The Great Filipino Novel

Filipino writer Vanni de Sequera is the editor of the acclaimed Story Philippines, an all-fiction magazine, and has just been appointed editor of Maxim Philippines, too. Here's how he plans to use his diverse magazine experience: "...to write the Great Filipino Novel. In English. Because I have no plot ideas to speak of, and because I am what may euphemistically be called a ‘mood’ writer, the novel will be about a mildly gifted but notoriously procrastinating writer who goes through numerous plots in his attempt to publish the definitive Pinoy novel, only to find out there is no such thing. So he remains the editor in chief of the biggest-selling men’s magazine in the world until he retires at the age of 80, whereupon he is enshrined in the Publishing Hall of Fame. It will be an event attended by a visibly wrinkled Jessica Alba.”

As an aside, here's an interesting tidbit on the ads in Story Philippines: " 'All advertisements in Story Philippines come in the form of very short, short stories,' De Sequera explains. 'Advertisers, I think, will really pay attention when readers of a magazine start to talk about the ads just as much as the content. Because in Story Philippines, readers really read the ads.' "