8Letters LitFest 2022 was a Blast
It’s a wrap! The annual 8Letters Literary Festival is successfully celebrated by different book lovers all over the internet. Both authors and readers enjoyed various online activities thoughtfully prepared by 8Letters Bookstore and Publishing.
Let us take a look at what happened at the 9-day festive celebration.
April 9
Science Fiction Masterclass
Wandered around the SciFi world!
The first day started with a roam around Science Fiction writing through an in-depth lecture and workshop with Cris Santos and Renato Tranquilino, both authors and SciFi enthusiasts. Aside from the basics of writing, the evolution of Pinoy SciFi was also highlighted.
The next day, the intensive workshop continued. This masterclass’ mission is to produce #PinoySciFi Volume which will be available on Amazon and Gumroad.
Awarding Night for Readers Choice Awards
For the first time, 8Letters held its Readers Choice Awards! The winners were selected through a voting process and the books that incredibly stood out were as follows:
- Best Romance Novel – Two Less Lonely People in the World by Lolakwentosera
- Best Poetry Collection – Sunsets are Sonnets and Other Poems by Alvin B. Cruz
- Best Mystery Novel – Reaching the Sky by Camille Faye M. Punu
- Best Fantasy Novel – The Z-Virus: Seeking for Cure by P.I.R.M.
- Best Non-Fiction Book – Karapat-dapat Ka by Send Orbillo
- Best Memoir – Beyond the Bansalan Skies by Leila Rispens-Noel
April 10
How to Write the Perfect Murder
The next day, a 30-minute presentation about the necessary elements in writing a perfect murder story is conducted. Cindy Wong, the author of The Meatball Club discussed how to use the suspects, motives, alibis, witnesses, and red herrings the right way.
It was streamed live on 8Letter’s official Facebook page and the audience learned a lot within just half an hour.
April 14
Indie Publishing in a nutshell
“In indie publishing, you do everything from finding the editor to marketing yourself and your book…[but] You are also your own BOSS”
-Cindy Wong
That was right! Thus, an hour lecture about the step-by-step process of indie publishing in today’s age is headed again by Cindy Wong. She talked about how to get the authors’ books out to the world and how to make writing a career.
31Letters
On this day, 15 masterpieces a.k.a. 31Letters books are also officially launched! It is a collection of writings of 15 amazing authors, a product of the January Challenge hosted by 8Letters. The challenge entails that a writer needs to write an entry a day for the whole month.
The 15 books are as follows:
- Poems of my Heart by Angelica Mae E. Bondoc
- Vindictive Redemption by Genelizette Palomar
- Processing the Thoughts by Mark Deo
- ASWANG atbp. by John Albert Silva
- My 31 Days Challenge by Rojo Boy Gamino
- The Words of a Fangirl by Aira Mae Falceso
- New Year and Other Sentiments by Esther del Rojo
- Mga Danas ng Puso by Cherry Macarilay
- Mga Araw Para Kay Ate Binay by Mary Joyce Binay
- Pluma’t Rosas: Tatlumpu’t isang Tula ng Pag-ibig, Pait at Pagpapanibago by Shierney Ann Reterta
- An Angel’s Soul by Angelika Mae Cagadas
- Confessions to the Moon by Marfel Culaton
- A Plethora of Feelings by Shayne Martinez
- Sa Ilalim ng Sinagtala Nakita ang mga Salita by Smile Obispo
- Punctuations of Life by Rosario Villaluz
The books are now available at https://forms.gle/Dn7rrLh3fNLWZK7.
April 15
Caught in a Bad Romance
Romance stories will never be not addictive. What more if it is written like a professional?
This three-part talk about romance writing is headed by bestselling romance writers, Mayumi Cruz, Lia Salen, and Czeila Vicente. They talked about making it big internationally as a romance writer, using and/or subverting the best and most marketable tropes, and writing plots, steamy scenes, and the physical and emotional journey of characters.
Aside from insightful talks, fun live readings featuring three bestselling authors were also conducted.
April 16
Mitolohiya Book Launch Liwanag at Kadiliman
The Mitolohiya Series is a 4-book fantasy series that features mythological creatures in the Philippines.
It was like a book fiesta where we heard from the writers themselves. With our curator, Cindy Wong, 8Letters deep-dived into their stories and how they wrote them. The writers who joined us were Kiera Viresse (The Debate at Yakal Library), Megyssa Nine (Ang Bulak sa Kagabion), Pauline Navarro (The Mitolohiya Therapy Session: Long Overdue). You may read their works in Liwanag. We also heard from Tristan Dyln Tano (The Break of Dawn), Immanuel Canicosa (The Thrill of the Hunt), and Cloui Monsanto (Pasado Olvidado). You may read their works in Kadiliman.
April 17
Spoken Word Poetry Day
It was a day filled with poets and books!
In the afternoon, we had a book launch of Horizons Creed. It is a collection of works from Filipino community of poets based in Hong Kong. The book tells “relatable stories of migrant workers facing the most pressing challenges of our time–pandemic, separation, and even depression” as Jay Imperio, a Professor at St. Mary’s University Hong Kong Campus said.
In the evening, we also heard from best-selling poetry collection authors, R.C. Perez with his work from Magic of the Modest, Maria Solei with her poems from Epiphanies and Formalities, Gerome Dela Peña with his poem from Suong, Claire Paladin with her works from Things I Told the Moon and Stars.
About 8Letters
The 8Letters Literary Festival is organized by 8Letters Bookstore and Publishing, an annual gathering to celebrate the Filipino writing talent.
8Letters is the home of Filipino indie books. Established in June 2016, it aims to provide a self-publishing platform to help writers in their journey to success. In 2021, the 8Letters Publishing university was established and has provided writing masterclasses.
