We’ve been doing this for quite some time now (a little over a year)—and while we know some of you guys through events and our books, zines and comics, we realized we’ve never really introduced ourselves; how rude! Pardon us and thank you very much for your support. Here’s a little intro thang brought to you by two people who are 50 shades of cray (a reference a text we have—unfortunately?—never read).
Who are you guys—forrealz?
W: It’s tempting to answer this question in third person: you get used to doing it for story submissions, book bios, etc. but because this is an introduction, I will curb that urge and write this in first person.
Hey, gorgeous.
How you doin’, hot stuff?
What up, yo.
I’m Wina and I write stories (it’s hard to talk about that here but you can read some of those that’ve been published here and here; I hope they speak for themselves). Let’s start with the basics, I suppose: I’m 23 and recently graduated from DLSU with a degree in BS Psychology. ID 107 (represent? nattt)—I shifted at a very unfortunate time, hence the (much) delayed graduation date. I was the Prose Editor for my school’s arts and lit folio a hundred thousand years ago. Among other things, I like reading, writing, experimenting with makeup, looking for fun exercise videos, getting tattoos, swimming and listening to music. I used to want to be a doctor and so I guess I also find science fascinating—my favorite subjects in school were the later chems (orgs and bio). I have an affinity for Freud (he was just willing to go get it you know?) and small, serif fonts (they’re just so fucking classy). I also drive a crap car that makes the Honda Jazz look like a Hummer. Oh, and I regularly write for EM Zine, a literary and arts magazine I started with a few friends.
N: Nico here, a cinephile who is also fond of making mixtapes that are eclectic and diverse. I find that music compliments a thought-provoking discussion about an assortment of things such as art, history, philosophy and everything in between. You’ll find me mostly living in between ink stained coffee circles or tangled up in imaginary film grain. I love sharing quirky references to movies that use unconventional themes or which are untainted by technicolor. I’m also fond of literature that pushes the boundaries of what fiction could be and would love to have coffee with those who are radical enough to experiment with it. My bookshelf is a revolving door of sorts as books of all kinds come and go; though some have taken up permanent residence in my never ending stack of bedside literature—but we’ll get to that later.
Why MoarBooks?
W: MoarBooks began in 2013 as a means of selling a book, actually. I’d gotten exposed to the Independent Comics and Lit scene through my friend Trizha who introduced me to Adam David, the founder of BLTX (Better Living Through Xeroxography) and I really enjoyed the way that people talked about books and publishing at that event. Stories, poems, art work and comics as something crafted both within and without.
Paperweight, the project I’d been sitting on for about a year at the time, was something that I kept running past people who I trusted to know their stuff and it seemed a shame not to do anything with it. I figured if I was going to put up a small publishing business, best to experiment on myself first: that way if it failed, I wouldn’t be dragging anyone else into the mix. I used to run an online clothing store so MoarBooks is kind of template-d after that: you have people, a Facebook page and interesting stuff people can buy which you deliver to them in exchange for valuable paper.
N: I decided to become a part of MoarBooks because I stand by the idea that many voices not yet heard but are brimming with creativity and who possess a kind of tenacity that is only present in the truly and utterly unfunded determined, need an avenue for their projects to be noticed. MoarBooks is concerned primarily with content and quality of that content; I like that. Among other things, what I really want to do through this is to share them with you, dear reader (who is reading this on the internet—Schrödinger’s reader: are you there?).
Who Do You Read?
W: It changes, but for sure Siri Hustvedt, Haruki Murakami, Adrienne Rich, David Foster Wallace, Donald Barthelme, Conchitina Cruz, Susanna Clarke, Italo Calvino, Vicente Groyon, Gregory Brillantes, Kelly Link, Phil Kaye, Mark Strand, Adrian Tomine and Jeff Lemire. I also like Joshua Lim So’s work—he writes plays and short stories (you can read some of that here).
N: These are some of the aforementioned permanent residents in the village (apartment complex? I’m confusing my own metaphors) of my bookshelf—Ayn Rand and Georges Perec live in the floors between neighbors Hermann Hesse, Kurt Vonnegut and Albert Camus. I often speculate they all have impromptu tea parties at night without me knowing, though I believe Camus only has coffee.
How Did You Guys Begin Working Together?
W: Well. I had three people initially helping me out with MoarBooks but you know, that wasn’t panning out because of logistical limitations (location, day jobs, etc.). Then one day I saw Nico (who I knew through mutual friends from college) in Fully Booked, ignored him then went online a few months later to apologize. Then we found out we were neighbors and began tinkering with the idea of working on MoarBooks together since he also likes reading and art and all that jazz. He is quite organized and really sticks it to the man when it comes to reminders about posting schedules and stuff so that’s good. Plus he knows how use Excel. So there!
How Do You See MoarBooks’s Future?
W: I see it turning into a much bigger endeavor—not in terms of staff or size, necessarily but in terms of the binding and publishing quality of work. As of now, we sell low-volume, low-cost and in the future I really want to have the liberty to put my foot down and say like, 2500 copies—perfect bound, rush no matter what and not have a heart attack when I get the bill. We’re also working on having more events this year but that’s a surprise, surprise that has yet to be revealed.
N: I see it evolving into an even more effective creative platform that produces work that will touch people’s lives. We want to be the go-to for people who want to say something through their work and who are willing to work hard to get their work out there—the term “indie darling” comes to mind. We may be small, but we’re determined to be heard. Also, we have brownies. And espresso.
That’s it for now–next month we’ll be posting about the people who are responsible for our event posters, book covers and who’ve lent us a hand through the years. Thanks for sticking around and it was great to meet you–have a look around our bookstore and enjoy your experience with us.
The Typewriter Dailies 