For a couple of days now, I have been on an overdrive mode. Writing, writing, and writing. My despair inflamed the writer in me, and ever since, I’ve been chugging out compositions after compositions. My mood hasn’t affected the tone of my articles as I’ve even been able to write funny anecdotes.
When I write something good, I instantly know if it is good ‘coz I really feel good about myself; at how I made that composition turn out. It’s like I have this internal editor in me egging me on when I make one good piece, and slamming me when I write a bad one.
My Mamuy and I have been talking about how I should go about fulfilling my dream to be a published writer. She said that all I had to do was believe in myself and everything would follow.
If it were only that easy.
We went to Powerbooks today and spent the afternoon there sitting at the coffee shop and reading/browsing some books. Actually, we went to the mall to meet my sisters, who texted me and told me that they’d be shopping there at Megamall and asked me if perhaps I’d like to meet them and at the same time, finally get the laptop I’ve been trying to borrow from them. The visit at Powerbooks was just a plus. (Ok, I’ll admit. It’s become routine for me to always visit Powerbooks whenever I go to Megamall)
I browsed some (actually, more than a few of them) self-help books on writing, and was frustrated to discover that Powerbooks doesn’t have anything that really had substance. I mean come on! Most of those books I saw were just of authors having an ego trip and boasting to readers how they got to were they where and all that. I only saw one book that really had some good advice, tips, and useful exercises which I could really make use of. And it was the cheapest lot of them!
I was frustrated ‘coz I wasn’t able to find a good screenwriting book. They only had two touching on that subject. Talk about being low on choices. And both of the books sucked! The one was locally published by a local author, written in Filipino, and the other one by an international shyster. (the locally published book was better than the internationally published one) I was pissed ‘coz they usually call them self-help or DIY books ‘coz their main purpose is to let the reader teach themselves! But how can you do that when all the book does is give motherhood statements, stories of successful people doing this and that, and telling readers commonsense stuff that really, they don’t need to be told, (like: hey you, to be a good fiction writer you need a good plot, strong characters, and memorable dialogues. I mean, c’mon mamon! What writer wouldn’t already know that?) and failing on the stuff that self-help books should give, which are: how to do it, how best to do it, what are examples of this stuff, and finally, a few exercises to get the reader going. Talk about pretentiousness.
Self-help books are a dime a dozen in the US, but only few have the quality enough to be really called “self-help.” For example, have you experienced that frustration when you bought a self-help book only to find out that the only persons helped by that book are the authors themselves? Yeah, they’re self-helping themselves to your money!
Well, I certainly felt like that when I read this book. (title was: PC Annoyances: How to kick them out of your lives forever; or something to that effect) The book had all the right PC annoyances identified. The problem was on the solutions they gave. Every one of them asked the reader to buy (or download) some 3rd-party software which in one way or another, they’re bound to benefit from. Most of the software can be downloaded from their site, or if it was freeware or shareware, was ad-supported through them. The low-life bastards!
Well, anyway, I brought that precious find (entitled: The Word at Work) at the cashier and paid for it. I’ve read most of its contents back at the coffee shop, and had no fear that the book was a wrong purchase. I’ve already known (from browsing it) that it had what I was looking for, and I wasn’t disappointed when I came home and read it fully. Boy, and that book wasn’t even a quarter of the pages of those other pretentious books I saw, and thrice cheaper, too!
So a word of wisdom for people planning to buy one of them how-to, self-help, DIY books: Never buy one which you’ve never browsed beforehand. Go to bookstores that allow customers to read a few pages, or even better, one that actually allows you to read the whole thing! Powerbooks is one such bookstore. I don’t know about Fully Booked. Haven’t been there yet. The bookstore turns me off because from just passing by it, I get the impression that all their books are very pricey. Goodwill Bookstore and Book Sale are good places to get a really good bargain if you’re being thrifty. Though they don’t allow full-time reading, (like you reading the entire book) they do allow casual reading. As for National Bookstore, it depends on what branch you’re visiting. Some branches would allow you to rip-off the plastic (for those books that are wrapped up) and see what’s inside, while others wouldn’t. It usually depends on the kind of manager they have on that branch. Others understand that you’re the kind of customer who just wants to make sure you’re getting a good deal for your money, while others are so stuck-up the only thing they see is the rule book which says: No opening of packages please.
Bookstore owners should see it from the buyer’s point of view. You’re interested in this book they have on display. You’ve read what’s written at the back of it, and it sounded good. You want to see a full itemized list of what’s really inside the book as the book is kind of expensive (most of those wrapped-up books have prices ranging from Php700 up). You ask the saleslady or the person at the customer service counter if you could unwrap the book to see what’s inside. They look coldly at you, act all high and mighty and point at the sign which says: no personal reading please. You appeal to them that you’re not gonna read the whole thing (for Christ sakes, its hardbound, and more than a couple of hundred pages!) and just wanted to see the table of contents. They look at you like you’re some imbecile and smile condescendingly at you and say: sorry sir, pero bawal talaga eh.
Fine. Pakisabi na lang sa boss nyo na wala syang mabebentang libro sa ganyang paraan.
Wanna know what book I was trying to buy? A medical one! And all I wanted to do was see the table of contents (to make sure the topics I need to study are in the book) and see if the pictures and drawings in the book are adequate and clear enough for me to study! Buying a medical book is a considerable investment. It’s not like you’re just buying some romance novel at 50 or 100 pesos a pop. Medical books have prices starting from 1,000 and going up. I’d be fool enough to depend upon the writing at the back of the book, which I’m sure is self-serving anyway (considering it was the book’s own publishers who put it there in the first place), to be assured that my money would be well-spent.
I mean, I can’t get it while some bookstore owners do not realize that they won’t be losing money if they allow customers some personal reading. That’s even good as you’re making them addicted at reading. Yeah, I accept that most Filipinos are free-riders, and given the chance at buying or reading for free, most would choose the latter. But they have to understand that most of the buying-type customers aren’t the free-riding type. They have to realize that most of the buying-type customers are well-to-do and doesn’t really care if they’ve already read the book, (I for one still buy books which I’ve already read for the simple fact that I don’t own one yet) but only care about acquiring a book which they’ve really liked reading, and would want to read again and again. It’s not having read it already. It’s re-reading it that makes it for good buying. You see, those free-rider types aren’t the buying type. Whether they’re able to read the book or not, they’ll never buy it ‘coz: they’re free-riders for Christ sakes! Either they’ll just wait for a friend to buy one, or wait for an online copy of that book to proliferate.
Powerbooks is a good example. It has become a virtual haven for free-riding readers. But do you see them losing money? On the contrary, their business is even growing! They know that those free-riders, would sooner or later, get so addicted at reading, they’d become more than just mere book readers. They’d become book lovers. And those would become their most loyal customers.
A short differentiation between the two:
A book reader is one who reads a book for the simple sake of reading it. After finishing, the person puts the book away, throws it out, or gives it to someone else; in short, he doesn’t care what happens to the book next. He only wanted what was inside.
Book readers NEVER buy expensive books. Unless they’re ones needed in school, or in their jobs.
A book lover is someone who reads a book for the joy of it. After finishing, he carefully puts the book on his bookshelf, along with his other “favorites.” Some even wrap the book in plastic so as not to have their covers torn. He wanted not only what was inside, but the book itself.
Book lovers don’t care about the price tag. As long as they like the book, they’ll buy it. (they may not have enough money for it, but they’ll save for it)
So among the two, whom would you want as customers: the spenders or the misers?
Well, that’s a no-brainer for me, if you ask me.
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