Here is an edited excerpt (a long one) from the January newsletter of RodCon. We’ve already told you why we like it, but for those of you who need more convincing, perhaps this rundown of what will happen during the convention is what you need. Thanks to Kristin M. for a great update.

I. Tickets

Ticket rates are:
Students: P100/one-day pass; P200/two-day pass
Professionals: P150/one-day pass; P300/two-day pass

The tickets will be exchanged for a convention kit and badge during registration. Please keep your tickets. They are non-refundable. For those who purchase 2-day passes, you will use the same badge for both days, so hang on to it!

Also, please note that tickets will only be available at pre-registration rates until January 31, 2007. If you buy your ticket on February 1 onwards, you will be charged registration rates.

Tickets are now on sale at Booktopia.

II. Hotel Reservations

Hotel Intercontinental is offering convention attendees a special flat rate of P5000+++ for both single and twin occupancies from February 3 to February 4. The package comes with a free breakfast buffet at the Jeepney Deli, among other amenities. Please note that the rate for regular hotel guests is P7000+++. If you wish to make a reservation, please contact the RodCon 2007 secretariat at “rodcon dot sec at gmail dot com”. Interested parties are advised to make reservations before January 25, 2007 at the very latest.

III. Online Pre-Registration

Online pre-registration will end on January 19, 2007. People who signed up through the RodCon website will be contacted this week with instructions about where and how to pay for their tickets. They will also be provided with the function room schedule once the final list has taken form and asked to make priority reservations for up to two function room events of choice. People who did not pre-register online will only receive their schedules during the convention.

IV. Registration

Registration will start at 8AM daily. Please try to come on time. Early bird registrants will receive special kits. The Dealers Room will be open at exactly 9AM. Opening ceremonies–with speeches by the Guests Of Honor and keynote speakers–will last until around 10AM. Function room events will start at 11AM.

V. Guests of Honor / Live Performances

National Artists Virgilio Almario and F. Sionil Jose will be this year’s Guests of Honor.

Noted Filipino bands Radioactive Sago Project and Up Dharma Down will also be performing live in the Grand Ballroom on February 4, 2007. The bands will be debuting songs from an upcoming concept album produced by Read or Die featuring bands from innovative indie record label Terno Recordings. All the songs in the album will be original compositions based on Filipino literary works. New Terno Recordings artist Swissy will also be coming to the con to perform.

VI. Activities

RodCon activities will take place simultaneously on several fronts:

1) Function Rooms: Or the panel discussions, lectures, and workshops which will run continuously throughout the convention.

2) Stage: Film screenings, raffles, auctions, contests, special performances.

VII. Update: Portrait of the Filipino as a Reader
Photographers (or anyone) are encouraged to bring their photographs to the convention and paste or tack them onto a community wall. People can then vote for their favorite photos on the spot through a ballot box. Winners will receive special prizes.

Photos must at least be 3R in size and must conform to the theme. Attendees may submit as many photographs they want, just be sure to register your participation at the registration desk.

VIII. Read or Die Interactive

New! Specific areas of the convention have been set aside for meet-ups and (very) informal discussion circles. While these sessions are technically free, groups and individuals who do participate will be asked to pay some sort of toll fee (amount optional, money optional). It’s to supplement the donation to AHON, as per usual.

1) Readers Corner : Where readers can meet up and talk about books to their hearts’ content. Facilitated by Read or Die. Schedule/list of books to be discussed to follow. The swap area can also be found here.

Convention attendees are encouraged to bring their secondhand books to either swap or donate.

2) Writers Corner : Writers are notoriously hard to pin down but several writers have been asked to consider making time to meet their readers. If one is seen wandering around the convention, an announcement will be made on the PA. Or, if you’re a writer or you belong to a writers’ group and would like to use RodCon as a meeting place, please contact the secretariat so they can schedule your slot in the Writers Corner. Slots can only last for an hour.

3) Artists Corner: Artists may likewise avail of a spot in the convention where they can meet up or chat with their favorite comic artist. Please note that, as in the case with Writers Corner, there is no guarantee that your favorite artists will in fact appear or will be willing to sit for an hour and sign autographs. But if you are a comic artist and would not mind donating your time to meet with your readers (and acolytes, extant or otherwise), please do so. You can either email the secretariat to avail of your slot (or fill out the web form in the site) or sign up during the convention itself. First come first served.

4) Publishing Depot: Publishing representatives are invited to make time to meet readers or to field inquiries from potential authors in the Publishing Depot. Writers are advised to bring their manuscripts with them for the convention

IX. Press Releases

Ads and a feature article on Read or Die have appeared in the Inquirer, Star, Tribune, the Manila Bulletin, Manila Times, Malaya and other magazine publications. RodCon would like to thank Dee Mandigma for his efforts on their behalf.

X. Further Notes

The New Worlds Alliance members will be coming in costume. Other hobby organizations who wish to attend the convention in costume or cosplay are free to do so. You do not have to ask prior permission from the secretariat. There will be no official cosplay competition, however.

XI. Wrapping Up

We hope to see you all in RodCon. We end with a quote from the British novelist Zadie Smith:

“But the problem with readers, the idea we’re given of reading is that the model of a reader is the person watching a film, or watching television. So the greatest principle is, ‘I should sit here and I should be entertained.’ And the more classical model, which has been completely taken away, is the idea of a reader as an amateur musician. An amateur musician who sits at the piano, has a piece of music, which is the work, made by somebody they don’t know, who they probably couldn’t comprehend entirely, and they have to use their skills to play this piece of music. The greater the skill, the greater the gift that you give the artist and that the artist gives you. That’s the incredibly unfashionable idea of reading. And yet when you practice reading, and you work at a text, it can only give you what you put into it. It’s an old moral, but it’s completely true.

I would add that talented writers begin as talent readers, though I’ve scarcely heard it remarked upon.

The two activities are not only fundamentally similar, they’re the necessary halves of a single human activity.

The reader completes the arc.

If there is no reader, there is no text.”

Here’s to the readers.

George Clooney has bought the movie rights for John Grisham’s The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town. The book is the story of former baseball player Ron Williamson who was charged with a crime he did not commit and sent to death row. Grisham was supposed to have been paid a seven-figure sum for the deal.
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Steven Spielberg is producing a limited series adaptation of The Talisman, a novel written by Stephen King and Peter Straub. The Talisman is the story of 12-year old Jack Sawyer who is on a quest that takes him through our world and a parallel world known as the Territories. He must acquire a talisman to save his mother’s life as well as the life of her “twinner,” the Queen of the Territories.
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Get a free copy of the current bestseller document (on its fourth week on the New York Times bestseller list) The Iraq Study Group Report from the USIP website. The report is “a forward-looking, independent assessment of the current and prospective situation on the ground in Iraq and how it affects the surrounding region as well as U.S. interests.”  An important and timely examination of America’s involvement in the Iraq War with key recommendations for moving forward.

We are now selling one-day passes to RodCon 2007.

One-day passes can be used on either February 3 or February 4 so if you have this ticket, try to check the program schedule to make sure you go on the day they are holding the event/discussion you want to attend.

Prices for a one-day pass until January 31:

Students - P100
Non-students - P150

For groups of 10 or more, we are giving away one free ticket for every ten tickets purchased.

We will also be selling two-day passes very soon.

We are giving away Eragon mousepads for every Eragon or Eldest book purchased. The mousepad features a map of the world of Alagaësía. The feature film based on the book will be out in theaters soon.

Eragon
by Christopher Paolini

When Eragon finds a polished blue stone in the forest, he thinks it is the lucky discovery of a poor farm boy; perhaps it will buy his family meat for the winter. But when the stone brings a dragon hatchling, Eragon realizes he has stumbled upon a legacy nearly as old as the Empire itself. Overnight his simple life is shattered, and he is thrust into a perilous new world of destiny, magic, and power. With only an ancient sword and the advice of an old storyteller for guidance, Eragon and the fledgling dragon must navigate the dangerous terrain and dark enemies of an Empire ruled by a king whose evil knows no bounds. Can Eragon take up the mantle of the legendary Dragon Riders? The fate of the Empire may rest in his hands. . . .

Last month, it was mentioned on this blog that we were carrying a new publication called The Digest of Philippine Genre Stories. We’ve taken a closer look at it and have decided that we like it. And since it is a new publication and we do want to see it in print for issue #2, at least, we thought we’d mention it again.

For Readers and Writers

Every story is introduced by the editor. In his introductions, the editor tries to give you something to think about. In one it is about fate, in another it is about how the author may have come up with his story. Some of you might find this unnecessary but given a Filipino audience of which most have yet to be introduced to genre stories, this can actually be very helpful in guiding the reader. (Genre stories are those that fit into specific genres like science fiction, fantasy, mystery, crime, horror, detective, etc. It’s really a big group of different kinds of stories if you think about it so you will most likely find something you like.)

The magazine doesn’t just give you good stories to read in a handy and affordable digest format, it also encourages you to write. At the end of each story is a short description of the author and a few words from the author about writing his story. The short profile also includes an e-mail address so you can tell the author what you thought of the story or maybe ask questions about it. This focus on the authors and interacting with authors will hopefully inspire many of you who have always thought of writing to actually sit down and write. You will see these authors are just like you, they go to school or they go to work, but they also write. Write to your favorite author. Ask him how he started writing. Ask him how long it took him to write ten pages of fiction. Ask what inspires him.

Near the end of a magazine is a story prompt. In the first issue we are given a photograph. Write a story based on the photograph and submit it and you could win a free issue of the digest. There is also, of course, information on how you can submit your own story to the magazine for publication. I believe that authors are paid for their stories.

At the end is the story of how the magazine came to be. Here you get the impression that the publisher without guarantees and with all the risks jumped in and went to press anyway because he wanted to make something good and readable.

The magazine is very affordable at P100. You don’t have to be very careful with it. You can roll it up and put it in your back pocket if you like. Take it with you on the MRT. Read it during your break. Pass it on to your friends.

The Feature Story

Our favorite story for the first issue has to be the feature story, The Middle Prince, by Dean Francis Alfar. It gives you humor, whimsy, and that feeling of wanting to know what will happen next. It’s also a story that many middle princes out there will find familiar. What’s a middle prince (or princess)? I happen to be one. Find out for yourself when you read the story.

Something About Writing and Publishing in the Philippines

Why is it so important to us that we encourage people to write? Because there is so much to write about and hardly anyone is doing any writing. We will not be talking about important it is to read or write here because we all know that already. One of the reasons people don’t write is that, for most, it’s just not a career that will pay the bills. What can we do to change this?

We can support publications like The Digest of Philippine Genre Stories. Brave efforts like this need our help. We can help by reading their stories, telling them what we think of their stories and what stories we would like to see, writing our own stories and publishing them even if just for a small fee because we all have to start with little steps.

Support the National Book Development Trust Fund Bill or HB 1531, which, if passed, will give local authors grants that will give them some financial leeway so they can produce manuscripts for publication. When you attend RodCon 2007 this February, please make sure to sign your name as a supporter of the bill before you leave the event.

Encourage the youth to read and write. When we attended the launch of Philippine Speculative Fiction Volume 2 last month, we were pleasantly surprised that some of the contributing authors were teenagers! Thank you and congratulations to their parents who taught their children to read and allowed them to write.