So… this is two months late, but I can’t not write about my amazing experience with Talk Bookish To Me, AKA the community of readers and content creators who organized the book tour for Waiting in the Wings.
Yup, I had another book tour this year! (Check out my BookLoverTitas collaboration for Connect the Hearts~)
I just figured that since I’m planning to release another book next year, I should reintroduce my backlist to new readers. So I reached out to Talk Bookish To Me for a collaboration, and they did a week-long feature for my theatre babies Erin, Ramon, and Pio on the first week of September.
I remember having a Zoom meeting with some of the TBTM members and their admin, Emman, asking me: “What are your expectations from us?”
I was a little stumped. What did I expect nga ba? Honestly, the only thing I wanted out of this book tour is new readers who would be interested in my books, so I just told them to do whatever they wanted and to surprise me. 🙂
And surprise me, they did. For seven days, Avy, Obi, Shian, Ceej, Jesh, CL, Nyz, Mark, and Veron featured my book in various creative ways. I was so kilig! One of them even made me cry. *points to the post below*
- A good story is evergreen. Every now and then, when I market my backlist online, I wonder if new readers will still enjoy it and find it relevant. I worried about this too while we were planning this tour. Waiting in the Wings was published in 2017, a full eight years before I met the TBTM community which is composed of mostly young(er) readers. Will they like it, or will they find it baduy? Are the ideas outdated now, especially since the world has changed so much in the last eight years?
Turns out, I need not have worried because they liked the book! And the funny thing is, I saw some similar reactions between the readers from eight years ago and Team TBTM. They even chose teams as well! (Kaway-kaway sa mga #TeamRamon at #TeamPio diyan!) 🤣
It made me think of all the books I’ve loved in the past, ones that I would reread every now and then just because. How ever many years pass, they’re still good books to me. There are even times when my appreciation for them grow stronger because of certain life experiences or memories. A good book is and will always be a good book, no matter when you choose to read them. At hindi naman sa pagbubuhat ng bangko, but I feel like I wrote a good book…and I can only hope that five, ten, even twenty years in the future, someone could pick up Waiting in the Wings and love it the same way its fans did.
- It pays to research the community you’re asking help from. Before deciding on which content creators I wanted to reach out to, I did a bit of research. I followed their Instagram accounts, and through their posts, I got to know them a little. What kinds of books do they like reading? Aside from reading, what else are they interested in?
From there, I chose a group of people that I felt was young enough to be my main characters’ friends. I also know some of them are into romance books and musical theatre, and that was an important factor that led to my decision. I felt that Talk Bookish To Me was a perfect fit, and I was right! I was even pleasantly surprised to know that there were more members of the community who were theatre kids at some point in their lives, and were very happy to read a book that highlighted Philippine theatre. I really lucked out with the Talk Bookish To Me Team, and I hope to be able to collaborate with them again someday.
- Making new connections is so much fun! Eto, real talk: As a kwarentahin, I’m sometimes too tired to socialize or meet new people in any kind of setting. I have groups of friends from various parts of my life and I have the #RomanceClass community for when I have to wear my author hat. But through the last two book tours I did this year, I was able to make many new connections that I’m really happy about. I met the BookLoverTitas and Team TBTM at #MIBF2025, and they were also present at #RomanceClass’ Merienda and Meet-Cutes event in September—man, that was so much fun!
Did I feel my social battery drain faster from all the people-ing?
Yes. Do I regret it? Not. At. All.Not only do they make my Instagram feed so much more interesting, I also get to discover new things—books, authors, cafes, tourist spots in different countries, book/art events—because of them. They widen my view of the world when I’ve been comfortable with the one I’ve created for myself in the past ten years, and because of that, I’m grateful.
To Avy, Obi, Shian, Ceej, Jesh, CL, Nyz, Mark, and Veron—thank you for giving Waiting in the Wings space in your bookshelf (and your heart YIEEEEE charot)! To Emman, thank you for accepting my request to collaborate with TBTM. I had a lot of fun during the tour, and I am constantly amazed at the work you do to make local work more visible to young readers. Labyu guys! <3
If you’re an author launching or promoting a book, consider collaborating with Talk Bookish To Me! Theirs is a vibrant community of readers and book content creators who highlight Filipino-authored work and do an excellent job at it too!
