Manila International Book Fair has been one of the most important events for me as a bookworm. We always look forward for September because of this event. It is a celebration of books, and everyone’s love for reading.
There is always something to look forward during MIBF season. Last year, we did not have much activities because only few publishers and bookstores were there. So this year, we taught of the same. We did not expect that much. But still, Ate Beth and I was still so excited about it.
Tim Hortons First
We left at 7:30am in the morning. Since we would be going there via Grab, we knew that it’s just gonna be a quick ride.
When we got around SM MOA, we headed to Tim Hortons first as part of our MIBF ritual. We had our breakfast and coffee there. We did some shoot for Ate Beth’s work.
Book Signings and Everything in Between
We entered the hall at 10:00am. For some reasons, the first booth that we visited was a publisher from China. We enjoyed the calligraphy session there given by the Chinese teacher.
Then, after that, we headed to the University of the Philippines Press for my professor’s book signing (or shall I say professors’).
They recently published a book dedicated for Ma’am Tet Maceda. It is a compilation of poems, fiction, and essays for her. Professors Vlad Gonzales, Will Ortiz, and Rowena Festin were there to sign books.
After that book signing, we roam around the place. We visited different publishers and scanned their collection of books.
I also got a chance to meet Sir Charles Ong who wrote the book White Lady, Black Christ. He was so kind to sign our books. Then, went to Sir Ricky Lee’s booth and bought shirt because we already have copies of all his books.
While we were roaming around, we also got a chance to meet the author of Mga Tala at Tula, Ron Camino. I had a picture with him and asked him some writing-related questions. He was so down to earth and isn’t snobbish (unlike some). He willingly answered all our questions. Super bait!
We decided to go there on a Saturday to have our book, Some Days You Can’t Save Them All, signed by its author, Dr. Ron Baticulon. We lined up so early, so we got the third spot for his book signing. We was also so bait and humble. He asked us some questions before signing our books. (Mahilig ata talaga magtanong ang mga doktor no?)
Some of the Booths We Visited
We passed by most of the booths, we believe. We saw the creative booth of Vibal and sat on their sofas. We passed by the long booth of Lampara and Precious Herts. We saw the long lines of readers lining up for Sir Egay at Ateneo De Manila University Press.
There was also a long queue at JSD Publishing, PSICOM, Pop Fiction, and at KaJo Baldisimo’s booth.
Walking for straight three hours will surely make us visit most of the publishers. But, here are some of the publishers we visited and we looked at willingly. MIBF 2023 is filled with publishers. Hence, going there for a day isn’t enough I guess.
- Adarna Books
- 8Letters Bookstore and Publishing
- Ricky Lee’s Booth
- Balangay Books (Indie Publisher)
- St. Paul’s, of course!
- UP Press
- Feast Books
- Milflores Books
- Tahanan Books
- Jerico Silver’s Publishingy
- Reading China
Takeaways!
I hope I could write another book next year so I have something to sell next MIBF. Hehe. Yep. That’s the only takeaway.