The author, Lalaine Padilla (far right), gamely poses with fellow VFI staff members.
I love books. Their mere smell brings me such delight that even my mind can’t comprehend why I am so addicted to them. This may be the reason why I did not hesitate to work as an editorial assistant for the print division and later on as a project assistant of Filipiniana.net/Vee Press under Vibal Foundation. Reading books is like breathing clean air; without it, I will die.
Yet what happened on June 22 in the Ariston Estrada Hall of De La Salle University made my heart leap with joy. This was the day when our four Vee Press and DLSU ebook babies were finally launched. These were Filipino Religious Consciousness by Sylvia Palugod; Mabathalang Pag-aaral by José M. de Mesa; Maharang, Mahamis na Literatura sa mga Tataramon na Bikol edited by Paz Verdades M. Santos; and Sanghiyang sa Mundo ng Internet by Rhoderick Nuncio.
Thoughts of being part of the ground-breaking evolution of digital book publishing in the country never crossed my mind. Nor did it even occur to me that I would be part of the team who would create the first of its kind in the country.
It seems like only yesterday when our program director Ms. Kristine Mandigma told our team that we would be working on the publication of digitally formatted ebooks primarily for iPad and Kindle, which will be available on the web via Amazon and the Apple ebookstore. We (well, basically Sab and I) didn’t know what were getting into until we saw and touched, with child-like expressions, the Foundation-owned iPad and Kindle in our hands. She was not kidding at all, I thought.
From there we began our battle learning to convert electronic manuscripts into ebooks. The endless talks about proofreading, formatting and converting felt as if they were the only language we could understand. And the next thing we knew, we were at the launch, amazed, satisfied and happy to have witnessed both the bewildered and interested expressions of the audience.
If you are wondering what Vee Press is, it is—if not the first in the world—the emerging digital imprint of Vibal Foundation tasked to produce e-books accessible in multiformat product releases, specifically for digital readers such as Apple iPad, Amazon Kindle and mobile internet devices. Since we are not bounded by the constricts of conventional book printing, Vee Press opens the opportunity for both authors and readers to grasp the beauty, creativity and most of all the convenience of ebooks.
What’s the difference between the electronic editions published by Vee Press and other ebook products?
Simple. We make them more interactive and informative. By adding hyperlinks, introductory essays, and annotations, we give our readers the opportunity to receive more than what they bargain for in terms of the content, aesthetic value, as well as usability.
Better yet, we are offering a wide range of materials varying from all-time Filipino classics such as Noli Me Tangere, out-of-print novels like Ninay, essays from different interdisciplinary series such as More Hispanic than We Admit, and brilliantly reproduced art with innovative scholarship such as The Life and Art of Botong Francisco.
Though it seems as if digital publishing is as easy as clicking your computer’s mouse in three steps, it is not. Confusing? Sometimes. Tiring? Yes. Mind-boggling? Definitely yes. But the thought of quitting due these tedious tasks? Definitely not. Seeing that our babies have been christened, appreciated and applauded by the people whose opinions weigh more than our sleepy brain cells is enough to decide that it was all worth it.
Dr. Isagani Cruz, executive publisher of DLSU Academic Publications Office, is right. Ebooks are the future of book publishing, and I — a mere book reader turned love slave of its prestige — am honored to become a part of its history.
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