Expeditions Table of Contents

I encourage everyone to grab a copy of Expeditions by Fully Booked. It's P500 and P600 for the prose and comic paperbacks respectively, and P800 and P900 for the hardcovers. If you buy a set, one of them has a signature by Neil Gaiman and you get a discount. Leinil Yu also contributes art for the cover.

Fiction:
"The God Equation" by Michael A.R. Co
"Strange Map of Time" by Ian Casocot
"The Great Philippine Space Mission" by Philbert Ortiz Dy
"Atha" by Michaela Atienza
"The Omega Project" by Kim Marquez
"Monstrous Star" by Cecilia Estrada
"Stella for Star" by Yvette Natalie Tan
"Divesting Doloris: In the Antechamber of the Heart" by Ma. Ana Micaela G. Chua
"Marty" by Wincy Ong

Comics:
"The Sad Mad Incredible But True Adventures of Hika Girl" by Clara Lala Gallardo and Maria Gallardo
"Splat!" by Manual Abrera
"Dusk" by Rommel Jason
"Defiant: The Battle of Mactan" by Juan Paolo Ferrer and Chester Ocampo
"The Guilty" by Vergel Nino A. Vergara
"Karnabal" by Benjor Catindig and Jonee Garcia
"The Moondancer" by Anna Pallon and Adele Raya
"The Prophet" by Frances Alcaraz and Alvin B. Yapan
"Where Eagles Fly" by Leonard John C. Banaag
"Why I Wake Up Late" by Avid Liongoren

Updates on Everything in General

Well, first thing's first, I'll be leaving for Subic tomorrow morning. For work. So I highly doubt it if I'll be online until Sunday. And because I'm there for work, there's also a chance that I won't get to attend Neil Gaiman's talk. Apparently the company's booths are really, really far from where the conference is being held so...

Second, one of my dedicated readers have been those following my RPG podcast updates. Again, I highly doubt it if I'll be able to compile it and post in on the message boards on Thursdays. Here's my concession: here's what I've come up so far. I expect the list to double by Thursday. The fact of the matter is, when I wake up on Thursday morning (or Wednesday evening in the US), that's when a lot of that week's podcasts suddenly get updated. Here's some last minute plugs: check out RPG Radio. It's a podcast that's nearly two months old and with two podcasts to its belt. I missed it two weeks ago but the second episode tackles Thieves World and has an interview with Robert Schwalb. Can I vouch for it? No. I'm currently downloading it. (Didn't notice the date.)

Lastly, be sure to drop by Fully Booked on Sunday, 3 pm. Aside from Neil Gaiman being there, it's a great opportunity to support budding speculative fiction authors and comic artists. Oh, and here's some advice: come early. Really, come early. The name Neil Gaiman tends to draw in huge crowds. So be there at around 11 am (that's when the bookstore opens).

Graphic/Fiction Awards Updates

Well it seems more than one acquaintance has been contacted by Fully Booked to inform them that they've been short-listed in their respective categories (alas, I am not one of them). I think it's safe to say that if you haven't been contacted by Fully Booked by now, then you didn't pass the pre-judging phase. My spies (unfortunately I cannot guarantee their accuracy) tell me that the short list will be up soon on the website and that there is still a People's Choice awards. Hopefully that's up by tomorrow or else I'd have been banished to Subic by then.

Graphic/Fiction Awards on the 25th

After reloading the Fully Booked website for the nth time, it seems that Pinoy Gaimania's spies are true!

On November 25, 2007, 3PM at the Fully Booked Bonifacio High Street courtyard.

Award-winning and internationally acclaimed author Neil Gaiman will be launching the compilation EXPEDITIONS and will award the winners of the 2nd Philippine Graphic Fiction Awards.

This event is free of charge.

Philippine Graphic/Fiction Awards Part II

Just got back from Fully Booked and the date of the awarding will be on November 24, 2007 from 11 am - 1 pm at Fully Booked, Bonifacio High Street.

And those counting the dates, Neil Gaiman is scheduled to speak at the 20th Advertising Congress on November 22, 2007 from 9:10 am - 11:10 am. You can do the math.

Ben Templesmith Appearances

From Fully Booked

Here's the details to Ben Templesmith's appearances:

October 30
Meet and Greet Ben Templesmith, 6PM at the Forum, 4/F Fully Booked Bonifacio High Street

November 3
Artists' Den Forum with Ben Templesmith and Art Jam, 2-5PM at the Forum, 4/F Fully Booked Bonifacio High Street

Book signing, 5-7PM at Fully Booked Bonifacio High Street

November 4
Limited Portfolio Review (Limited slots available. Deadline of registration is October25, 2007)
11AM -12 noon
2 - 4 PM
5 - 7 PM
at the Forum, 4/F Fully Booked Bonifacio High Street

November 5
From Concept to Film: An Exclusive Artist Workshop with Ben Templesmith, 2-5 PM at
De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde
School of Design and Arts Campus
950 P. Ocampo St., Malate Manila
(Open to all and free of charge. Limited slots available, deadline of registration is October 19, 2007)

To register, please call Fully Booked Customer Service at 858-7000 or email rheallamas@fullybookedonline.com.

Follow-Up to the 1st Philippine Graphic/Fiction Awards

Budjette Tan has been investigating what ever happened to the winners of the 1st Philippine Graphic/Fiction Awards and when the compilation of the winners' work will be compiled. Here's the response from Natalia Diaz, Marketing/PR Manager of Fully Booked:

Thanks for bringing this to our attention. We are launching the compilation of the first book at the same time of the awarding ceremony, with Neil there, end November. Title is "Expeditions, " with a foreword by Neil and the cover by Leinil Yu. It is being printed as I type this.

Interestingly enough, isn't November when the Philippine Ad Congress will be? Hmmm...

In-Print Online

I just discovered that some of the previous issues of In-Print magazine, Fully Booked's in-house publication, is available for download at their website.

Book Orders and Shipments

Are you the type of person who visits their bookstore every single day, hoping to find something new on the shelves? Similarly, are you tired of seeing the same old books on the shelves and tempted to order books via Amazon.com? I used to be that person but I'm not. I discovered a secret that comes in handy and addresses my bibliophile needs. And the two topics might seem separate but in truth, they're related.

To answer the first question, I stopped dropping by bookstores every single day. Why? Because the books on shelf won't change. In fact, the variety will decrease as people pick up books, misplace them, or simply outright buy them. The question you should be asking is when should you visit your favorite bookstore. And the answer is the day after they ship their new stocks. It makes sense, right? But the answer to that question isn't obvious as most bookstores don't advertise. A Different Bookstore, for example, states in their book ordering information that their shipments arrives twice a month, on the 15th and the 30th (the same day as payday!). For the other bookstores, you're left in the dark. Well, here's some facts I discovered after stalking the bookstores (of course I can't guarantee this is 100% true but this is what I've observed):

Bookstores that ship twice every month:

• Fully Booked
• A Different Bookstore

Bookstores that ship once a month:

• Booktopia (transitioning from twice-a-month schedule, or so I heard from Banzai Cat)
• Powerbooks
• National Bookstore

Now what does that mean? In the case of bookstores that ship twice every month, you just have to visit your favorite bookstore twice every month--don't bother visiting every single day, the book selections won't change. And in the case of bookstores that get their stocks every month, it just pays to visit them once. Sounds so simple right? And unbibliophile-like? Well, the way I see it, the less trips you make to your favorite bookstore, the more trips you can make to other bookstores, or the more time you can spend to actually reading your books. So think of this as a time management device. (Or if you want, just visit a section of the bookstore every day rather than tour the entire place in one go.)

I'd also want to clarify that the day a bookstore's stocks arrive to their warehouse isn't the day that the books are stocked on shelf. If A Different Bookstore gets its new stocks on the 15th, you can expect it on their shelves on the 16th or 17th for example. From what I've observed at Fully Booked, back when the flagship store was in Rockwell (it's now the one in Serendra), new books would arrive on the weekend (a Saturday afternoon visit is good). Nonetheless, knowing when books ship is useful to know (so ask the bookstores when they expect their next shipment to arrive... the smaller bookstores are open about it while the bigger bookstore chains usually cryptically answer whether it's soon or not-so-soon.

Knowing the shipment of books helps you make an informed decision on the second part of the question. You don't need to order books via Amazon.com. Most bookstores accept book orders. So why funnel your income towards a big, online conglomerate when your money can instead go to local bookstores that provide you with the same services? Here's a quick summary Amazon's shipping rates to the Philippines, assuming we take the cheapest service:

• Amazon is charging $6.99 for any book shipment. That means whether we're getting one book or a dozen, there's the flat $6.99 fee to pay. It's a good thing to do bulk orders in this case, because the cost is more spread out among the various titles. If you're just ordering one book, an initial fee of $6.99 is easily the cost of the paperback book itself.
• Amazon is charging $4.99 for each item in the shipment. That means in addition to the $6.99 shipping charge, there's an additional $4.99 for each item. Buying in bulk doesn't help as this cost applies to each and every item. So the next time you think you're getting a book "cheap" at Amazon, remember to add $4.99 to the cost.
• 11 to 40 business days. Keep in mind, they're counting by business days. That usually excludes holidays and weekends.

Now Amazon has other shipping rates but that's the cheapest. If you want to receive the book sooner, you might want to avail of those other shipping options but remember, the shipping rates will be higher. That's also not to say you should never order from Amazon if price is a concern (availability and rarity is one reason why you should consider ordering from Amazon). But as far as paperbacks go, the discounts (anywhere from none to 20%) isn't enough to offset the shipping costs. Hardcovers, on the other hand, are a different matter, mainly because Amazon gives huge discounts on them. Take for example Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Amazon is giving buyers a 49% discount, reducing the actual cost to $17.99. Factor in all the other shipping costs and you end up with $29.97. Multiply that with today's exchange rate and it's costing you P1343.26 to order the book. Not bad, considering the book is going for P1400+ in most local bookstores. But you have to bear in mind, that's because the book is quite expensive (at $34.99) and Amazon is giving a huge discount (49%). The per-book cost can go down if you order more books (spreading $6.99 among the number of books you ordered). But remember, think twice when buying paperbacks. Fahrenheit 451, with a retail price of $6.99, can end up costing you P850.24, even when you can get the same book for half the price locally.

I've talked enough about Amazon, let's talk about the local bookstores and why you should order from them. They may not be able to give you the huge discounts but at least shipping won't be such a huge burden on you as it's factored in to their daily shipment of books. I discussed in a previous blog entry about the various conversion rate of various bookstores. You can end up as cheaply as paying P40.00 against the dollar depending on which bookstore you shop. Those big discounts don't apply to ordered books. You'll most likely be paying more against the dollar, around P60.00 = $1.00 back when the local exchange rate was P55.00 = $1.00. And depending on which bookstore you shop, your discount card might not apply. Nonetheless, that's a great deal when you're ordering paperback books. Even assuming that it's costing you P60.00 = $1.00, Fahrenheit 451 will cost you roughly P420.00 (again, half the price it would have cost you to order from Amazon).

The second question when ordering from bookstores is how long it takes before they actually acquire the book. In Powerbooks, it took them anywhere from one to two months (personal experience, although their website has a new delivery date). A Different Bookstore gives me a better timetable, two weeks was the fastest (a fluke!) while four weeks is the norm. The key here is to place your order just after their shipment arrives. If you place your order in between shipments, the book order might only be processed once their next shipment arrives (or rather they might order it but it won't be in time for the next shipment). That means a longer wait for you.

The third question is availability. Thankfully, most bookstores can order whatever titles that Amazon can carry, barring used books. I'll give a summary of the various bookstores and their book ordering services:

National Bookstore/Powerbooks
Delivery Time: 3 - 5 weeks.
Selection: Books available at Amazon
Downpayment: 50% of the cost of the book
Discount: No
More Info: Powerbooks and National Bookstore

A Different Bookstore
Delivery Time: 2 - 8 weeks
Selection: Books available at Amazon
Downpayment: full downpayment of the cost of the book, and refund/change/additional charges on the books when they finally arrive, depending on the current exchange rate.
Discount: Yes

Booktopia
Delivery Time: 2 - 8 weeks.
Selection: No limit, but no guarantees on hard-to-find books. Also searches secondhand bookstore market. (They buy used books so if you don't mind secondhand books, especially for rare titles, they can try to acquire it.)
Downpayment: 50% of the cost of the book
Discount: If you ask nicely
More Info: Booktopia

Aeon Books
Delivery Time: Unknown (but I assume anywhere from 2 - 8 weeks)
Selection: Books available at Amazon
Downpayment: Just ask nicely and they'll try to get the book.
Discount: No

Fully Booked
Delivery Time: Unknown (but I assume anywhere from 2 - 8 weeks) 2 - 6 weeks
Selection: Books available at Amazon (their stocks would suggest they can acquire European books and I tried ordering one but they never got back to me)
Downpayment: Fill out a form and they'll check if the book is available. Haven't progressed any further than that (they never got back to me, which I assume they weren't able to get the book) but I also assume there's a similar 50% downpayment once they can confirm they can get the book. 50% of the cost of the book.
Discount: Unknown Yes

This is all based on my experiences two years ago so any information presented may not be as accurate as I want it to be. If you want to add a bookstore or update any information, feel free to comment with the appropriate corrections and I'll edit the post.

Serendra Bookstores

So yesterday was the first time I managed to set foot on Serendra, which was opposite Market! Market! It was raining but that fact didn't take away the urban beauty of the place.

It's been years since I last visited the US. Going to Serendra reminded me of my US experiences. It's the same architecture, the same wide spaces, even the same feel. Many Filipinos don't realize it but in many ways, Metro Manila is "more America than America" with our tall corporate buildings and ever-expanding malls (the only difference with our malls is that it's designed vertically rather than horizontally, simply because we're lacking in space). I mean Makati is easily "America Town". Serendra more so.

Anyway, the first bookstore I managed to visit was Fully Booked. What can I say? When I saw it, I thought I never needed to go to the US to pillage their bookstores. It's simply orgasmic. Repeat after me, orgasmic.

The building has four floors plus a basement. I'll work from the bottom up. The basement is smaller than the rest of the floors, around half its size. When I visited, I think I saw Jaime Daez putting manga on the shelves (I could be wrong as I've never met the guy). So the basement is where most of the comics/manga items are located (including the statues and the like), as well as a shelf for science-fiction/fantasy.

Next we move on to the ground floor. Now this is really an awe-inspiring sight. It's huge and has this cosmopolitan feel. There's a huge section on science-fiction and fantasy (yes, the basement doesn't have enough space to contain them!) as well as on comics (ditto). Then there's also the fiction section in alphabetical order. It would take me hours to go through all of them. (Unfortunately I only had half an hour for my visit so sorry, no elaborate guided tour). Things to note is that it has a customer service desk as well as the cashier.

Taking the escalators up, I find myself at the second floor. It's just as big and I think the most notable section is the young adult/children's books section. It's actually divided into sub-sections. I mean how cool is that? They have enough space to divide children's books into fantasy, horror, etc. There are other sections on this floor but majority is really comprised of children's books. Again, there's a customer service desk here too (so you don't have to go all the way down).

The first thing you see when you reach the third floor is the Starbucks. Yes, the place has a Starbucks coffee inside. Because of this, the floor looks smaller than it is and lacks a customer service desk. I don't remember the specifics but this floor houses the other books you didn't find in other floors, such as Filipiniana or language.

The highest floor is what I dub the multimedia section. Upon stepping off the escalator all you see are these CD players stuck to the walls. It has a music vendor shop feel more than a bookstore as you see a wall full of CD players and earphones to which you can tune in to the music. Touring the floor, you find out it's not just music that they're selling. There's VCDs and DVDs available here too. When I dropped by, the customer service desk was vacant/under construction but it's there. There's also a room that seems perfect for presentations, meetings, or small events. There are several chairs facing a wall and I think there's supposed to be a projector behind the chairs. If there's an event or lecture to be held in the place, it's probably going to be there.

An improvement in that Fully Booked branch is that the architecture isn't confusing. It's a rectangle and the books are arranged in an intuitive manner. And there's lot of space too. The other thing worthy to note is that this is the most complete branch I've seen. Forget Rockwell, go to Serendra. My only doubts is how long Fully Booked can sustain the place. The closest example of such a mammoth bookstore in the country is the main branch of Power Books in Arnaiz St. before. It had three floors and and stocked the most complete collection of books of all their branches. (Of course I think the space is wasted on Power Books because their books don't have diversity and they're really stocking two dozen copies of the same book on their shelves. Not so with Fully Booked.) Eventually, that branch closed down and relocated into Glorietta and Greenbelt 3. I couldn't help but try to compute how much books Fully Booked had to sell to pay the rent for five floors (Starbucks probably helps defray the cost).

Then we move on to A Different Bookstore. If Fully Booked feels like this huge bookstore chain, A Different Bookstore is the opposite and takes advantage of that. It has this homebody feel and you're not intimidated. The place is only two floors and has a cafe called Bookworm Cafe. The ground floor contains the cafe as well as the typical shelves of books. Going up is what seems to be the lounge where there's a shelf of books you can publicly read and comfortable chairs and tables (you can also order from the Bookworm Cafe there.). The top floor has the customer service desk and since that's where the LitCritters are having their regular meetings, that's also where they keep stock of books from which Dean gets his readings from. (We ransacked the Amy Bender books yesterday.) It's a refreshing visit after visiting Fully Booked and in my opinion a much more sustainable business model. Although I have to wonder where majority of the revenue will be coming from: from the bookstore or the cafe?

Fully Booked Updates

I managed to visit the Rockwell branch yesterday (sorry, I don't have a car, Serendra is really too far off) and they had two tables selling books at P50.00 and P100.00. Nothing interesting to me personally although there's a couple of good young adult books there (i.e. T.A. Barron).

I was also finally able to get from them the final volume of Osamu Tezuka's Buddha so that's a good thing (it's supposed to ship this week). They also have a couple of new manga such as Hikaru no Go, Hunter x Hunter, and Saint Seiya.

Fully Booked Serendra

There was a time when I'd tour each and every bookstore every month, including the new stores that open (assuming it's within Metro Manila) with the hope of finding new books but I feel my trekking ways has past me (actually, it's just the disappointment of seeing new and better architecture but the same shelves of books).

Anyway, The Soapbox Barbie Collection visited the Fully Booked Branch at Serendra last Saturday on its soft opening, and has pictures! Amaze yourself at the lovely interior design and the hordes of unsold Moleskine notebooks!

My only real problem with Serendra is that it's out of the way unless you have a car. Which I don't. Of course Tin has also been talking about how it also houses the best A Different Bookstore branch and with the Lit Critters meeting there twice every month, it could easily be the literati hangout in a few month's time. So anyone I can hitch with? Banzai?

Rockwell is the Place to Be

Let me say it now: there's only one reason why I go to the Rockwell Power Plant Mall--because of Fully Booked.

It's also surprising how many chains Fully Booked has. Nine (counting Bibliarch, Sketchbooks, and Montage) is listed on their web page. If it's just books you're looking for, however, the Rockwell branch is the place to go. It's huge and has a wide selection. It's like if I combine all the other branches, I'll end up with the selection of the Rockwell branch.

Of course along with the good news is the bad news. I honestly don't know how Fully Booked sustains itself. National Bookstore I can understand--it's being subsidized by its school supplies. Powerbooks, while its main income is really through books (as far as I can observe without being part of the industry itself), it is partially subsidized by National Bookstore in the sense that its shipment of books arrives with National's. And as most importing businesses will tell you, shipping costs can either make or break you. The second reason for Powerbooks's sustainability is sheer volume. Honestly, Powerbooks doesn't have a lot of variety. What it has are multiple copies of several best-selling books. I don't like it but if I were running their business, I'd probably do the same.

Now Fully Booked has a diverse selection. I applaud them for that and it's the reason why I keep coming back. They don't have volume though (at least for a book patron like me who roves around the SF&F section). With the exception of certain books (i.e. the mainstream and popular ones), most likely the copies I see on the shelves are the only copies they have (which I'm assuming by then has been distributed to their other branches as well). If I'm lucky, a few more are hidden in what I call the "stock shelf". But that's it. That's why I have a must-buy-now mentality when it comes to those rare SF&F books (and why finding the Elric series of Michael Moorcock for example is rare). It just hit me at how long Fully Booked can sustain this, especially with the previous "failure" of its short existence as Page One (which is another story). Unless there's a change in the way they do business (which probably means less diverse books and is a shame for book lovers like me), I don't see how it'll continue to be profitable in the next two years.

Of course sometimes, sound business principles isn't needed. If you have the money to throw away, you can thrive by the sheer face of outliving your competition. We're in the Philippines, we should be familiar with it by now.

P.S. I forgot the original reason for this post. No more Moleskine notebooks! At least the functional ones. No more ruled notebooks that are oriented horizontally (there's still a few copies left of the squared notebooks and the reporter variant).

Moleskine Notebooks

Aside from the ever-elusive Copic Markers, Fully Booked is now stocking Moleskine notebooks. Not that anyone I know will be interested... (Neil Gaiman uses them)

A Mystery

I was at Fully Booked last night when I saw the box pictured above. Not that I know if there are any Fully Booked branches in North EDSA. Perhaps it's a Bibliarch branch there somewhere.

On a side note, there's a pile of water-logged A Feast for Crows paperbacks at Fully Booked Greenhills. Looks like a couple of books fell victim to the typhoon, rendering them unsellable. There are good copies available at the Rockwell branch though, in case you're interested.

Another thing worthy to add is that I have a competitor when it comes to Viz's Death Note manga. I saw the first four volumes at the Rockwell branch around a month ago but I only had money to pay for the first two. When I came back the next day, they were gone. Right now managed to snatch copies of Vol. 5-7 before my enigmatic rival buys them off the shelf.

Another iPod Contest

Seriously, Fully Booked should have come up with a better slogan.

iRead..
iWin!

We're giving away a brand new iPod Video!

For every P1000 single receipt purchase at Fully Booked and Mobile 1, you get a chance to win an iPod Video 60GB!!!

*Promo runs from September 22, to October 31, 2006.
*Valid only in Fully Booked and Mobile 1 Rockwell Power Plant Mall.

Serendipity

Sometimes, I call it wanderlust. At other times, I name it loneliness. Whatever it was, I felt it today after meeting a friend in Eastwood. Instead of taking a cab home, I got dropped off at Greenhill's Promenade. My official excuse was to check out the bookstore. But if I were to be more honest with myself, it's because I was hoping I'd run into someone familiar. It was me tempting fate. More often than not, it works: I'd meet someone from my alma matter, a friend of a friend, or perhaps an acquaintance over the Internet.

Perhaps one of the more memorable ones was a few years ago in Power Books. Somebody was looking through the shelves of the fantasy/science-fiction genre and there was this buzzing in my head that I should know this person. I've never seen her face before, and I was confident with my memory about that fact. Of course I've also met a lot of friends online, people I chat with yet I've never seen in real life. It's surprising how much you can tell about a person depending on the books they're looking at, or what they're carrying, or what they actually purchase. Suffice to say, the said stranger was the sister of an online friend (again, whom I've never actually met in real life, at least not until that day). I actually got the courage to talk to her, although right now I don't really remember what my actual words were. It certainly wasn't a pick-up line or anything of that sort. But apparently it worked. Too bad I don't remember or I would have used it more often.

And then there are other times when I'm looking for someone more specific. Take my crush for example. My "stalker sense" simply tingles, and I go to a certain place such as a bookstore, and viola, I see her there. But then again, that's not really surprising since the women I fall for usually shares the same interests as me.

Today though wasn't one of those days. I was at Fully Booked, partially hoping to see someone familiar. All I ended up was buying a couple of books. But it wasn't a total loss. Apparently, the 40% discount Fully Booked gives to birthday celebrants was only implemented just recently (i.e. this month). It's quite timely as it'll be my birthday in a few weeks. And I actually spent a lot today. Here's what I bought:

Promise of the Witch-King by R.A. Salvatore
Shaman's Cross by Robin Hobb
The Riddle-Master's Game by Patricia McKillip
The Dragon Waiting by John M. Ford
Replay by Ken Grimwood

Fully Booked's Early Birthday Present

Now if only I had the money to spend. I guess filling out all those membership forms pays off.

And for those curious, my birthday is several days away. I'm trying to pull off a surprise birthday party. Although I'm far from a lone celebrant this September.