SOME people were surprised by the figures I cited in my articles on the amount of money that the Department of Education (DepEd) has invested in the procurement of books. A total of P19 billion was released for the current school year to buy mostly textbooks for our public-school students. The aim is to reach a ratio of one book per student.
We can all dream, can’t we, and that is why we’re glad that the DepEd is doing this. Malaysia did this 20 years ago, investing in a massive book procurement spree that made its homegrown publishers and writers happy.
I remember a friend and his partner who worked together on a textbook series and were able to pay the down payment for their house and lot in the suburbs from their royalties.
So, the DepEd has set aside P19 billion for textbooks, and an additional, smaller amount for the purchase of reading kits and supplementary or enrichment books. The aim is to increase the reading literacy of our students, who placed sixth from the bottom in a global reading assessment two years ago.
And they are buying mostly printed books. This is a wise move. This line of thinking also underscores the findings of recent pedagogical research that show printed works still matter.
A wire report stated that while most of the world rushes to digitize education, six European countries — Sweden, Finland, Norway, France, Italy and Denmark — are actively removing screens from classrooms and bringing back physical textbooks, deep reading practices and handwriting.
This shift is driven by scientific evidence proving that writing by hand and reading on paper improves memory, focus and comprehension. Sweden pioneered this pushback in 2023 when its Ministry of Schools stopped tablet usage and reinvested millions of kronor into physical textbooks.
Denmark has allocated 540 million kroner to swap tablets for books, distributing 17,500 new printed copies across classrooms, with a directive to make all schools mobile-free by 2027. Concurrently, France and Italy have already banned smartphones in primary and middle schools, reintroducing paper use and traditional pencil-and-paper tasks.
In Scandinavia, Norway reports that 96 percent of its primary schools have successfully removed mobile devices from learning spaces, while Finland implemented similar restrictions in 2024. This collective educational direction challenges the global consensus on early stage classroom digitalization.
That’s why my two local publishers have met me separately in the past two weeks. One of them has commissioned me to translate “Noli Me Tangere” and “El Filibusterismo” into Filipino, for use by junior and senior high-school students. DepEd has already allocated a separate budget for the purchase of Rizal’s two immortal novels.
They have also requested me to write several Boys’ Love books, either novels or stories, that deal with the gay experience in the Philippines. The target readership is students between the ages of 13 and 17, so I told my publisher that we need age-appropriate reading materials. I have already translated my novel, “Boys’ Love,” into Filipino. Next on the dock are my two other books: “Riverrun, A Novel” and “The Heart of Summer: Stories and Tales.”
My other local publisher has also asked me to write children’s books for a global market. I have already written three, which are now in different phases of production. I will also submit a suite of three other storybooks for children, with a different set of illustrators.
This is what happens in the global market. When you attend a world bookfair like the one at Frankfurt, you will meet buyers and publishers.
They will look at your children’s books, gathering an armful with them. With eagle eyes, they will look at the back, for the summary, and then, they’ll flip the pages. They are looking for art that grabs one’s attention, art that is stylish and innovative, one that will pass muster for a global readership. Then they will set aside those they like, get the copies, read them thoroughly at home, then send their offers to the Philippine publishers.
The offers are for translation and foreign-publication rights. And the royalties can, as they say, rearrange the atoms in the air.
Examples are the two books that I have done for Central Books. The German translation and foreign-publication rights for “Green Roses: Stories” have been bought by a publisher in Munich. They will publish an initial print run of 5,000 copies of the German translation. On the other hand, national libraries from three Asian countries have ordered 7,000 copies of my book, “How to Read and Write Better,” for distribution to their public libraries.
These foreigners saw my books when they were displayed at the book fairs in their respective countries. That is why it is important for a local publisher to have a foreign-rights team and send a delegation to all the major book fairs and book festivals around the world — Frankfurt, Bologna for children’s books, the regional book festivals in Asia, since Asia is now snapping up English-language books from the Philippines.
Some people want to hire me as a literary agent or a book agent, and I have turned them down. I’m not a literary agent, but a book coach. I have accepted two books a few months ago. I coached the authors on the writing, pacing, shape and structure of their novels. Both have recently finished their novels, and we are now sending them out to both local and foreign publishers. The response has been electric. One novel is on the road to the auction block, for bidding by several global publishers.
For this I ask not to be paid, but I ask for a percentage of the royalties. This I learned when I went to take my graduate studies in Publishing at the UK. Never ask to be paid outright, for that is just small beer.
Instead, ask for a percentage of the royalties from the book sales, the audio and film rights, the anime and webtoon rights, across the whole wide world. This passive income will be yours, not just now, but in many years to come.
Danton Remoto’s books are on sale at Fully Booked, National Bookstore, Central Books website, Shopee and Lazada; Kinokuniya in Asia; and Amazon globally.
