The Filipino Shelf Presents: The Boy, the Mountain, and the Serpent Who Ate the Moon
I first encountered Akdang Pinoy back in 2024 when they asked me to take part in their first batch of Filipino authors to be featured on their socials. This newly sprung project centers Filipino authors in a prominently-white industry, offering our homegrown creatives visibility and a much-needed pat on the back. A brainchild of Kat (@katonthejellicoe) and Sai (@theengineerisreading), this a labor of love moved to power a community that was just launched this year: The Filipino Shelf (TFS), a book tour starring a constellation of Filipino book readers. With so much work to be done, Kat and Sai are joined with avid book-reader, amazing mom, and all rounder creative, Diane (@booksandthensome).
I nervously asked Akdang Pinoy earlier this year to join me in welcoming the arrival of my second book, The Boy, the Mountain, and the Serpent Who Ate the Moon, and to my joy, they said yes! The team behind TFS was wonderfully responsive and meticulous; our email exchanges were nothing but joyful. The moment they agreed to take on the project, the first thing they did was to send me a proposal. Everything was clear from the get-go: the rules, the dates, the things expected of me as tour host, and the things TFS is so excited to do for its authors. We decided on the number of reviewers for the tour, the list of names and emails, and the ways we could connect so they’d have an advanced copy of my book. TFS made sure everyone would be accommodated. Since I only had e-ARCs available, our methods included email, Netgalley, and Kindle.
We had a date set. With my team ready for anything we were asked of, we geared up, sending the emails to our brilliant crowd of reviewers. I was strapped in, ready for the good and the bad (I remembered telling TFS, “Ilabas ang gulok” —in a way telling them they could have my head. Held my breath, and by the fourth full week of June (June 23-28), our scheduled book tour stop, my Instagram was a grand fiesta of boundless energy and limitless talent.
Reader, I was blown away. You need to visit my Instagram to see what I’m talking about. But you know what’s better? Let me introduce you to our amazing ARC readers, and follow their timeline, because their book tastes are impeccable. *chef’s kiss*
This is what our Filipino ARC readers has to say about The Boy, the Mountain, and the Serpent Who Ate the Moon:
The Filipino Shelf‘s book tour was nothing less than spectacular, with our very own Filipino creatives vouching for our work (and also, as their right, being critical about it). I have seen book stops, but your awful little noob was given the best gift ever: this grand spectacle of a colorful, vibrant Pistang Bayan, just like the one in The Boy, The Mountain, and the Serpent Who Ate the Moon. They do not owe me anything; I could never, ever afford their talent fee, but I feel so lucky being at the receiving end of their light.
Writing has always been a solitary journey. Getting published, much more so. There’s the nerves (“Will people like it?”), then the fear (“What if it doesn’t sell?” “What if the publisher never trusts me again?” “WITH SO MANY BOOKS, WHO WILL NOTICE MY BOOK?”), then author awkwardness. We have a team to back us up, but that team had many other authors to support, too. Thank you, TFS and our constellation of readers, for making this journey immeasurably brighter than I had ever hoped for.
Images by Sai of Akdang Pinoy
