Years ago, I was working in an outsourcing office when the Kidapawan protests made the news. Embittered by the incident and its inevitability — no one wished for such brutality, yet in the history of Philippine government’s treatment of farmers and their trade, it feels inevitable — I felt like I had to comment on it. So I drafted my essay and sent it for publication in the decades-long column of the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) reserved for essays of Filipinos under 30, Youngblood. A week or so, it got published. I then went on to get 4 other pieces published on it, one of which was included in the most recent Youngblood anthology.
To see your article in the Youngblood column is a badge of honor and pride for many Filipino writers; it feels like a validation that you have the ideas and the skills to get your voice heard before a national audience. I looked up to it when I heard of it for the first time when I bought my first Youngblood anthology in my high school days. My Mathematics teacher looked up to it as well as he haggled the same book off of me in class. That reach, that platform feels lofty when you are writing from the province not knowing who to talk to when talking about writing and stories and books.
But I tell you, it is possible. It is possible for you to be published in Youngblood. So I’m here to write about the process I took so that it may also help others.
So how do you get published in Youngblood?
The 2010 advice from this blog post from NewsAsymptotes still stands. In brief, if you are a Filipino writer under 30 years old, you may be published in the Youngblood column by submitting an 800–1000 word long essay to youngblood@inquirer.com.ph. Or less than 50000 characters as mentioned by the blogpost. The word count isn’t strict (you can exceed a thousand words) but it is the reasonable length to aim for.
The essay must be pasted in the email body, not attached as a document.
The submission should also state your name and your age. Specifying your affiliation (school, organization, or company) is recommended but not required. You may even be published under a pseudonym if you specify one; some Youngblood articles have been published under one.
Here is how I structure my email submission:
To: youngblood@inquirer.com.ph
Subject: Contribution to Youngblood
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Title: How to Get Published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer's Youngblood
Name: Ace Z. Alba
Age: 27
Word Count: 809 (excluding title)
Author Blurb: Ace Z. Alba, 24, writes for a living*** Beginning of Essay ***Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Vivamus et finibus diam. In in ullamcorper justo. Fusce scelerisque porta nisi ut tincidunt. Aenean ultricies venenatis nisi, eget bibendum neque placerat sit amet. Nulla vitae sapien ut est tempus tempus. Integer ultrices ac libero id pretium. Mauris dignissim ipsum sit amet tempus iaculis. Phasellus non tellus sodales, sodales quam id, mollis mauris. Vivamus diam dui, laoreet in massa quis, auctor ornare elit. Aenean tristique nulla nec turpis interdum, vitae condimentum turpis aliquam.*** End of Essay ***
As you see in the template above, the author blurb stands for how you want you to be presented and attributed upon publication. This is placed after the body of the Youngblood article. This is why affiliation is asked by the newspaper: as information for your blurb. Generally this would be structured as “John Doe, 20, is the editor-in-chief of the School newspaper” or “Jane Doe, 25, works as a government clerk.”
But again, stating your affiliation is recommended but not required, especially if you provide your author blurb yourself. A rule of thumb is to make it short and simple: a one-sentence liner stating who you are and what you do is sufficient.
The word count is optional. But given the limited space set aside for the Youngblood column, including the word count is still useful information.
So there. Write your essay, submit it, and wait for it to be published in the Youngblood column. Inquirer does not notify its writers when your article will be published. They also do not notify you if you’ve been rejected. For me, I usually assume that I’m rejected until proven otherwise.
From experience, a submission that’s been accepted for publication will likely be published within a month of its receipt, but there have been instances that submissions will be published way months after. I’ve had that happen with another submission of mine, The Privilege of Owning a Book, which I submitted by December the year before.
Does PDI pay its Youngblood writers?
Yes. And I have claimed payment for my articles. Yet in the same way that Inquirer does not notify you of whether your submission is accepted or rejected, they also do not notify you of whether the payment for your published article is ready.
To claim payment for your article, it is advisable that you call Inquirer first telling them that you intend to claim payment for your contribution. Yes, call them on their telephone number as specified in their Contact Us page. I again emphasize the telephone number because mobile carriers do charge extra for calling telephone numbers, so you need to be prepared for that. You would then be forwarded to their Accounting office where you must disclose your name and your article that they published. They would then specify the date when you can claim your check. This is usually the 25th of every month, unless otherwise specified.
By default, any article published by Inquirer would be ready for payment by the 25th of the month after its publication. The payment is issued as a manager’s check claimed in person in their office. Calling them beforehand is recommended if not necessary, as claiming payment published articles older than 3 months, if I remember correctly, will require the office to request and prepare an updated manager’s check. Calling them would prevent the hassle of visiting twice for claiming payment that is not readily available, especially for old contributions.
So once you have confirmed the date when your payment is available, visit them in person at Chino Roces Avenue corner Yague and Mascardo Streets, Makati City. I would recommend taking a taxi or Grab as it’s tough to find transportation around the area if you are not familiar with the place. Prepare two valid ID’s: one to leave at the lobby in exchange for a visitor’s pass, and another to present to the Accounting Office for claiming the check.
Incredibly inconvenient, isn’t it? Well the newspaper is in circulation for decades already. They wouldn’t be bugged to adjust especially if it would encumber them. This also appears to be their standard procedure. But hey, contrary to popular opinion, they do pay their contributors; you just have to take your own initiative in claiming it. It’s up to you if it’s worth the inconvenience. Personally, the privilege of being published in the column is already an honor in on itself; the check is just a bonus.
What should I write to be published in Youngblood?
Anything under the sun. Really.
But a more appropriate way to describe it is “any subject that speaks to you as a Filipino under 30 years old”. A strong emphasis on “any subject,” because the Youngblood column has published a large variety of essays under so many topics, you cannot really pin it down. Either its suited to the times, it pins down the spirit of the ‘personal essay,’ or it’s just well written. But if you want to be more informed on what kinds of subjects the column likes to publish, it would definitely help getting a copy of a Youngblood anthology.
On occasion, the Philippine Daily Inquirer compiles its best and most iconic essays in a paperback volume. The National Bookstore sells these anthologies when available. The essays included are a great way to spend siesta being nostalgic about the zeitgeist of yesteryears alongside a cup of hot coffee. I can’t help but miss my copies already, back when I had them. So the next time you pass by a National Book Store, I’d hope get a copy yourself.
And I’m looking forward to seeing you be published as well. Good luck.
