I attended almost every ReaderCon (with the exception of last year’s as it fell on a weekday), but this year’s event was special to me because of a lot of things.
1. Selling books & being part of a writing community
Being part of #romanceclass and the Romance Writers of the Philippines opened up my world to a lot of new friends, opportunities, and other fun things I wouldn’t have accomplished on my own. It was also a thrilling experience to be able to sell my books, meet new readers, and just hang out with fellow indie authors. Just look at our lovely booth! Who would’ve thought we were all running under less than 5 hours of sleep with all that energy?
2. First experience speaking at a panel
I can’t believe it myself, but I was part of the morning panel at the ReaderCon that talked about book blogging. It was a new and nerve-racking experience, but in the end, it turned out pretty awesome! I’m glad I made at least some sense and the discussion was quite interesting. Hopefully more people will be encouraged to put up their own blogs and help promote Filipino books to the world.
3. Speed dating for romance books
The Romance Writers of the Philippines thought of this ingenious way to get ReaderCon participants to check out our books by organizing a speed dating activity. I’ve done speed dating before, but I have to say that this quirky version is more fun and insightful. I met a lot of cool readers who were into different romance tropes and characters, readers who are into Tagalog romances, and readers who shared the same fandom as I did. This gave me greater insight to what readers of certain age brackets prefer, but really, the experience had been all sorts of fun. I’m looking forward to another similar activity!
4. #romanceclass live reading (!!!!)
To say that this was the highlight of most of us at #romanceclass is an understatement. Nevertheless we were thrilled to be part of another run of this audio-visual kilig fest with theater pros Rachel Coates and Gio Gahol. It’s one thing to read a swoon-worthy book, but to actually experience it being read live (and with real life awesome MC and LI pegs) was something for the books. We couldn’t help but gush, laugh, swoon, and squeal (I heard someone snorted haha!), and based from the audience’s reactions, they loved it, too! I’ve managed to record the readings, although some are not complete (please forgive my moment of technical weakness). But do check out what got us all riled up and breaking Twitterverse so you can share in the collective gushing over Rachel and Gio’s mad skills.
5. Hanging out with fellow writers and readers
I am humbled beyond words that people bought my books and had them signed. It’s every author’s dream for their book to be read, and I’m happy to say that I’ve crossed that off my bucket list. But that’s not the end of it! Thanks to ReaderCon, I’m more inspired than ever to continue what I love to do. Having a supportive writing community with fun and wacky people as friends helps, too! Also, let me just say that Chrissie Peria is just awesome for winning the 2014 Filipino Reader’s Choice Awards for Romance in English. #romanceclass represent!
6. Book haul
I attended ReaderCon dragging a small luggage to bring the books I intended to sell, but I went home with more books because I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have these babies in my shelf. My TBR pile is growing at an alarming rate. Haha! But really, I was so happy to get more books. What was your book haul last ReaderCon?
I should’ve written this post-event recap, but the feels were just too intense that I had to organize my thought. But anyway, hope you all had an awesome experience and hope to see you on next year’s ReaderCon!