# Fairy Tale Fail - Asian Chick Lit



## MinaVE (Apr 20, 2010)

Hello, everyone! Posting here my new Kindle ebook, Fairy Tale Fail. It's a light romance (chick lit style) for women in their twenties, set in the Philippines and written in English.

Fairy Tale Fail by Mina V. Esguerra




















> Of all the twenty-something women who are hopeless romantics, Ellie Manuel is more "hopeless" than "romantic." Even after her Prince Charming broke up with her, she just won't give up &#8230; because fairy tale heroines don't live "happily ever after" right away, silly, they're tested first!
> 
> Determined to pass the test, she spends the next year restoring herself to the girl Prince Charming had fallen in love with in the first place.
> 
> ...


Chick lit set in Asian countries (and written in English) is starting to take off in these parts, which I'm very excited about. For women like me the "chick lit" experience is somewhat different, just because this particular society still frowns upon so many things that chick lit novels from other countries take for granted. But anyway! That might be a discussion for another post.  Check out my book if you think this is your kind of thing!


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## HelenSmith (Mar 17, 2010)

Good luck with it, Mina


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## MinaVE (Apr 20, 2010)

Thank you, Helen! A bit overwhelmed (in a good way) reading everyone else's experiences as authors and readers.


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## lib2b (Apr 6, 2010)

Do you have plans to make this available to other e-book readers than the Kindle such as offer at Barnes and Noble or somewhere like Smashwords?  It sounds interesting, but despite the fact that I hang out on Kindle Boards, I don't have a Kindle, I have a B&N Nook.


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## MinaVE (Apr 20, 2010)

lib2b said:


> Do you have plans to make this available to other e-book readers than the Kindle such as offer at Barnes and Noble or somewhere like Smashwords? It sounds interesting, but despite the fact that I hang out on Kindle Boards, I don't have a Kindle, I have a B&N Nook.


Yes I do, primarily because of a friend who has a Nook and I want to make it easier on her.  But now that you mentioned it too, yes I'll be working on it!


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## Asphodel (Jul 19, 2009)

Got it today and I'm enjoying it so far.


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## lib2b (Apr 6, 2010)

MinaVE said:


> Yes I do, primarily because of a friend who has a Nook and I want to make it easier on her.  But now that you mentioned it too, yes I'll be working on it!


Great! I look forward to being able to read it.


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## MinaVE (Apr 20, 2010)

Asphodel said:


> Got it today and I'm enjoying it so far.


Squee! (For lack of a better word.) Thank you.

Curious to know how it plays for someone not from the Philippines. I read a lot of foreign fiction and think some things universally apply to my experience, but not sure if it'll be the other way around.


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## telracs (Jul 12, 2009)

I bought it too.  Have no clue when I'll get to it....


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## MinaVE (Apr 20, 2010)

lib2b said:


> Great! I look forward to being able to read it.


Fairy Tale Fail now on SmashWords! Surprisingly painless, but since I have none of those devices I'm a little concerned about formatting conversion. Thank you for mentioning this by the way.


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## lib2b (Apr 6, 2010)

Yay!  I'm off to buy it.  I'll let you know if I see any formatting weirdness on my Nook, although it may be a bit of time before I get a chance to read it.  It's end of the semester for me, so I have a TON of final papers and projects to write.  Sometimes I wonder what I was thinking deciding to go to graduate school.


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## MinaVE (Apr 20, 2010)

scarlet said:


> I bought it too. Have no clue when I'll get to it....


Thank you!



lib2b said:


> Yay! I'm off to buy it. I'll let you know if I see any formatting weirdness on my Nook, although it may be a bit of time before I get a chance to read it. It's end of the semester for me, so I have a TON of final papers and projects to write. Sometimes I wonder what I was thinking deciding to go to graduate school.


Thank you, and good luck with the projects. Grad school so gets in the way of reading!


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## Steph H (Oct 28, 2008)

Just another reminder to authors on how it is a good idea to have a book photo in your sig  ....Mina, I missed this initial thread but saw one of your posts in another thread and noticed your sig, thought the title and cover were cute (see, covers do still matter!) so I clicked on the Amazon link.  When I found the Amazon description still isn't live (I know it takes a few days), I looked up your past posts to see if you had a thread about it, and found this one.  And here I am! 

So now I've read your description, and I'm going back to Amazon to one-click, as it sounds like a fun book.  I'm also not sure when I'll get to it based on 'life' and my huge TBR 'pile', but have a feeling it may be sooner rather than later (I don't much care about reading them in the order I buy them, I just read them as I feel like it....heehee).

Welcome to Kindleboards, and good luck with the book!


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## D.M. Trink (Apr 8, 2010)

Hi Mina,
I will definitely sample it.!

Delyse


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## lib2b (Apr 6, 2010)

MinaVE said:


> Fairy Tale Fail now on SmashWords! Surprisingly painless, but since I have none of those devices I'm a little concerned about formatting conversion. Thank you for mentioning this by the way.


I haven't gotten very far into it (my last paper is due Saturday, so I think I'll get to read it this weekend), but in terms of formatting, it looks OK on my Nook. I'm not sure what you intended it to look like, but it has what I call "web-formatted" paragraphs - double spaces between paragraphs rather than indentations like you would see in print. There is not much margin around the outside edge, but that doesn't really bother me; some e-books I've read have _too much_ margin.

Also, I'm not sure if you'd be able to check with this, but Barnes & Noble has a Nook app for the PC or Mac...maybe you'd be able to simulate what it looks like on the app? I have no idea if what it looks like on the app is similar to what it looks like on the device, but maybe it would help you see if it looks the way you want? Not sure if Sony has something similar or not


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## Asphodel (Jul 19, 2009)

Hi Mina,

I finished Fairy Tale Fail Tuesday evening. It was a fun, fast read. I think a story like this is very relatable whether someone is from the Philippines or not. And now I know what a _barkada_ is. 

Will you be making your other book available in e-format?


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## lib2b (Apr 6, 2010)

Asphodel said:


> Will you be making your other book available in e-format?


After starting Fairy Tale Fail, I can already tell I want to read your other book too, so I was wondering if your other book is or will be available as an e-book as well.


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## MinaVE (Apr 20, 2010)

Steph H said:


> So now I've read your description, and I'm going back to Amazon to one-click, as it sounds like a fun book. I'm also not sure when I'll get to it based on 'life' and my huge TBR 'pile', but have a feeling it may be sooner rather than later (I don't much care about reading them in the order I buy them, I just read them as I feel like it....heehee).
> 
> Welcome to Kindleboards, and good luck with the book!


I do still judge books by their covers! (Sometimes!) Thanks for buying, and as someone with a massive TBR pile too, I'm honored to be part of yours. 



badtrink said:


> Hi Mina,
> I will definitely sample it.!
> 
> Delyse


Thank you!



lib2b said:


> I haven't gotten very far into it (my last paper is due Saturday, so I think I'll get to read it this weekend), but in terms of formatting, it looks OK on my Nook. I'm not sure what you intended it to look like, but it has what I call "web-formatted" paragraphs - double spaces between paragraphs rather than indentations like you would see in print. There is not much margin around the outside edge, but that doesn't really bother me; some e-books I've read have _too much_ margin.


Oh good, this sounds about right. The Palm version has issues with hyphens, which I tried to fix. (*shakes fist at AutoFormat*) I've downloaded the Nook app and will play around with it too.



Asphodel said:


> Hi Mina,
> 
> I finished Fairy Tale Fail Tuesday evening. It was a fun, fast read. I think a story like this is very relatable whether someone is from the Philippines or not. And now I know what a _barkada_ is.
> 
> Will you be making your other book available in e-format?


Thank you for this! Fun and fast were the goals. 

Response to Asphodel and lib2b: Made my morning that you asked about the first book, I do love it dearly. I have to ask about its ebook availability, decision may not be totally mine. But! There are a few print copies in TX and NY, in the possession of a friend and a family member. PM me if you feel like having one sent over.


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## MinaVE (Apr 20, 2010)

Adding here a link to a story posted on Good News Pilipinas about Fairy Tale Fail. It also gives some details about how the novel wound up as an ebook before print.

It mentions Filipino authors finding a global audience on the Kindle, but it works both ways -- suddenly I can access indie authors I probably would never have encountered (because shipping is just that expensive). My reading list has grown from all the sampling and buying I've done since I joined this forum! And that's just from the genres I regularly read...


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## LCEvans (Mar 29, 2009)

Hi, Mina. Fairy Tale Fail looks good and I sampled it. I like chick lit and I'm interested to see how the romance plays out in a setting foreign to me.


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## lib2b (Apr 6, 2010)

MinaVE said:


> Adding here a link to a story posted on Good News Pilipinas about Fairy Tale Fail. It also gives some details about how the novel wound up as an ebook before print.
> 
> It mentions Filipino authors finding a global audience on the Kindle, but it works both ways -- suddenly I can access indie authors I probably would never have encountered (because shipping is just that expensive). My reading list has grown from all the sampling and buying I've done since I joined this forum! And that's just from the genres I regularly read...


That is a great article! I personally live in a very diverse area with people from all over the world. I'm studying to be a school librarian, and the classroom I did field work in for one of my classes this past semester had 6 students in it, each from a different country (China, Japan, Sierra Leone, El Salvador, Iran, and Albania). I can definitely say, at least around where I live, there is an audience for literature from all over the world because we have people living here from all over the world. And as a future librarian, I am always interested in reading literature from other cultures to see the differences and the similarities. Plus, a good book is a good book, no matter where the author is from


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## MinaVE (Apr 20, 2010)

LCEvans said:


> Hi, Mina. Fairy Tale Fail looks good and I sampled it. I like chick lit and I'm interested to see how the romance plays out in a setting foreign to me.


Thank you! Looking forward to your comparison of cultures. 



lib2b said:


> That is a great article! I personally live in a very diverse area with people from all over the world. I'm studying to be a school librarian, and the classroom I did field work in for one of my classes this past semester had 6 students in it, each from a different country (China, Japan, Sierra Leone, El Salvador, Iran, and Albania). I can definitely say, at least around where I live, there is an audience for literature from all over the world because we have people living here from all over the world. And as a future librarian, I am always interested in reading literature from other cultures to see the differences and the similarities. Plus, a good book is a good book, no matter where the author is from


You said it!

Also, I've been loving what I've read of Iran, Afghanistan and India lately, but now I want something about the lighter side of their lives.


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## ReeseReed (Dec 5, 2009)

Sounds like something I'd enjoy.  I've sampled, thanks!


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## MinaVE (Apr 20, 2010)

Thank you for all the support, Kindleboards.  Every sale I get (that isn't immediately followed by a friend telling me they bought the book) I feel is from here.

Just wanted to share: Tina of One More Page's review of Fairy Tale Fail and my first novel, My Imaginary Ex: http://onemorepage.tinamats.com/exes-and-fairy-tales/


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## R. M. Reed (Nov 11, 2009)

Is all that fairy tale romance nonsense common in Asian cultures? I thought you guys were more sensible. Disney has a lot to answer for.


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## MinaVE (Apr 20, 2010)

Disney and Jane Austen. *nods*


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## Edward C. Patterson (Mar 28, 2009)

Today's featured author at the Indie Spotlight is

Sunday: Mina V. Esguerra - Fairy Tale Fail

http://www.theindiespotlight.com

Come up and read and leave a comment.

Edward C. Patterson
& Gregory B. Banks


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## MinaVE (Apr 20, 2010)

It looks so cool!

Thank you for the opportunity and all the best to the site -- and all of indie writerdom.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Hi Mina. . .it looks like we missed you with our usual Welcome and Congrats post. . .so here it is: a little late is better than not at all!

We invite you to use your book cover as your avatar and have links to your book and website in your signature. Be sure to read the fine print below. Don't forget to bookmark this thread so you can update it. Although self-promotion is limited to the Book Bazaar, most of our authors have found the best way to promote their books is to be as active throughout KindleBoards as time allows. This is your target audience--book lovers with Kindles!

Thanks for being part of KindleBoards! Feel free to PM us if you have any questions.

Betsy & Ann
Book Bazaar Moderators

_The fine print:
Please add to your existing book thread when you have news about your book rather than start a new one, it helps the members who are trying to follow you. You may have a separate thread for each of your books. We recommend you bookmark your post so that you can find it in the future.  You may respond to all posts, but if there have been no member posts, we ask that you wait a week before "bumping" the thread by posting back-to-back posts of your own. And we ask that Amazon reviews not be repeated here as they are easy to find at your book link. Also, full reviews from other sites should not be posted here, but you may post a short blurb and a link to the full review instead. All this, and more, is included in our Forum Decorum. From time to time our site rules may change; be sure to check Forum Decorum (http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,36.0.html) for the current guidelines and rules. _


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## MinaVE (Apr 20, 2010)

Thank you for the welcome wagon post! This community is so helpful.


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## Guest (Jun 9, 2010)

Having it set in the Philippines is an interesting choice. I bet a setting like that would put an interesting spin on a romance story. What is your relationship to the Philippines?

I'm actually living in Japan right now, and there are definitely fairy tales going on here. There's Disney Tokyo, of course, but then there's also a lot of traditional stories that are fascinating too. Some of them are related to Buddhism or Shinto, and many lead to interesting holidays like February 3rd when everyone throws beans out the window to expel any bad spirits.


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## MinaVE (Apr 20, 2010)

foreverjuly said:


> Having it set in the Philippines is an interesting choice. I bet a setting like that would put an interesting spin on a romance story. What is your relationship to the Philippines?


I'm Filipino and live in Metro Manila, but being chick lit there's not much fantasy to this.  Although, the references to fairy tales are actually "Western." Which is still a Filipino experience, as we grow up with Grimm and Disney as much as (or in some cases more than) we do our local myths and legends.



foreverjuly said:


> I'm actually living in Japan right now, and there are definitely fairy tales going on here. There's Disney Tokyo, of course, but then there's also a lot of traditional stories that are fascinating too. Some of them are related to Buddhism or Shinto, and many lead to interesting holidays like February 3rd when everyone throws beans out the window to expel any bad spirits.


Yes, Japan has fascinating holidays!

I think the oddest one from here (in the Philippines) that I've encountered is the Feast of St. John the Baptist. Not an official public holiday, but if you're out on the street someone celebrating it might throw water at you. Or so they say. I've seen it on the news but it hasn't happened to me.


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## VickiT (May 12, 2010)

Hi Mina,

I read _Fairy Tale Fail _ while I was on holiday and, though it's not normally the sort of book I'm drawn to, throughly enjoyed it:

_Restless Ellie is always looking for excitement and her own fairy tale. Not surprising then that her hobby is researching and planning travel/trips abroad.

I enjoyed this novella. It's not a "girly" romance but it is an easy read. While there were times I would've liked to have shaken Ellie, her blinkered outlook added to the characterisation. Set in Manila, the story also gives a glimpse into another culture. I learned a few Filipino terms like "barkada" and "kuya" that I hadn't come across before.

Recommended for anyone looking for a quick, entertaining read._

All the best,
Vicki


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## MinaVE (Apr 20, 2010)

I appreciate the review, Vicki! Hope the display was better for you.


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## MinaVE (Apr 20, 2010)

Just wanted to share the reviews that Fairy Tale Fail got recently:

Book Harbinger
Chachic's Book Nook
One More Page
Goodreads

My third novel was picked up by my Philippine publisher, Summit Books. I'm glad, but that also means that I don't get to add it to the Kindle Store... and I hope they get into Kindle books very soon.

Thanks for the support, Kindleboards!


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## VickiT (May 12, 2010)

Congratulations, Mina! That's fantastic news. 

What's the title of your third novel? Is it in a similar vein to Fairy Tale Fail?

Cheers
Vicki


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## MinaVE (Apr 20, 2010)

VickiT said:


> Congratulations, Mina! That's fantastic news.
> 
> What's the title of your third novel? Is it in a similar vein to Fairy Tale Fail?
> 
> ...


Thank you, Vicki! The title of the new one is "No Strings Attached" (as far as I know... it's different from my working title) and yeah it's in the same vein. (I kind of like this vein... will stick with it for a while, haha.)


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## MinaVE (Apr 20, 2010)

Book blogger Tina at One More Page included Fairy Tale Fail in her Favorite Reads and Favorite Couples for 2010.

My new novel No Strings Attached has been published by Summit Books in the Philippines, only as a DTB for now. I hope they explore the Kindle store soon! This being the future and all.


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## MinaVE (Apr 20, 2010)

Hi! If you bought Fairy Tale Fail at its original price $1.89, I'll be giving you my next novella *Love Your Frenemies* for free. It's coming out this month, and it's my way of thanking you for being an early adopter. 

Send me an email at [email protected] and tell me where you'd like the ebook sent, which format, and maybe a proof of purchase? I'll try to get it to you for your preferred device.


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## BarbaraSilkstone (Feb 18, 2010)

Hi Mina, 
Since I write fairy tale based comedy/mysteries for women I'm very interested in your book. I'll take a peek today.
Good luck.


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