Voces del Alma: The First Chabacano Poetry Anthology

Voces del Alma is the first-ever Chabacano Poetry Anthology featuring contemporary poems from different writers across Zamboanga City and beyond.

I know poems are very personal and hard to share so I want to thank everyone who lent part of their souls to make this book a reality.

Special thanks as well to the people who bought a copy during our early access period.

Looking Back

Because once is never enough, I'm doing it again. In 2018, I invested a significant amount and energy on publishing a Chabacano translation of The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince). 

It was quite an experience, as I managed every stage of the project myself, from designing the book cover and book layout to creating promotional materials, writing social media content, processing orders, and handling customer inquiries.

I was a one-man team.

I remember my battle cry was "Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!" because I felt like I was taking such a huge risk with my money. I mean I do invest in stocks but this was a different beast altogether. I'm sure for people with a lot of business experience, there's nothing to it, but for me who had been in a 9 to 5 job for most of his adult life, it was quite terrifying. 

The thought of spending such a huge amount on a book project was so daunting that I thought of delaying publishing until 2021. 

It wasn't until one of the Little Prince collectors in Spain told me that there was going to be another Chabacano translation that was about to be published that I told myself: 

F_CK IT, I'M DOING THIS!

This time around, I am publishing a small-print-run Chabacano poetry anthology so it's not as dramatic.

Designing the Cover

Before designing the cover of El Diutay Principe, I did not know how to use Photoshop at all, so I had to rely on YouTube tutorials to learn how to use it. While the cover was not designed entirely from scratch (it was based on one of the illustrations in the book), it was still a difficult and time-consuming process. There were many details to consider, and Photoshop is not always straightforward to use, especially for someone with no prior experience.

Since the last time I used photoshop was in 2018, I was a bit rusty. I had to relearn most of the things I learned back then. It was also doubly hard because I had to design the cover from scratch. 

The cover features an American-era style lamppost that can be seen along the Zamboanga boulevard. The cover also features bougainvilleas which my dad tells me were ubiquitous in Zamboanga City back when it was known as the Ciudad de Flores.

The book features 50 glossy pages and in full color, 10 poem authors and 23 poems.

So there you have it, folks. Finally, a poetry anthology book is now available in Chabacano!

NOW, LET'S SELL THIS MOTHER!!!