Philippine Local Book Pubilshing (RBS) Partners With Google Book Search

It's nice to know that the Philippines is managing to expand its knowledge base by partnering with Google Booksearch. Rex bookstore, one of the Philippines leaders in the industry, has joined the Google Book Search Publisher Partner Program.

The move will see thousands of titles published by RBS digitized and indexed on Google’s search engine in the months to come. That's so nice to know considering there are very few online resources that are available concerning Philippine heritage, particularly the local language/ dialects.

Google has been very kind about it too. "It’s an honor for Google to work with one of the most reputable publishing houses in the Philippines and a leader in local educational publishing," Erik Hartmann, head of Google Book Search Strategic Partnership Development for Southeast Asia, said.

"The ability to discover locally published titles, in both English and Filipino languages, when searching on Google is really important for our millions of users in the Philippines," Hartmann added.

Why Stephenie Meyer is such a good writer

I'm reading the "Twilight" series and I have to admit that I am impressed with Stephenie Meyer's writing style. I read it and go, "I know exactly how that feels!" You see being a wannabe author, also means I like to dissect how other authors put their thoughts together and how they spill them on the page.

With Stephenie Meyer though, it's like reading through a girl's head it's amazing. She's written about stuff that all girls have felt but most girls can't even begin to explain. She has put to words feelings and scenarios that play everyday in a girl's head about love and life and the what-ifs of what's to come. This makes her such a great writer.

Sure "Twilight" reads more like juvenile fiction because it features high school kids (not to mention high school age vampires and werewolves), but it's so easy to read that just makes it even better.

I read "Harry Potter' because I felt it was such a recreation to read it, and this is why I'm reading "Twilight" as well. It's not comparison though. People shouldn't compare them too much. Harry Potter was made for kids and adults just ended up enjoying it because it became such a big hit and a power tale. Twilight on the other had is first and foremost a love story rather than a fictional one. That would explain why most of the readers and fans are girls.

It's nice to read about this wonderful guy (or guys - if you like both Edward and Jacob) and about this supernatural kind of love, it gives me an escape from reality. That is the mark of a great writer -- being able to take your readers where you want them and enthralling them in the world of your creation.

Holiday Promotions From Self Publishing Companies - Xlibris And iUniverse

Here are some holiday promotions from two of the biggest self publishing companies to-date - Xlibris and iUniverse.

• Xlibris is going all-out with a "Christmas comes early" theme. All their publishing packages from their basic at $499 to platinum used to be $12,999 are now being offered at half price. That's 50% off publishing services this month.

• iUniverse is providing authors with an option to get a discount or free books with an election theme, zooming in on the great political debacle of McCain and Obama.