Mina V. Esguerra's Blog, page 6

I will be at Women Writing presents: Love, Sex, and Women

I will be doing the keynote speech, a panel, and Q&A sessions at Women Writing presents: Love, Sex, and Women on April 20, 2024. Details and registration link below. And here’s the program!

This program looks super fascinating and I have so much to say about writing kilig, intimacy, and sex as a romance author. By now I’ve already written more than 10 books with higher heat levels (sex), but like many authors I’ve met while teaching RomanceClass, I tried to avoid writing this.

I used to have a post on this very blog justifying why I will not be writing sex or anything too intimate. I had emailed a favorite author telling her thank you for writing the stuff I can’t, and she said oh but you can. Another author friend encouraged me to take the heat level of my books higher because I was already hinting at it, and I said that’s not me, and she said just try it. I was self-conscious about what people who know me would think, if I would be any good, and it seemed easier to just not try. Of course every author is on their own journey and I can’t speak for you if this is your struggle, but I…got over it. I figured out that I was getting in my own way.

And I’ve been having so much fun exploring this kind of writing, what it means to be open and vulnerable about (my characters’) intimacy, and what it means to a reader to see a character maybe much like themselves so vulnerable and so cared for. [See also RomanceClass podcast episode Writing Heat Level 3 When You’re Filipino]

It’s also, amazingly, the 10th anniversary of the first story with sex scenes that I’ve written. I wrote Wedding-Night Stand for the buqosteamyreads RomanceClass project in 2014, and it helped me get over myself and my hang-ups. Get it here by using the discount code “womenwritingapril2024” upon checkout. It’s free (along with my other short stories) until April 17 which is the deadline for registration to this event.

If you’ve signed up to join this event, I hope you get in touch with the organizers and let me know in advance what age group and issues you’re concerned about, so I can focus on specific examples. Still, in case anyone is interested, here are three books I’ve put on special discount covering some very specific intimacy situations. And represent what I’ve learned and applied to my work over the years.

That Kind of Guy is manang type good girl with player type guy. The main character is in her 20s. Get it for $0.99 only here when you use the code “womenwritingapril2024” at checkout until April 17.

Kiss and Cry features a figure skater and hockey player, who were not allowed to date when they were younger. Now they’re in their early 30s, and he’s retiring from hockey and leaving Manila for good, so they agree to spend his last weeks in town together and do all the things (including some very specific intimate acts). Get it for $0.99 here when you use the code “womenwritingapril2024” upon checkout until April 17.

First Time for Everything has a 41-year-old main character who has not yet had sex who asks a trusted friend (and her college crush truth be told) to be her “first.” Get it for $0.99 here when you use the code “womenwritingapril2024” upon checkout until April 17.

SAVE THE DATE!

20 April 2024

What does it take to write a great love story?

WOMEN WRITING PRESENTS an array of smart guest speakers, including romance novelists and a sex therapist, to speak on the hot topics of love, sex, women’s experiences, and the craft of writing the romance novel. Join us for a full day of discussions and writing exercises that will be useful to your practice, whether you are already writing romance or are exploring the possibility of doing so. Learn from each other’s experiences and build lasting connections within the writing community in a safe and nurturing environment.

LOVE, SEX & WOMEN

An All-Day Writing Adventure for Women

Saturday • April 20, 2024

9:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M.

The Roof Deck, Sunshine Place Senior Recreation Center

56 Jupiter Street, Brgy. Bel Air • Makati City

Register for this event at https://bit.ly/WW2024Apr

The post I will be at Women Writing presents: Love, Sex, and Women first appeared on Mina V. Esguerra.

How I exist in this world of creating, selling, and katipiran in 2024 (Komiket BGC)

Your mileage may vary as an author/publisher/bookseller, but this is how it is for me and most of RomanceClass:

1. We sell more on digital, on most days. Regular days, special days. “Pre-pandemic” and still today, in this age of pandemic-but-we’re-outside.

2. Our best ever book event sales were at MIBF 2017 (via a free booth from a book org), and usually AprilFeelsDays and FeelsFests, which are events that we organize. Meaning we only do exceptionally well when the event attendance is extremely large, or extremely targeted.

I’m primarily a digital buyer myself, so I understand what it’s like to visit a book fair or convention and gravitate toward buying titles I already know (because I heard about them online or maybe read them even). I understand what it’s like to see an interesting book and want to buy it, and then not buy it because it’s too expensive. I’ve seen creators say that this is a sign of an audience disappearing, but I can’t co-sign that because I was always careful with my purchases. I’m big on advocating for Filipino authors but I also can’t afford to splurge indiscriminately and fully expect others to be practical about their book money too.

So how do I live in this world of creating, selling, and also katipiran:

1. My publishing strategy is digital first, and whatever is accessible to the readers. I’m on social media, I update this blog, I’m on Wattpad. Students and teachers get free books. If anyone is reading this or has followed my career and considered me successful, please know that many people who have read me probably never paid for one of my books. At the same time, the people who’ve bought the most print books are also the ones who have many digital or free books.

2. I didn’t plan to start a romance writing community, but that’s what happened after the first #RomanceClass, and having this community is why I’m still at this! It’s exhausting and repetitive to keep talking about your own books, and many authors will eventually stop doing it when they get busy with other things, and/or feel that people are no longer interested. Being able to help another author while I’m not working on my own thing is refreshing, and good use of my time.

3. Because I’m busy with other things (family, job, writing, etc), I’m picky about public events I have RomanceClass participate in, and one huge factor is that the event should have more readers than authors. If the authors are also readers, awesome. If the authors don’t read (you know this when you’re in the room with them and it’s not great lol) then everyone is selling, some books may be bought, but no books will be read. Sayang oras.

4. Being an author and self-publisher and community founder for this long, I get invites, opportunities, and partnerships that work better when the community and the other authors are part of it. It’s easy and seamless to extend the opportunity to other RomanceClass authors because we’ve agreed already on what our books stand for (romance with HEA, Filipino characters have agency, depict consent in all aspects of the romance).

All of this, plus I actually love handselling books and talking to readers and observing buyers, is why we’ve been doing Komiket.

Enjoyed my three-day weekend selling books at Komiket BGC, in Market Market, where high school students were browsing at 10 AM on a Friday (bakit??? lol), but also families and office employees and tourists and every age group of person and their pets walked by our table. It’s so exhilarating. I think as an author who publishes books it’s important to actually see who is buying your books and what makes them notice a book to begin with. (Hint: anything clearly a queer romance is going to get noticed, then picked up, browsed, returned to with a friend who will say “bilhin mo na,” then bought.)

If you, too, are figuring out how to exist as an author, selling things, and also trying to be practical about money: do your thing online, find people who are on the same journey as you and believe in the same things, create and sell things with them (not just to them), and when doors open bring people inside with you.

See you at the next event!

The post How I exist in this world of creating, selling, and katipiran in 2024 (Komiket BGC) first appeared on Mina V. Esguerra.

Currently #13

1. Start Here is now available at our little cabinet of romance books, Collective Base Theater Mall Greenhills, CAB 110. We always need to restock this. Dali niyang ibenta sa totoo lang haha. But seriously, it is an acknowledged problem that RomanceClass doesn’t have enough standalone queer romance books. (Why? There are many works-in-progress in various stages of “progress”…getting them ready for publishing is something we all support but we can’t force it too, you know?) The success of this book and the handful of others are great but there should be more, really. This is your sign, if you’re into that lol.

2. Speaking of our little cabinet of books. I have been paying for this out of my own pocket for almost a year, and RomanceClass authors don’t pay me to be placed here, and it is an expense for sure but also a joy. I think many of us have bookstore dreams and this is me living that dream, but small version. (Handselling RomanceClass books at events, also at no cost to RomanceClass authors whose books I sell, is that too.)

3. It ultimately doesn’t matter what my mood is, but I’m sad/angry/have-come-to-sobering-realizations-about-humanity to witness genocide/s. If you can help, please do. If you’re concerned about helping or about the legitimacy of groups asking for help, I hope you look them up and in the meantime do what you feel is within your ability. And then sometimes action will require leaps.

4. Shoutout to friends who are back to blogging. Yay for recently updating! I love reading what you’re up to.

Ron Does Stuff

Ansela Corsino

Tara Frejas

Ana Tejano

I’ve been gradually building a links list, very old school. Tell me what should be on it!

The post Currently #13 first appeared on Mina V. Esguerra.

State of the Writing and Publishing Situation 2023

Context:

1. See previous post: State of the Publishing Situation 2020-2022.

2. I was reminded to write this after reading “Why Are We Even in Music?” by DJ Joey Santos.

State of the publishing situation:

My goals for the year had been to release a new book, participate in more events, and significantly improve the use of the direct order form here on my website. How did I fare on all those fronts? Awesomely lol.

First Time for Everything made back what I spent publishing it in less than 3 months. I have modest goals for books I release, and anything beyond earning back expenses is the cherry on top. Happily, this book has continued to sell at a steady pace even after the pre-order push. That is amazing, if you know that book sales usually drop (like a stone!) after release day.

I did attend events! One or more per month, practically, and also organized a bunch. I consider this work that’s long term, because we’re building more awareness in the industry about RomanceClass as a writing community and now as a trademarked brand (registered November 2023!).

By the end of 2023, the direct order form on my website (minavesguerra.com/buy) became my top 3 retailer. Amazon is still number 1 but more retailers are adding to the pie. The pie should just be bigger and the percentages more equitable. Come on now.

And here’s my 2023 in audio, before Spotify threw its hat into the ring:

State of the writing situation:

This has been a year of writing. Slowly, and lovingly.

During the holiday reunion season, a relative asked me if I was still writing. (My family doesn’t get the constant writing life updates that readers of this blog or my social media do.) And yes, I have been writing. 2023 started out with me being very concerned about every tech company closing, consolidating, becoming unusable, or hinting that my work is being used for purposes I did not consent to. Putting my draft onto paper using a pen was my way of continuing to write while I thought about which apps to leave or move to. Then…I just kept doing it?

The process absolutely works for me. I’ve often taken to writing longhand when I feel blocked. This way, I think a bit before starting to write, and once I’ve started writing, I just power through any errors. If another sentence is better, write both. Sort it out later.

Is this fun? Am I really enjoying myself?

Yes. The writing situation is this: I love it, I’m glad to still have words to write, and it’s okay if this is not the most important thing in the world, to anyone else or to me.

I feel like this career chose me. I can take my time. And write with pen and paper, if I want to.

Goal for 2024: More workshops, lectures, talks, speaking engagements. Let’s do this.

The post State of the Writing and Publishing Situation 2023 first appeared on Mina V. Esguerra.

Where is the pandemic in contemporary romance? RomanceClass has been writing that

On the topic of covid in contemporary fiction (or romance because my lane), I wrote about how #RomanceClass has been doing that. My advice for any writing community doing things, please document that thing. I keep thinking the work of saying “This Exists, We Are Here” is a checked item on a to-do list, but no.

I’m thankful to people we meet along the way who remember us and similar authors/books/communities (you’re awesome and somewhat rare), but we’re not yet at the point where doors are open. The industry defaults to its comfort zone (guess what that is).

That thread was originally on Bsky but it’s the default in every new platform I’ve joined. We are always new and unknown again. The ones looking for us always think we’re not there. It’s better now, but still a problem (that some will just never have).

If you feel this too, document the things! Write about the things. And not on social media that will fall apart and take your documentation with it.

The thread on Bluesky:

RomanceClass is (mostly) self-published contemporary romance and written by Filipino authors often writing Filipino characters, and we started writing the pandemic into our contemporary romance in books released in 2021. In 2022 I started adding it to the class itself when I do the lecture.

*Btw, not every author in the #RomanceClass community has already done this, but we just reco adding a content note that COVID will not be mentioned.

I’m never sure whether to talk about this in this space because often conversations about publishing, romancelandia, don’t include us (if we’re not in the US/”West”). But anyway in case someone reading does want our perspective, here goes.

We got practice directly acknowledging COVID because we were living in a country with a terrible pandemic response. We were locked down and angry and…we wrote a web series featuring how our characters were affected. Hello, Ever After is on Youtube, playlist here:

This paper about Hello, Ever After includes the political context that our books won’t do a lot of exposition about: Parnell, C., Trinidad, A. A., & McAlister, J. (2021). “#RomanceClass and Online-Only Live Literature in the Philippines in 2020”

The slide at the top of this thread includes #RomanceClass books published in 2021/2022 that already mention COVID. Your Place Next Year (lovers reunited after lockdown), My Quarantine Diary (college YA about students who fall in love in online class after the school shutdown).

Take Two (where MCs livelihoods as hospitality workers in Canada are affected by the Omicron surge), A Match Made in Lipa (a Carina Press/HarperCollins release that has a wedding epilogue set in December 2020 that depicts government mandated health protocols for the time).

Since I made that slide and delivered that lecture there have been more books that now mention COVID: First Time for Everything (one of mine, MC is laid off during lockdown and starts a business),

the upcoming Manila Takes Manhattan (Afterglow/Harlequin) shows a Filipino MC experience a racist incident because he is still wearing a mask while in NY in early 2022.

I did struggle with writing this and found my footing by acknowledging several things:

1. I had to firmly decide that I will build my contemporary romance world following the Philippine experience of covid, lockdowns, and the government response. Some people won’t know until they read my book what that was like. It’s ok.

2. Deciding to acknowledge what covid made different here is going to confuse some people, because now they can’t take my books and replace characters and settings with themselves or their known places. We’ll be less “relatable.” I know some people only read “diversely” in this way. Oh well.

3. The other problem I had was the way guidelines here kept changing, literally every two weeks. And then I got over needing a story to be “timeless.” I picked a time and built the story in it.

My Quarantine Diary is so great about this btw because it was so specific about time and what the characters were allowed by the govt to do. And I treasured reading it because I did not remember half of those restrictions but it came back to me as I read. So glad it was documented in a book.

Manila Takes Manhattan (out March 2024 but I read an ARC) also captures time so wonderfully because its April/May 2022 window was crucial for anyone who cared about the pandemic response, public service, the Philippine people. Which is what we want our romance characters to embody.

Anyway it goes back to why we write what we write, I guess. And who we do it for.

The post Where is the pandemic in contemporary romance? RomanceClass has been writing that first appeared on Mina V. Esguerra.

Currently #12

1. That Kind of Guy is $0.99 until 31 Dec~
Amazon | Gumroad | Ko-Fi | P100 on Snack

2. I bought several digital editions of Gantala Press zines that I don’t have yet. Gantala Press is a feminist press that we gave our proceeds from the Tropetastic Kindness Bundle to. What’s great about digital stores and digital editions is that a small press can be supported at any time from anywhere in the world — go to Gantala’s Payhip store here.

3. I felt like listening to The Corrs lately, so I’ve been doing that:

4. One of the sexiest things I saw on streaming this year is…an Indonesian historical drama series. Cigarette Girl is on Netflix. There’s a lot of smoking and pining. It’s not a romance.

5. Tinyletter, which was the host of my email newsletter, is closing. I chose not to automatically move everyone over to the new one. Let’s do this again with people who want email newsletters in 2023 lol: head over to gum.co/mina-email to subscribe if you want to keep receiving email updates!

The post Currently #12 first appeared on Mina V. Esguerra.

#MinaReadThisIn2023

These are the books I read in 2023, 47 in all. Considerably less than what I’d been reading per year in past years, but I also edited/helped publish 6 books (including one of mine) and I can’t read while I’m editing apparently. I’ll consider that a fair trade for having participated in publishing new books.

My reading year, by the numbers that I keep track of:

Books read: 47
Does not include the books I helped publish.

How they were published: self-published 45%, small press 8%, corporate or traditional publisher 47%
I would have wanted to round out the year with more self-published and small press books read (even though combined they’d number higher than trad), but I also read a lot of audio and that space is still mostly dominated by the traditional and corporate publishers. I should make an effort to intentionally look for indie and small press audio.

How many authors of color: 81%

How much of the year was romance: 55%
How many white love interests/main characters: 27%
I can do better. If you know what I mean.

Formats: audio 38%, ebook 36%, print 26%

Filipino authors: 45%

Bonus! Books I helped publish this year (that I read multiple times, and affected my reading total lol):

The post #MinaReadThisIn2023 first appeared on Mina V. Esguerra.

That Kind of Guy (2023 cover)

I’m having 8 of my Chic Manila books redesigned, and here’s the cover for That Kind of Guy!

Designed by Tania Arpa, photographed by Chi Yu Rodriguez, featuring cover model Jade Albert.

Yes, it’s true: “Good girl” Julie Crisostomo dated that guy Anton Santos for almost a year. Julie is everyone’s loyal and concerned friend, but she has no experience being someone’s girlfriend. Then Anton, a “player” she never thought would be interested in her, swoops into her life and doesn’t seem to want to leave it.

Anton has dated a lot of women and is everyone’s “delicious distraction.” But he seems to have fallen hard for Julie—if only she believed him.

(Part of CHIC MANILA series, but can be read as a standalone.)

That Kind of Guy book description

Buy the book: Amazon | Gumroad | Snack | Google Play | Smashwords | Ko-Fi | Buy direct from me

If you own ANY previous edition, you can get a free digital copy of this new one! Just email photo proof (selfie with the book etc) to minavesguerrabooks at gmail dot com.

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RomanceClass2024 (?) signup form and Q&A

I’m asking people who might be interested in taking a future #RomanceClass to sign up here: RomanceClass signup. I have some ideas about how to do the next class, because we’re always changing it up a little bit, or introducing new challenges and bringing in new partners.

While I’m working on that, and planning my life, I’ll be answering some of the submitted questions on the form. PS Some questions are too specific, and the answers for those will be sent directly via email to the person who asked.

Is it okay if I join with a pseudonym? Do I need to post what I write somewhere?

Yes, it’s ok to use pen names. (“Mina V. Esguerra” is a pen name.) The usual run of #romanceclass requires several assignments to be submitted before the actual writing starts, and those are posted on our RomanceClass Discord server. You’ll be sent an invite to it if you’re not there yet.

If I’ve never had an experience being published, can I still try? 

Yes! I think the class works really well for people who are writing a novella for the first time. (And if you’ve already been published and know how to write a novella, you’ll find the class very beginner-level.)

Is it okay for me to retake the class?

Yes. (Note: this question was sent in by someone who had attended before and did not finish a manuscript and yes, it’s ok to join again and try to finish this or a new story.)

Interested to know more about the process of writing heat level 3

Glad you brought it up so I can plan a session around this!

[Will add more to the Q&A as the responses come in. Thank you!]

The post RomanceClass2024 (?) signup form and Q&A first appeared on Mina V. Esguerra.

FeelsSoHot steamy readings event: Even hotter in 2023

Once in a while we get to do this: live readings of steamy scenes from our books. Always organized with the intention of reminding the romance readership that Filipino authors are writing this — just in case people think in [current year] that we don’t. (See my recap of the first FeelsSoHot event.) The last one was in 2019, and we were finally able to organize one again on November 11, 2023.

This live reading lineup featured “Do Me A Favor” from What If We Fall in Love? by Tara Frejas (something to do with a showerhead), the title story “Yes to You” from the short story collection by Jay E. Tria (suddenly everyone is “Jiji” now), First Time for Everything by me (I chose a scene that was half the sleepy conversation AFTER, because I love that and I think intimacy is so much that), Some Bali to Love by Carla de Guzman (“Bakit may egg tarts?” Migs asked, but Carla is so great at the dialogue that connects the sex scenes to everything before and after), a sneak peek at the upcoming The Lease of Their Problems by Brij Bautista and Chi Yu Rodriguez (Exes have to live together and it is a problem — until it isn’t), and finally I’m so glad we were able to feature Truth or Dare by Brianna Ocampo (the as yet only heat level 4 romanceclass book, and the infamous Mirage scene was only the prelude ha).

Thankful always to our awesome awesome live readers Gio Gahol, Rachel Coates, Migs Almendras, and Jade Albert (in her first FeelsSoHot!). We gain confidence as authors every time you read for us! (And also always the feeling of Who Wrote That because live performance hits different talaga.)

This was held at Magdamag Market Cafe, and we served cookies and macaroons from Happily Ever Cookies (by bookish.abby).

*Some photos in the gallery from Twitter bentchbites, gela_uy, chachic_

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