The Green-Eyed Writer

19-Contract Signing

"Hi Venny, buti nakarating ka."

A petite woman, who seemed to be in her mid-twenties, greeted me the moment I saw her at the coffee shop table. She was wearing a purple button-down shirt and skinny jeans. Dark-rimmed glasses framed her eyes, and she sported shoulder-length dark hair, which was rebonded.

"Hello po Ms. Rhea. I'm Venny Giron. Venny-G," I smiled.

Isang linggo na ang nakaraan mula nang matanggap ko message ni Ms. Rhea sa Facebook. After thinking about it, naisipan kong pabigyan siya for a meeting. At ito na nga, nakipagkita na ako sa kanya sa isang coffee shop sa loob ng isang mall near our place.

She stood up and extended a hand. Nagkamayan kami and she gestured me to sit in front of her. I pulled the chair and sat.

"Thank you for taking the time to meet with me. I'm Rhea Carola, the head of Star Writers Publishing," she started.

"Yes po, nakita ko na po Facebook page niyo. You published Mystery Squad by Benzayb, right? Yung popular author po?" I saw a picture of that particular book at their FB page.

"Oo, kami nag-publish ng book trilogy niya. Benzayb was our very first client," Ms. Rhea smiled at the idea of it. "As you see, indie publishing house kami, and we're looking for other writers to help make their dreams come true. Sikat na nga yung story mo eh."

"Oo nga po, di ko po inexpect na ang bilis dadami ng reads," I commented, feeling flustered.

"With that in mind, naisip ng team namin na kunin ka bilang isa sa aming mga writers."

She smiled and took out a small plastic envelope beside her. She placed it on the table, opened it, and showed me a short bond paper.

"Read this."

Kinuha ko ang papel at binasa ang nakalagay doon.

It was a publishing offer. The deal was, they will publish three batches of my story for pre-order. There will be 100 copies per batch. The willing buyers have to pay first, pagkatapos ay ipu-publish ang aking story na My Love From The Past at ishi-ship sa kanila. Kapag successful ang first batch ay open na ang second batch, at third batch kapag maayos ang lahat.

If the first three batches of my published work will be succesful within a year, my contract will be open for renewal if I want to. Mabibigyan ako ng royalty from the sales of my published book.

With the manuscript, ibibigay ko muna ito sa kanila at babayaran nila ako ng Php5,000.

"One hundred copies per batch sounds good," wika ko.

"Tama ka, para mas madaling i-publish at ma-monitor ang mga bayarin. Lalo na at puro high school students ang readers mo," ika ni Ms. Rhea.

"Huwag niyo pong gawin mahal ang book," I requested.

"Hindi iyan magiging expensive. Mga around three hundred to four hundred pesos. We will be using cream paper and embossed soft cover. Teka, ilan ba word count mo?"

"Mga around seventy thousand," I answered. "Paano po editing and proofreading?"

"May editor kami who will do it for you. Kaya by November or December, expect mo na makukuha na nila ang book."

"Mabilis ah," I grinned.

"Team effort kasi ito," Ms. Rhea answered.

I pore over the contract.

Siguro ito na nga ang hinihintay ko.

"May I have a pen?" I asked Ms. Rhea.

"Sure." She got a pen from her bag. Kinuha ko ito at pumirma na sa contract.