Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Self-publishing 101: How to register as an Author/Writer with Philippine NBDB?
Thursday, April 24, 2025
As a self-published author, I had a little desire of registering with NBDB. I thought the process was tedious so I decided to forego the idea of being a registered author despite free online registration the agency was offering. I thought I could not squeeze it in my busy schedule.
But these past few months, I got no more excuses not to consolidate documents required to be registered as an author in the date base National Book Development Board or NBDB. The best part is the whole registration process can be done online. Tada! Isn't that good news?
Another reason to pursue this author registration is for me to be able to apply for ISBNs of my books, since I also plan to sell my books in bookstores and they require ISBN on books to be sold at their store. There is going to be a separate blogpost on how to get ISBN for books, once I got my author registration certificate.
The enactment of Republic Act 8047, also known as the Book Publishing Industry Development Act, was a clear demonstration of the government's attention to the important role of books in nation building. The law created the National Book Development Board (NBDB) which is tasked primarily to formulate and implement a National Book Policy with a corresponding National Book Development Plan geared towards the development of the book publishing industry. The birth of the NBDB was a long struggle that started in 1998 in the halls of Congress by men who shared a vision and the desire to see the growth of the book publishing industry in the Philippines. That remarkable struggle ended on June 7, 1995 when His Excellency, President Fidel V. Ramos, signed into law Republic Act No. 8047, otherwise known as the Book Publishing Industry Development Act which created the National Book Development Board. RA 8047 repealed Executive Order 492, series of 1991, as amended, the law which created the Instructional Materials Development Center, under the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS).
How to register as an Author/Writer with Philippine NBDB? What are the requirements? How many days will it take to receive the author registration certificate? These were the same questions I had where started thinking about the process of the application.
Here is list the documents or requirements I needed to prepare:
1. One (1) valid government-issued ID. I submitted a copy of my passport.
2. Bionote. I limited my bionote to five (5) sentences, but I am sure you can write more than that. Here is a sample of my bionote for your referece.
3. List of Published and/or Unpublished Titles. There is a downloadable prescribed template by the NBDB that I had to fill out diligently and it looks like this:
4. Proof of Work. I consolidated the book covers and copyright of all my published books in Word document file. For my unpublished titles, I also put them together in a Word document file and most of my unpublished manuscript do not even reach twenty (20) pages, so I just put whatever I have. I saved the documents for my proof of work as PDF.
After I finalized all the requirements, I sent them to this email: registration@books.gov.ph. All the documents will undergo evaluation by the NBDB and it may take up to seven (7) days.
Please feel free to comment or send me a message if you have any clarification. This link will give you the full details of the registration process: NBDB E-Registration
Be a registered Author/Writer with Philippine NBDB and start your application now!
Good day y’all!
Good news, I just released a book for my birthday. I’ve been self-publishing for almost ten years. I am happy doing that, and I find purpose in all the books I write. I hope you’re having fun, too, doing your purpose!
Here’s the full cover for the print copies of my latest book, The Restless Mind:
The Advance Reader’s E-book Copy is now available for reviews and interested readers. Please feel free to message me or comment on my posts, so I can send you a copy of The Restless Mind. You may add the book to your Goodreads account.
Please don’t hesitate to post your honest review of the book on Goodreads:
If you’re interested, please send me a message via Messenger, comment on this post, or e-mail me: arlenemanocot@gmail.com. I will send you an e-book version of the book for review.
Your time and interest are highly appreciated. Thank you and have a nice day! 🙏🤗
As you all know, I am about to release another collection of poems. It is a collection of my written thoughts and feelings in the most creative way I can. It is also my way of releasing overwhelming or underwhelming positive and negative emotions.
The title of the new book to be released is The Restless Mind. You can know more about it from the article that I posted on this website. You may click this link to read more about the book: https://www.arlenemanocot.com/2025/04/new-book-reveal-restless-mind.html?m=1
So going back to the question, where to publish or to print book? This inquiry was sent to me privately by a Facebook friend and I was thinking maybe aside from him there are others who might want to know something about self-publishing.
In my ten (10) years of experience in self-publishing, I would consider that there are different parts of publishing: writing, editing, formatting, and publishing. I had to ask that friend of mine what specific part of publishing and it turned out, he wanted to print his own collection of poems.
There are two printing company where I can get print books for my self-published books, one in the Philippines and the other is in the US.
1. PH prints
I submit my soft copy and all the details of the books to JMD Prints. They have Facebook page, but personally I like to message Ate Joy on her Messenger account for every transaction I have with JMD Prints. They will ask you send the digital materials via e-mail. Here’s the link for their FB page if you want to get in touch with them and planning to print in the Philippines. In my experience they got the most affordable and high quality output.
JMD Prints Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/share/1C8RBXWX2A/?mibextid=wwXIfr
2. US Prints
This is the first time I am going to try printing in the US and also using Ingram Spark. I inquired to one printing company, but their rate was a little pricey. I have created an account on their website starting to format my latest book according to their requirements. Here’s the link Ingram Spark website for to explore and decide if it is the best option for you.
Ingram Spark: https://www.ingramspark.com/
I hope this article helps you to get an idea about book printing. Please don’t hesitate to send me a question about self-publishing or anything maybe hehe. Have a nice day!
I am the birthday girl!
I don’t usually celebrate my birthday and maybe never post something about celebrating my birthday. It is hard to remember. But this year, my heart is just overflowing with gratitude to God for giving me this opportunity to live and to have a life. Even though life hasn’t always been easy, I thank You God for this gift of life.
Well, now that I think about it. I never had a sort of celebration for my birthday. Usually, it is just eating together or going somewhere to explore, and I like that idea, that’s the kind of celebration I would prefer. Never had the cakes and balloons with lots of confetti, and it’s fine. I guess that’s kind of celebration is never in my radar.
Birthday gifts from my love 🥰
Thank you Angie, Savior, Jared, Nay, at Tay for the video greetings and cake!
Thirty five is the age now. I am in the middle of my thirty’s. Right now as old as I am, I am in the phase of my life where I know exactly what to do but I do not know how to do it. Like I know what I want, I know my purpose, but I am scared because I just got out of one of the many things on earth that makes me feel secured which like everything else is temporary and will definitely perish.
Thank you for all those who didn’t forget to greet me on my birthday! 🎊
I just have this thought that I have surrendered everything to God. My trust and hope is in Him. I always pray for provisions, safety, protection, wisdom, endurance, and guidance for me, my family, and loved ones. My prayer also is to live a life that is content and glorifying to You, my LORD.
And this is the birthday book!
I tried to release every year and during my birthday. The Restless Mind is the birthday book this year and it contains some of my confessions. Maybe, I wrote this book out of grumbling and complaining about life or a specific situation and circumstance I needed to deal with.
I just hope and pray to inspire other people specifically women through this book. Another prayer of mine for this book is to earn a living out of my books. Please get a copy of this book. You may order a print copy of The Restless Mind through this pre-order form: https://forms.gle/B2MrroFvYJCY5fnm8
Please don’t forget to tag me on a post or send me a message if you want to get in touch. Have a blessed day y’all!
Are you ready for my new book baby? 📚 I have prepared something for y’all. I am glad to announce that I am going to be releasing a new book baby on my birthday month. I hope you are excited because I am.
My mind gave birth to a collection of poems for the past few year. The poetry book is entitled “The Restless Mind”. It is a collection of my sentiments in life, somewhere in my early thirties.
I dwell inside my mind, more than in the outside world. It might leave positive or negative impression how my mind works. I am an introvert and I am comfortable being with myself. But I always want to be with the my most favorite person in the world right now. I always want and need to be with him. Proximity might not permit that all the time and I try to cope with it and pray for it.
In the book “The Restless Mind,” I shared my thoughts and emotions in situations that I struggled with in my early thirties. I need to let them out. I need to write them, so they will not accumulate in my mind and soul. Some thoughts and emotions can be disgusting, but I would like to believe that there are some good things dwells in my mind.
Book Blurb
Am I just grumbling?Endlessly complaining?I confess.I repent.But is it enough
I would like to share this book to all of you. For you to know that you are not alone, that there are people who struggle with these thoughts and emotions like you, and that they can be overcome and they will pass. They will not stay on you, with prayers and cry to God, everything shall pass. You will receive peace from God as He declutter all the unnecessary baggage you have in your life that will not serve a purpose in fulfilling your God-given purpose.
I hope and pray you find inspiration as you read my new book which is scheduled to be released on April 13, 2025. I hope you look forward to it and find a glimpse of hope in it.
Book Covers of The Restless Mind
Please look forward to my new book. I will be posting on how and where you can a get a free e-book copy of The Restless Mind. I hope and pray you are having a blessed week. Until next time! 🤗🙏🙌
April is my birthday month! Happy birthday y’all April babies! 🤗 How is life treating you right now? Are we still good? Well, I hope and pray that you’re in the best shape of your life. I hope and pray you keep on fighting despite all the trying. I hope and pray you can see hope in hopeless situations.
And for my birthday month, I am giving away some of my written books. I am hoping and praying these books will give hope and inspired you to continue with life and pursue God in your life. Life is easier with God. Seek Him. Obey Him. Abide in Him. And He will be with You.
I am in the testing season, crying season, and most of all in the trusting season. People may fail you, but God will never. He can turn our bad situation into a good one. Nothing is impossible when we trust in Him.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits,
I hope and pray we continue to seek and trust in God through Jesus who gives us strength. May we continue to see the unconditional love He gave us through Jesus, His only begotten Son. I know it is not easy right now, but God knows what is the best for us. May we continue to lean toward His direction. May God provide wisdom, love, patience, strength, guidance, and our daily bread to continue to live our purpose in this life. I pray all these and let us surrender everything to the LORD. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
I hope you are inspired to live the best time of your life only through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. I hope and pray that in these uncertainties you are experiencing right now, may we realize that God is certain. We are certain that God allows the challenges in our lives for good and not for worst. Trust Him, trust the process.
Here’s the link of one of the free e-books I plan to share on my birthday month. I hope and pray this brings inspiration to your life. A special shout out to all April babies out there, happy blessed birthday!
Spring is here! It is the season where everything blooms and blossoms. Who wouldn’t want spring season? Personally, it is my favorite season out of all of the seasons. Flowers are out and the greens are starting to pop in the scenery!
This season inspires me to create a coloring book. Flowers and coloring are two of my favorite things in life. Sight seeing a bed of flowers is a feast for my eyes and coloring flowers in a coloring book is a hobby I really enjoy all the time.
You may download a free copy of the coloring book by clicking the link below:
Just give me a shout out if you are having difficulty downloading the book and I’ll give my best shot to help. Have fun! Color your life!
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell youthat not even Solomon in all his splendorwas dressed like one of these.
The Screwtape Letters is the second book I read from C.S. Lewis. I was captivated by his intellectual and spiritual approach to writing. His portrayal of the devils in the form of Screwtape was riveting and intriguing. At the beginning of my reading journey, I was curious about how the story would unfold and a little confused about the letter-formatted passages, but excited at the same time about how the story would take me for another ride.
A Masterpiece of Satire on Hell’s Latest Novelties and Heaven’s Unanswerable AnswerC.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters has entertained and enlightened readers the world over with its sly and ironic portrayal of human life and foibles from the unique vantage point of Screwtape, a highly placed assistant to “Our Father Below.” At once wildly comic, deadly serious, and strikingly original, C.S. Lewis gives us the correspondence of the wordly-wise devil to his nephew Wormwood, a novice demon in charge of securing the damnation of an ordinary young man. The Screwtape Letters is the most engaging account of temptation—and triumph over it—ever written.
This is also the second book I finished reading in the year 2025. Nowadays, it is difficult to read. There are a lot of things that are happening in my life right now, but I can only do so little. I tried to stay with the book to keep me company. I am glad I got to finish the book, at last. I enjoyed the book since it talks about human nature to sin or to get entrapped in a situation he willfully or not willfully created for himself where it may feel like there is nowhere to go or to run to. It is that kind of situation that is hopeless and pestered by fear and doubt.
The devils are cunning and fallen creatures and they will try their best to plague this world. I pray to God above to help me in my journey in life. I am having difficulty now and the devil seems to be celebrating. I hope to endure this situation and succeed victoriously in life. I thank God for the wisdom and hope He planted in me and for all the people He sent on my way, the good and the bad.
This book is the kind I would like to keep if I have a library of my own and probably read it more than once.
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
The Great Divorce is one of the many books written by C. S. Lewis. I just have known recently that he is a Christian and some of his books deal with idea, philosophical, or spiritual views of Christianity. Growing up, I have known him for the movie series The Chronicles of Narnia which based of the book he wrote.
This is the first book I finished reading this year 2025, thanks to our reading date I finally made a little progress to my books to read backlogs.
C.S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce is a classic Christian allegorical tale about a bus ride from hell to heaven. An extraordinary meditation upon good and evil, grace and judgment, Lewis’s revolutionary idea in the The Great Divorce is that the gates of Hell are locked from the inside. Using his extraordinary descriptive powers, Lewis’ The Great Divorce will change the way we think about good and evil.
The book style of story telling got me confused at first. I did not know who's who. The point of view had me questioning what was happening in the story. In the quarter part of the book, I finally realized that it was being told in the first person point of view. There were ghost, bus ride, hell, heaven, life on earth, and after life on earth throughout the story.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
I stayed with the book despite of being confused and totally lost at the plot of the story, since it was giving me a sense of promise about the great divorce between heaven and hell which the book title strongly suggested.
The ongoing war between good and evil has been existing even before human race realized it is actually happening. The Great Divorce will give a refreshing view of good and evil. At one point while reading the book, I was reminded that what may be considered good on earth may not be good in heaven, and sometimes what humans may consider bad or evil on earth is what is right in heaven.
The bus ride with C.S. Lewis maybe one of the rides you may be needing right now. I enjoyed reading this book even though I had difficulty in the beginning of the story and was able to reach the end. Life is the same. No matter how hard life is we just have to keep moving towards the end of our story. The end that is orchestrated by the most powerful being. He is in our story, God is in this story. I just pray and hope we all make it according to His purpose.
Woe to those who call evil goodand good evil,who put darkness for lightand light for darkness,who put bitter for sweetand sweet for bitter.
Another book done, and it’s finally one of the books of Rupi Kaur. I have been intrigued by her books ever since she became popular with her first book Milk and Honey, I couldn’t afford to buy her books back in the Philippines, and probably here in the US I would still consider the book as a bit pricey. And that’s just for me, it is never a professional valuation I just set a specific range of budget for the books I buy.
the sun and her flowers by rupi kaur is the recent book I finished reading for my reading challenge this year. I must say it was a short read, and I like it. I have been taking more interest in poetry books ever since year 2024 began. One thing that got me into it is, yeah, you guessed it right maybe, it is a short read. Another thing is most of the poetry books released nowadays talks about human emotions with all the mental health issues we are dealing with right now make them more so relevant. Short read and relevant.
Also, honesty is something that I really appreciate in this book of Rupi Kaur. She made herself vulnerable while solidifying as strong identity of who she has become as a person and a woman. Her sincerest intention of making herself relevant in order to reach other people who might be going or have gone through touched the little girl, teenager, and the woman who is in a working progress in me.
The book has five (5) parts which all the delicate yet vigorous pieces of poems were chronologically arranged based on the life experience of the author, at least that’s how I see it as I read the poem and reached the final page.
Here’s the blurb of the book, check if you like and make you want to read the whole book.
this is the recipe of life
said my mother
as she held me in her arms as i wept
this of those of flowers you plant
In the garden each year
they will teach you
that people too
must wilt
fall
root
rise
in order to bloom
Epilogue: The Wife of Noble Character10 [a]A wife of noble character who can find?She is worth far more than rubies.11 Her husband has full confidence in herand lacks nothing of value.12 She brings him good, not harm,all the days of her life.13 She selects wool and flaxand works with eager hands.14 She is like the merchant ships,bringing her food from afar.15 She gets up while it is still night;she provides food for her familyand portions for her female servants.16 She considers a field and buys it;out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.17 She sets about her work vigorously;her arms are strong for her tasks.18 She sees that her trading is profitable,and her lamp does not go out at night.19 In her hand she holds the distaffand grasps the spindle with her fingers.20 She opens her arms to the poorand extends her hands to the needy.21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household;for all of them are clothed in scarlet.22 She makes coverings for her bed;she is clothed in fine linen and purple.23 Her husband is respected at the city gate,where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.24 She makes linen garments and sells them,and supplies the merchants with sashes.25 She is clothed with strength and dignity;she can laugh at the days to come.26 She speaks with wisdom,and faithful instruction is on her tongue.27 She watches over the affairs of her householdand does not eat the bread of idleness.28 Her children arise and call her blessed;her husband also, and he praises her:29 “Many women do noble things,but you surpass them all.”30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.31 Honor her for all that her hands have done,
This is the Journey is the second book I read from Alison Malee. It is a collection of poems published by Andrews McMeel Publishing. If I may be honest it is my dream to be published by them too. I also have a collection of poems too and I hope they keep on piling up.
Just like the first book that I read from the Malee, the book cover also got me. Surprise, I love flowers. There is just something beautiful and iridescent about them and I cannot help but be attracted, allured, captivated, charmed, and be enchanted by these delightful creations. Some may say it is shallow, well if it is I do not care really (hehe, peace yow). The book cover is beautiful and it has caused me to get the book and read it. It was what made me interested in the book aside from it was being a poetry book and shorter to read.
This is the Journey by Alison Malee is a poetry collection about moving on, and some few reasons why we should keep on going forward until we finish the race, the journey. Life is not easy and there are extra baggage that we have to carry as we go along in life, and sometimes they get heavier and heavier, that is why forgiving yourself and giving grace to yourself are essential skills that we must cultivate throughout our lives. Life is already hard as it can be, so don't be harder on yourself. Be gracious and forgive.
Life is a journey, it doesn't end, it just only gets more exciting. Life is not just about us. It is more than us.
However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.
This is the journey. Live it! Love it! May our lives be a living testimony of God's amazing grace.
Sayo is on Amazon now!
Oops! It's a prank.
Sad news!
But to be honest, yes, I did upload Sayo on Amazon. I tried. Sadly, my latest book was written in my native language, and the online bookstore didn't accept content published in Filipino.
To be fair, I was aware that my native language was not supported by Kindle. I just took a chance that maybe it would go live and it did, but only for 17 days.
Here're a brief book description:
Sayo by Arlene Manocot contains poems in Filipino language, all published on my Facebook page and personal account, and Wattpad last year 2023. Sayo is literally translated in English as 'for you', 'I'm yours', or 'I belong to you'. This poem collection might be for you.
Good news!
You can still download a free e-book copy, just click the link:
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