience, selecting sellable books. Itʼs pretty smartly run. And yet, for an
author like me, with the kind of potential and untapped fanbase that I had (or was

13
building) I felt like more could be done. Obviously there is limited budget for
marketing, and then thereʼs the problem of being just one writer in a stable of
writers that the publisher has to promote. So there wasnʼt any real chance to
focus and do a marketing push for my book. So I decided that when my next
book came out, I would be decidedly more aggressive in marketing it. It would
not be enough to just have it in bookstores. I wanted a hand in the marketing.
" It helped that I was steadily developing what I think I can now refer to as
my brand. In recent months I have been approached by pimply young
undergrads and called “The Godfather of Geek Literature.” While I will quickly
point to Jessica Zafra as someone who has been writing about geeks for more
than a decade now (wow that was when I was in high school, so yeah, she is a
forerunner) and people like Luis Katigbak who are certified geeks, and even the
person who I think is a godfather of geekery, Butch Dalisay (fountain pens,
cameras, Macs? Pure geek), I do think that where I have innovated is that I have
made the geekiness the selling point. Whereas these other writers before me
were literary writers who were geeky, I have decided to be unabashedly out and
out all over the place screaming out loud that I am a geek.
" While screaming that you are a geek will do you no good when trying to
convince women to date you, it does a good job of defining a niche market. And
whatʼs good about this niche market is that though I did not intend or expect it, I
was able to tap into this market just as it was reaching its tipping point. Now
apparently itʼs cool to be a geek, more people are geeky, and the geek is now
more maven than outcast. This means that people want to be geeks, want to be
with other geeks, and most importantly for my branding and book sales, want to
read about geeks and read books by geeks.
" Take note though that I did not set out to develop this identity or branding.
I belonged to a community and came to represent them, and so because this
was my milieu and my consciousness anyway, fellow geeks donʼt distrust me or
think that Iʼm selling out the community. Rather they think that I am contributing to
the community by enriching it and giving geeks more of a voice.

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" With a clear target market, defined audience, sellable brand, and content
that is literary and at the same time accessible, one would think that my writing
would be a publisherʼs dream, to be snapped up before it even landed on their
desk. But this was not the case. And that would drive the last decision to go
independent and trail blaze a totally new business, marketing, and distribution
model that would, as far as book sales and popularity as of the time of this
writing, would have to be declared a great success.

V. This time itʼs personal!

" I believe that all work is inevitably personal. For it to be important it has to
matter to you some way or another. Otherwise, why would you spend so much
time writing about it? And so no matter what the content or the execution is, there
is a personal motivation for the writing.
" Yet, I felt that part of my development as a writer necessitated that I stay
away from subjects that are overtly personal. If I were writing about something
that came from my life that was deeply painful, then I would filter it through fiction
and do things with it so that it wasnʼt me anymore. I was already allergic to all of
the confessional poetry that Iʼd read in workshops and all the revelations of
abuse that I had to go through in my classes. I didnʼt want to be unburdening
myself through my literature.
" Despite my desire to keep things intellectual and not overly personal,
when I got dumped I found that writing about it was the thing that was going to
get me through it. And so even though I hate reading about people whining about
their heartbreaks, there I was doing the exact same thing.
" The plan though was to be aware of how irritating wallowing in self-pity
and sadness can be. And then to render the sadness and the hurt in a tempered,
artistic manner. In Bored to Death Ted Dansonʼs character George Christopher
said that the best way to get over a woman was to write a book about it, and so
thatʼs what I did. The Kobayashi Maru of Love started out as one thing, then an
attempt at processing a sad week after the break up, and then ended up as an

15
attempt at the nonfiction novel with a thematic and narrative thread running
through the whole book.
" And the Geek Shall Inherit the Earth was about me and my experiences,
but it stayed at the level of things that you would tell your friends, or stories you
could tell at parties. Geek Tragedies is a collection written decidedly through a
formalist approach to literature. But The Kobyahashi Maru of Love was me
wearing my heart on my sleeve. It was a deeper personal level which I exposed,
which I hoped did not scare off readers.
" Itʼs this deep personal connection with the book that I feel made it matter
so much more to me. Iʼm invested in all the things I write. But I suppose because
of the things that I explored in this book which I had never written about, never
thought, heck never even felt before, it became so important to me that I be able
to share it and get it into the hands of readers. And get it in the hands of readers
so that I could get it out of my system.
" To be dramatic about it and risk being overly emotional, what I wanted was
to take this woman, tear her from my heart, throw her onto the page, and then
get it out into the world in the hopes that by diffusing this pain in pages, and then
into multiple copies of books, and then spreading these books around to
distribute and share the hurt with readers who may have felt the same things, I
could take all of that sadness and make not only me, but a lot of other people
smile, laugh, and maybe feel a little bit better about the world.
" So when I finished KMoL I felt that I needed to get it out there immediately.
Mookie Katigbak-Lacuesta, who wrote the introduction, suggested that I send it
to Anvil. It was something that they might want to publish, she said, and sheʼd try
to put in a good word for me. Originally intent on going indie, I thought Iʼd give
Anvil a chance, see how they responded to the book. The only response that I
got was that I had submitted at a time of the year when they were finished
accepting submissions, but I could resubmit the following year (which would be
2011).
" What I was feeling, what I was going through needed a release, and it
needed it immediately. I felt that I had to get the book out so that I could get it

16
behind me, so that I could move on with my life. And obviously major publishersʼ
schedules canʼt conform to the whims of the heart of some goofy overweight
writer whoʼs moaning about his heartbreaks. I felt that if I waited for a publisher, if
I waited for something other than what I was feeling, then the time that passed
would make the vitality of the book irrelevant. And so I decided to publish it
myself, under The Youth and Beauty Brigade.

VI. Come and Join the Youth and Beauty Brigade

" The reference escapes most people, but the publishing groupʼs name is
lifted from a song by The Decemberists. Established in the mid-Noughties when
Adam David (who is really the major driving force behind it, Iʼve often just been
the dude who says, “Hey man, thatʼs an awesome idea. Letʼs do it,” but recently,
Iʼve been doing more work as the marketing angles have come up more and
more) and I were officers in the UP Writerʼs Club. The thrust of Y&BB has always
been to promote alternative or non-mainstream texts. We wanted to come out
with zines, anthologies, collections of work that were markedly different from
what was being published. Part of it was just seeing the same names in every
single book that we picked up. We wanted the brash young writers to be read,
and we wanted to find a way to do that.
" With the UP Writerʼs Club we released a few zines and an edition of The
Literary Apprentice (2005) before a falling out occurred within the organization.
We were essentially abandoned by certain members of the organization, left
without a budget in the middle of a project. This caused a rift between me and
the organization that would last a number of years, and led to a fair amount of
disillusionment.
" I distanced myself from the club. And though I was still a part of the writing
community, contributing to things here and there, when I began teaching in 2006
I went through a drop in literary production.
Still, I was in constant contact with Adam, who was always working on
some project or other. I have to admit that for a time I felt a kind of professional
rivalry with him. People compared us to each other, people said our writing was

17
similar, and he was a year younger and working at the cutting edge of things. In
hindsight it was good to have someone so prolific challenging me both directly by
inviting me to contribute to projects and indirectly by just being a guy that I was
measuring myself against and often finding myself wanting.
Adam released The El Bimbo Variations to critical success in 2009. This
inspired me because it was the first Y&BB book. And I felt a bit of a traitor for
having gone with a publisher for my first book. Adam was already doing the art
and layout for KMoL when Anvil said that it didnʼt fall within their calendar. So
while Y&BB was also working on Geek Tragedies (I wrote it, Adam did the book
design, and comic book artist Josel Nicolas did the artwork) Adam started on this
book and we pushed it so that it would make it just in time for my birthday. The
speed with which the book was prepared and the timing of the launch would be
crucial to the bookʼs marketability.

VII. Making Marketing Decisions

" The title of The Kobayashi Maru of Love is, I believe, a brilliant stroke of
marketing. It didnʼt start out that way, but it worked out that way, and for good
effect. As I explain in the book, I felt like dating and women were similar to The
Kobayashi Maru, a test administered to Starfleet candidates to test how they
handle failure, because the test is rigged so that everyone fails.
" It works by effectively capturing two distinctly different markets. The first
half of the title is a glaring Star Trek reference (and since the bookʼs release I
have been approached many times by people who thank me for having the
bravery to reference Star Trek) which grabs the geek market immediately. The
precision of this reference and the meanings which the term Kobayashi Maru
conjures all contribute to making it interesting to prospective geek readers.
Adding to its appeal is that itʼs written by a Filipino; geeks often complain that
there isnʼt much Filipino content written by geeks for geeks.
" The second market is made available by use of the word “love.” It opens
up a market of readers that would never touch anything that has to do with Star

18
Trek, geekery, or Filipino literature. The word and the topic are universal, and this
got people interested. When the book was being readied for printing, I was
plastering the title all over the internet hoping to draw interest.
" I had read about Conan OʼBrien and his Team CoCo. After his debacle
with NBC he couldnʼt appear on TV for a number of months. To market the road
show that he was going on, he relied solely on the internet. Using Twitter as his
main marketing tool, OʼBrien sold out all the shows on his tour.
" While I would not presume to have the fame of Conan OʼBrien (I know, I
know Iʼm not famous. Whenever I wear sneakers with suits people ask me why. I
say, “Hey Bill Gates can pull it off.” And they answer, “Bakit, ikaw ba si Bill
Gates?” So yes, I know that Iʼm not a famous person. It doesnʼt mean that I canʼt
appropriate their successful techniques, or their penchant for sneakers.) I
believed that he was onto something. And with Facebook being a force and
capturing so many eyeballs (more eyeballs than if I would have advertised in
print) online presence seemed the perfect way to market a book that was
targeted at geeks and twenty-somethings who were just like me.
" I put stuff up on my blog. Iʼd write about the book and I would post art from
the book as Adam made it available. Adam also posted all of the artwork on
Facebook so that people could make comments on it and get excited about it.
From responses on Facebook, we got it in our heads to do merchandising.
" Adding to the money I spent on the actual printing of the book, I also spent
on T-Shirts and bags. The merchandise featured art from the book and sold
pretty well. As of the launch night the shirts broke even. The profits from the
shirts were devoted to the Raise High the Roof Fund, which went to help in
rebuilding Adamʼs house after his mother had an accident and their roof was
wrecked. The bags didnʼt sell as quickly, but as of this writing have sold out.
" The merchandising was an experimental move. It didnʼt make any money,
but it translated into free marketing. We were promoting the book by selling
shirts, and whenever people wore the shirts they would be supporting the book
and advertising it, the shirt serving as something of an endorsement. This would
then generate further interest in the book.

19
" Timing and making the most of opportunities is key when going renegade.
And I was fortunate that Pecha Kucha Manila was happening just a week before
the launch. Pecha Kucha brings together creative people from different fields and
asks them to talk about their projects. I talked about my decision to go indie and
was greeted with a wave of applause for it. After my talk I sold books out of my
bag. My talk led to people writing about me in their blogs, which in turn led to
more internet activity and awareness of KMoL.
" Internet activity of the book and of my name has reached the point where
my name now figures into Googleʼs predictive function (when you start typing in
letters, instead of having to type out my whole name, once you get to Carlj
Google will predict and spell out the rest of my name for you). So when it was
time to launch the book there was already a lot of buzz about the book, and this
buzz had reached my target audience.
" I launched on my birthday, thereby mitigating costs. Some people bought
drinks to share with the launch costs, others treated guests to pulutan. Adam
talked the venue, Ilyongʼs, into not taking a cut of the profits. They earned more
than enough money that night serving drinks and food. And at the launch two
poets in attendance said, “Everyone in the literary establishment under fifty is
here,” and more amusingly, “Carl packed Ilyongʼs, from hipsters to High Chair
everyone is here.” This massive attendance, coming as I was able to bring
together a number of different communities (sci-fi writers, academics,
batchmates, the aforementioned hipsters and High Chair, comic book fans,
geeks, and people that I didnʼt even know), led to a whopping number of sales. I
sold more than 100 copies on launch night on the strength of word of mouth
invitations and internet activity.
" I would sell books out of my bag, meet up with people, show up at blogger
events, and just unashamedly ask if anyone wanted to buy my book. Often,
people would ask if I had a copy on me, and I almost always did.
" I also marketed directly to teachers who were teaching creative nonfiction,
the essay, or narrative writing. Essays from my first book were already being
used by a number of people I knew in the UP faculty, as well as other

20
universities. It made sense then that I would go directly to teachers, offering them
discounts and commissions, and even offering them their own print-runs.
" Online sales came from my connection with Avalon.ph. Iʼd been buying
books from Jasper Ong, the siteʼs proprietor, for about ten years. And now it was
time for him to sell my books. Through Jasper I was able to distribute my book
not only across the nation but across the region too. Granted the sales figures
arenʼt whopping, but they are more and faster than I would have done with
traditional distribution. The only shelf-space bricks-and-mortar distribution that I
utilized was Sputnik, a comic book store in Cubao X.
" In the year and a half that my first book has been in bookstores,
distributed through traditional channels (i.e. National Bookstore and Powerbooks
in outlets nationwide) it has sold 428 copies. Thatʼs not bad, considering it can
take up to ten years to sell out a 1,500 copy print run. But then in the three
months that I was marketing The Kobayashi Maru of Love aggressively I was
able to sell 420 copies.
" Iʼve outlined here what I did, how I marketed and sold the book. Now I will
analyze how each of these methods became successful and what they mean for
the future of marketing, distribution, and quite possibly Philippine publishing.

VIII. The Internet, Web-based Communities, and a love for the Pro-sumer

" Speaking at a conference recently I was asked a question that often miffs
me, “How do I use the internet to advance my career?” This is a common
question, and for most people it makes perfect sense. Seeing the internet as a
tool, and witnessing how the net has catapulted the careers of many, changed
the perception of millions, and become a dominant influence in our lives, people
think that they can wield the internet to benefit themselves.
" While I have also been seen as someone who has “utilized the internet to
advance my career” all of this has happened not out of an intentional use, but
because of my participation in the internet community. Which is to say that I use
the internet not to advance my career, but because I like using the internet. And

21
through the net Iʼve connected with similar people. Itʼs these connections that
have led to my perceived success via the internet, not a planned execution of
things on the net to boost my popularity.
" This may sound very techno-hippie, but the internet isnʼt a tool that you
can pick up and use with the proper instructions. Rather the net is its own vibrant
community and an organism in its own right, something that you work with, that
you interact with, and something that you engage in. This is largely because
despite the net being a technological thing, behind it all are people. The internet
is a technology that allows us to connect and interact with so many more people
in a way that we have never known before.
The traditional mass media approach, the big three of TV, print, and radio,
as well as below the line stuff like billboards, AVPs, flyers, and other things, all
view selling and marketing from a producer to consumer paradigm. The message
is created and then blasted to the largest number of people possible, in the
hopes that by directing it at this large mass of people, a percentage of them will
respond to the broad and general message sent out. By sending a message that
goes to millions (like say a TV commercial) then you stand a larger chance of
getting a percentage of those millions to buy your product.
That marketing model has proven effective in the past century (and Iʼm
sure it will be effective in this century to some degree, though studies show
customization of ad content to be the way to go in the coming decades) and it is
very effective in selling soap, shampoo, laundry detergent, and instant pansit
canton. This model however has not worked and probably will never work with
marketing Philippine literature. Thus it did not make sense to even attempt at
marketing through these means. And being a Netizen with firmly net presence, it
became clear that the marketing opportunities offered by the internet would be
the best option, both in terms of reaching a target market and keeping the costs
of marketing manageable. (Just as a rough figure, ads in print will run in the
hundreds of thousands, while my web-based marketing only cost me the fraction
of time I spend on my monthly internet bill and the electricity it cost to keep my
laptop running.)

22
" While recognizing that literature does not have a mass appeal, it became
clear to me that there could be opportunities to market my book in nontraditional
ways. The bookʼs limited appeal and the smallness of my expectations for it
allowed me to set an appropriate scope for the marketing.
" It will sound elitist, but one of my first major decisions was to disregard the
majority of Filipinos in my marketing scheme. Most Filipinos donʼt read, and most
Filipinos donʼt care about literature. This is a big problem, a problem that I would
like to have a part in addressing. But the KMoL was not going to be the medium
through which to address this problem. I assumed that the magsasaka and
manggagawa couldnʼt care less about this book about a rotund pseudo-academic
coping with heartbreak and dating in the post-millennial metropolis. Nor 99
percent of the rest of the Philippine population. Choosing literature as my
medium of expression severely limited my possible audience. Further limiting my
audience was the choice of writing in English. And to add onto that was the
limiting factor of writing through the lens of sci-fi and comic book geekiness. I
thought Iʼd be successful if I could sell 250 copies, which was my first print run.
" I knew that there would be people to buy the book, because according to
Chris Andersonʼs Theory of the Long Tail, no matter what it is, someone out there
will buy it. So it isnʼt a matter of making a hit, being a bestseller that gets bought
by millions (or in the case of the Philippines thousands) but rather marketing
directly to an audience. No matter what it is, no matter how bad it is, according to
The Long Tail, at least one person will buy it.
" Now I knew of a community that would be interested in it. In fact I cheated
in establishing this community. Well before I finished the book I was having
chunks of it published. At first I went with traditional publications, like The
Philippines Free Press. But as the writing wore on, it became clear that it was
smarter to publish these essays and pieces online. Thus I had essays posted in
such popular sites as rocketkapre and new-slang.com. I was already familiar with
the people who ran these sites, and thought it would be a great opportunity to get
feedback.

23
" This helped to cultivate my position in the online community and reach
more readers than the traditional literary background had given me. The online
community is vibrant, with many people creating content. While not everyone is
necessarily writing poetry, essays, or fiction, everyone is in some sense or other
a content creator. People are posting blog entries, Facebook status messages,
tweets, and other things, and all of these things can be read as content. So the
line between producers and consumers, drawn so definitively in mass media
marketing, is invisible online. You have pro-sumers. If you offer your content in
such a way that people can interact with it, then it allows for enrichment for
everyone, more exchange among pro-sumers.
" For example, Iʼll post an essay of mine on my Facebook notes. This will
allow everyone to read it, but then not everyone on the net will read it. Most likely
a number of my friends will read it. Based on the activity it gets from those visits,
itʼll climb in popularity. People might hit the “Like” button. Other will comment on
it. Still others will like it so much that they will repost it on their walls. Others will
retweet it or reference it in their blogs. This activity leads to readers outside of my
own immediate social network. These new readers will then look me up and that
will expand my own network. They might retweet/repost it, further expanding the
postʼs reach. Weʼre talking small numbers here, maybe two or three people
beyond my immediate social network, but then if they can recommend it to one or
two other people, and so on, then it does reach something of a tipping point,
which will lead to more sales.
" Other people wind up reworking the content, remixing it. One of the best
things that can happen is that someone quotes from the book, puts that quote up
as a tweet or a status message. People then read that, maybe like or share it,
and then they become intrigued with the book. Other people might write reviews
of the book and post this not only to their social networks but to international
book sites like Shelfari. Hence the expanding of the bookʼs reach. I actively
participate not only in the posting/retweeting of my own work, but also in the work
of other. I make comments, just as people make comments on my accounts. I do
it not to sell books, but because I really do enjoy these interactions online and I

24
believe in the enrichment that is afforded by these kinds of interactions.
Complete strangers have become friends through our swapping of content
online.
" Not content with posting essays online, I decided to take the most extreme
step; the no-no as far as traditional publishing is concerned. I gave digital copies
of the book away. I sent it to people who asked for it. Those people posted their
thoughts on it and quoted it on their Facebook statuses and Twitter feeds, which
led to awareness and buzz about the book. Often people who had digital copies
would want to buy physical copies of the book anyway, because “suporta lang”
for someone in the community who was doing something. It wasnʼt merely the
content or the book itself, but the ideal behind it. People were supporting a Pinoy
indie book that was trying to get ahead on its own steam and trying to involve the
online community in its efforts.

IX. Bye Bye Bricks and Mortar

" After creating awareness about The Kobayashi Maru of Love the next and
more difficult task was making opportunities for people to buy it. Traditional
publishing would have put the book in National and Powerbooks and left it at
that. But with the amount that those bookstores ask for in return for shelf space, I
would have either been at a loss, or would have had to bump the price up
beyond P300 (itʼs been a decision in the Y&BB that we wonʼt ever charge more
than P300 for books because thatʼs the price that international bestsellers sell at;
once you hit that price point you are competing with Dan Brown, Tom Clancy,
John Grisham, and Mitch Albom, and, quality of content aside, buyers will usually
go with those bestsellers over local books).
" Sales of KMoL have generally eschewed bricks-and-mortar based
traditional shelf space. Instead the book has turned to events and direct selling.
This means essentially cutting out the middle man, meaning that I have been

25
able to keep the cost down and offer discounts, while at the same time turning
more of a profit than I would have if I had gone with a traditional publisher.
" Iʼve accepted a number of speaking engagements and at each I would sell
copies of my book. Sometimes I would ask for pre-orders online so that I would
know how many to bring to the various events. Most significant for me was that
after twenty years of attending comic book conventions, for the first time I was
sitting behind the desk and selling my stuff at one. Though a lot of comic book
readers passed it by because it wasnʼt comics, those who had read about it
online bought copies readily.
" Bringing the book to people breaks the way that we usually do things. The
writer writes his work. The publisher puts it in bookstores. And then the readers
go to the bookstore and look for the book. What I decided to do was to bring the
book to people. I would go to events, conventions, places where the kinds of
people who might want to buy my book would go. I would take the initiative and
go to the readers, rather than expect them to go looking for me. Or at least I
would go to places where I could make the book easily accessible to them. I
know that it doesnʼt sound very groundbreaking, but this came to mean a lot to a
lot of readers, seeing the author there to actually interact with them.
" Then, after doing a digital launch at the Manila International Book Fair and
seeing that the book fair served major publishers, people interested in textbooks,
and religious books while at the same time ignoring the vibrant community of
young writers and readers, Adam and I decided to organize our own book fair.
We put together the Better Living Through Xeroxography event which brought
together traditional books and comic books, and in effect bringing together two
different reading communities so that they could share books. Though small-
scale by events organizing standards, it was a massive event for the indie
publishing scene, drawing more than a hundred people (Iʼd wager to say we hit at
least a hundred and fifty in the course of the night). Not only did this event allow
creators to sell their works, but it strengthened the ties within the small
community that was being built there and made it clear that there was a market
for the literature, if only spaces would be created for it.

26
" While attending events I decided to sell my book through Avalon.ph. This
seemed like a wise decision because that site is regularly visited by the book-
reading and book-blogging community online. After sealing the deal with the
aforementioned Jasper Ong, he wrote a blog entry and interview about me on the
site to promote the book. We did promos so that buyers could get bags for free or
discounted rates if they bought them with the books. The crucial thing about the
tie-up with Avalon.ph was the clear support given by the book distributor. Unlike
major bookstores which could be more than indifferent to local titles, Ong took
the initiative in promoting the book, and asked for next to no profits for the book.
He was only after the promotion of local literature and driving more readers to his
site. In that sense it was mutually beneficial: by posting on his site I was able to
sell to his regular customers, which I would not have had access to otherwise;
conversely, I was able to draw new customers to his site, through my own social
networks, who would not have visited Avalon.ph otherwise. Itʼs a new economy
that, while based on money, is also based on trust, support, and encouragement.
And itʼs an economy that book buyers quickly and willingly engage in. We know
that all things can be pirated, can be gotten for free (as mentioned before, I gave
KMoL away initially) but when we can get people to invest not only in content but
in experiences and ideals, then they will want to pay for their books.
" The bricks-and-mortar outlet which I did sell at cultivates a similar sense of
community and participation. Sputnik in Cubao X is a comic book store with
erratic schedules (there is no set opening or closing time, and sometimes it just
doesnʼt open), is a good walk away from the main shopping areas of Cubao, and
offers a limited specialized selection of titles. These are all iffy propositions in
business terms, and yet that store is successful and has drawn the comic book
community.
" Itʼs comic book and science fiction fans that I think will want to read my
book the most, and sales at Sputnik have shown that to be true. Along with the
regulars and the people whoʼve heard the buzz about the book, people do
stumble upon and buy the book, and if a recent book-signing is any indication,
there is a large group of people out there looking for literature similar to what Iʼm

27
writing, and they are going to Sputnik to find the kinds of books that they would
want to read.
" Sputnik makes selling books through them easy. Their standard rate is
20% of sales, but thatʼs negotiable. KMoL is selling with them for a shade under
that, and itʼs been beneficial to both store and author. The long and arduous
process of getting a book into major booksellers, finding out if they are selling,
and then filing a mass of papers that go back and forth between delivery, sales
reports, and payments (a process that takes months at the least) is contrasted by
Sputnikʼs where I show up, sign a form saying how many copies I left with them,
and then when Iʼm drinking in Mogwai next door Sputnikʼs manager Chez will
come over once in a while and hand me my share of book sales. And one of the
great things about Sputnik is that itʼs a place that encourages people to just hang
out and talk about comics and other nerdy things. They stay, they browse, and
they stumble upon the work.
" It is obvious that I hold an amount of apprehension towards traditional
distribution channels that is inversely proportional to my love for the alternative
distribution models that show love for and champion Filipino creators. This I
believe is the future of Philippine publishing and distribution. Moving from a mass
market approach, we must recognize literary production and sales as a niche
market and treat it as such. As a niche market we identify our possible buyers
and craft distribution modes that will make it easier, quicker, and cheaper for
book buyers to acquire our books. Whether these come on the form of physical
books sold in places which specialize in local books and cultivate communities,
or in digital books which are just a click away (I have decided to explore both
options) or some other form, it is clear through these attempts that I have made
that there are more and better opportunities than those afforded to us by the
dominant modes of publishing and distribution. If my attempts and my attempt to
discuss them in this these are any indication, then the future of the book and the
future of Philippine literature are not at risk. Rather it is most encouraging to find
that books, literature, and reading are alive and well and are going to reach even
more people than before. The only question is if the dominant modes of

28
Philippine publishing and distribution will change and adapt to the new landscape
that is dominated by the reader and the readerʼs demand. The indie publisher,
flexible, quick, lean, and easily adaptable, can clearly navigate this new world.

X. Conclusion

I hope that through this introductory essay I have not only outlined my
poetics and approach to writing, but have opened up new avenues for discourse
regarding form and content, but also and I feel more importantly about
publishing, marketing, and distribution. We are, in our coursework, consistently
made aware of literary technique and execution, but what I feel needs more
discussion is once we have attained what it is we hope to accomplish on the
page, we have the capacity to move it beyond the page and into the hands and
hearts of readers.
" The succeeding pages of this thesis will feature the two creative nonfiction
books, And the Geek Shall Inherit the Earth and The Kobayashi Maru of Love as
well as the fiction book Geek Tragedies (though some of those stories were
included in my undergraduate thesis it seems proper to present it as part of the
single collection). In addition to those completed works, excerpts from an
upcoming novel and another creative nonfiction book (another attempt at the
nonfiction novel) will be included to show the direction in which I attempting to
push my writing.

29