by ZOE AIRABELLE AGUINALDO
ASPIRING AUTHORS should appreciate criticisms and be prepared for rejection in their journey toward becoming published writers to produce quality outputs, authors from the Faculty of Arts and Letters said.
Speaking during the UST Publishing House’s “Padayon: A Publishing Webinar for Potential Authors” on Wednesday, April 19, philosophy professor and author Jove Aguas told writers to view criticisms as means to improve their work.
”You have to be grateful to the evaluators (and) to the reviewers because your book improved because of their (comments),” he said.
“This (goes for journal and) book publication. If you’re going to compare the original manuscript and the final published form, you will see a great improvement, a great difference.”
The review process does not only maintain the quality of the output but the reputation of the publisher, Aguas said.
Creative writing program coordinator and Filipino Readers’ Choice Awards winner Joselito Delos Reyes echoed the sentiment, saying writers can “feel bitter” but should not take the rejection personally.
“Your content should be well-written. Your name is not the only thing at stake but also the image of your publisher […] You should be prepared for your work to undergo their (review) process. The moment you submit your work, you should be ready to face whatever will happen,” he said.
Writers should also take pride in receiving feedback, both positive and negative, from their readers, delos Reyes added.
“Do not expect not to get hurt. There is satisfaction in being cited by your fellow writers. Even if they dislike your work, the mere fact that they read and gave attention to it, there’s a unique satisfaction to it.”
The webinar, held via Zoom, walked writers through techniques and steps necessary in having their work published. F
