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It all started way back in 2019, as a prompt in a writer’s group chat that I am part of: write a story to celebrate the 500th anniversary of Christianity in the Philippines.
I was hooked. To say that the prompt appealed to me is an understatement. There were many questions about 1521 that I wanted to explore: what were the impressions of the pre-colonial Filipinos upon encountering Christianity for the first time, whether they were really forced to accept the foreign religion, and other similar questions. Historical fiction seemed to be an exciting way to explore these questions.
So I made up characters based on my readings about that period, did further research, developed loglines and outlines, revised them over and over, and wrote the story.
The events in Cebu in 1521 were ideal material for historical fiction: there are many sources available, both primary and secondary, and at the same time there are many exploitable gaps in our knowledge of the events and people involved. I enjoyed developing my story and making that period of history come alive to myself.
I took the project one step at a time. My initial goal was just to finish the story, watching it unfold.
In 2020, I was assisting my priest-uncle in an online class he was teaching on the history of the Church in the Philippines. I decided to show him the draft of my story. He was excited by the story and told me it could be polished into a novelette for the 9- to 12-year-old market. He also told me that he knew someone who could illustrate it: Richard Smith, who had published his own comic books in the past for which he became a finalist for the Catholic Mass Media Awards.
After I was introduced to Richard, I sent him the draft. He loved the story and agreed to illustrate it. He suggested which scenes to illustrate and sent me his drawings little by little. It was exhilarating seeing the characters and scenes of my story become visible.
In the meantime, I also solicited feedback on the draft from several readers. At that point, the basic plot of the story was more or less settled; nevertheless, the readers from whom I solicited feedback pointed out ways to enhance the story while retaining the basic plot outline I already came up with.
Revisions, coordination with Richard about the drawings: the book was taking shape.
Early on, I decided to self-publish the book under the self-publishing packages offered by Central Books. There were several reasons I chose this route instead of traditional publishing.
First, I wanted the book to be out during the celebration of the 500th anniversary of Christianity in the Philippines, and going through a traditional publisher would entail waiting and uncertainty. (The pandemic actually bought me time on this one, because CBCP extended the celebration of the 500th anniversary of Christianity in the Philippines until April of 2022.) Second, I already had an excellent working relationship with Richard and I did not want to get anyone else as an artist.
Third, in relation to the second reason, CentralBooks had a good in-house colorist whose sample Richard approved of—Richard’s style was B&W line drawings, but he urged me to get a colorist because, according to him, children would be more attracted to colored illustrations.
Fourth, Central’s package was a good deal: they offer services such as getting an ISBN number, copyright registration, and, should the author choose to avail of it, distribution in their outlets.
However, I must warn those considering self-publishing that for it to work, you must have an ample budget. You would not want to cut corners when it comes to cover design, layout, copyediting, and proofreading if you want a professional-looking book. In the end, it was worth it paying for these services.
I wanted to have the book out during the Christmas shopping season, but I underestimated the time it would take for the printing. In the end, though, the book came out just in time for the Feast of the Sto. Nino in 2022, still during the year-long celebration of the 500th anniversary of Christianity in the Philippines.
The journey is not over. My next challenge is to market the book. Fortunately, my family and friends have been supportive, and have helped introduce the book, for example, to grade school and high school teachers who might find it useful supplementary material for Social Studies and Religion classes.
Some have already been asking me about a sequel. But for now, I still do not have any idea of what will happen next in the story and frankly, I am not thinking about it yet. But with the experience I have already acquired bringing the first part of the story to life, coming up with a sequel or two would hopefully be a smoother process.
In the meantime, I am celebrating my success and encouraging other writers that they, too, can do it. Just keep on writing!
Copies of Amihan can be bought from the CentralBooks website and at Lazada and Shopee.
Written by Cristina A. Montes | January 22, 2022
Story Sandbox Magazine, Volume 1 Issue 1 (1st quarter, 2022)
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