Fiction and nonfiction markets for Filipino writers continue to open doors of opportunity for established and new writers here in the United States. Whether you write fantasy, poetry, romance or nonfiction essays, you can find an outlet for your written works and build your freelancing career.
Maia Jose: Filipina Writer and Storyteller
Maia Jose is a Filipino author who was first published in 1992. She credits her writing ability to genes inherited from her parents along with their encouragement, but of course it takes more than that. When she graduated from the University of the Philippines in Diliman with a degree in Communication, she worked as a writer and an editor for five years. Following that, she tried her hand at freelance writing/editing for a diverse number and types of markets and is still freelancing today. Working as a freelance writer opened the opportunity for her to follow her heart into the world of romance writing and her new career. Since taking that step in 1992, she has had 96 bestselling titles published.
With hard work, novice writers can break into markets by writing short stories in their genre. This provides published clips and an opportunity to gain a following.
Short Story, Essay and Poetry Markets for Filipino Writers
Finding the right markets is not always easy, but the following markets for Filipino writers are looking for short stories, essays and poetry:
- Philippines Graphic: For literary submissions e-mail [mailto:graphiceditorial@philippinegraphic.net graphiceditorial@philippinegraphic.net] with the subject line: ATTENTION: Literary Editors.
- The Digest of Philippine Genre Stories: This is a quarterly anthology of speculative work written in English by writers of Filipino heritage. This publication accepts genre fiction including fantasy, science-fiction, speculative, crime, mystery, detective, horror, and suspense on an ongoing basis.
- Philippine Speculative Fiction: This is an annual anthology compiling short works by Filipino authors writing in English.
- Philippines Free Press: Established in 1907, The Philippines Free Press in one of the oldest news weeklies in the Philippines. They offer a prestigious literary contest each year which is a great opportunity for beginning as well as seasoned writers to get published. Send literary submissions to [mailto:fpliterary@gmail.com fpliterary@gmail.com].
Markets for Novels Written by Filipino Authors
If you have followed your dream and written a novel, the following publishers look for works submitted by Filipino writers:
- Anvil Fantasy: This company publishes novels written by Filipino writers. The writer must submit an abstract, a complete table of contents and two sample chapters.
- Giraffe Books: This company is a prolific publisher of Filipiniana materials.
Helpful Websites
Networking is an important part of any writer's life, and the following resources aim to connect with Filipino writers, through they are not restrictive and any writer can participate.
- FilipinoWriter.com is designed to aid Filipino writers of every type including: technical, commercial and literary. Their goal is to help writers improve and learn to make money with their freelance writing. It is also a site that promotes the idea of Filipinos reading the written works of other Filipino writers. It is also a great place to help to popularize Filipino-written works internationally.
- Pinoyprofessionals.com is an online community that connects Filipinos. While this site isn't strictly for writers, it's a great place to network with other Filipinos to promote your work and look for writing opportunities.
Titles and Authors for Further Research
For more information, the following books are written by or for Filipino writers:
- Peter Bacho - Dark Blue Suit and Other Stories
- Joseph Bruchac - Breaking Silence: An Anthology of Asian American Poets
- Fred Cordova - Filipinos: Forgotten Asian Americans
- Luis Francia and Eric Gamalinda - Flippin':Filipinos on America (Asian American Writer's Workshop)
- Vincente Rafael - Discrepant Histories : Translocal Essays on Filipino Cultures
- Werner Sollors - Beyond Ethnicity
The Filipino American population is the fastest growing Asian American group in the United States. Over the last decade, anthologies have become a popular venue for Filipino writing. If you have the desire to write, check out the markets listed in this article and take the next step in your freelance writing career.
