The project began as a digital database of book reviews related to the Asia-Pacific, and aimed to gather early career scholars with similar interests in finding cross-regional connections. (See, jajabarriga.com) The project achieved that goal to a certain extent, with a total of 15 reviews by 5 early career scholars based in the Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, and the US. Two of the reviews were picked up by the editor of Asian Studies, a journal of the Asian Center, University of the Philippines Diliman. Equally important as the output was the project’s impact to the writers. Of the five invited writers, three are PhD students, one is an MA student, and one is an MA graduate seeking to pursue PhD. The four students found the experience of writing book reviews and receiving feedback on their drafts useful in writing their theses’ literature reviews. Meanwhile, the MA graduate applying for a PhD position published her review in an academic journal, thus adding to her credentials. The project later evolved into a book proposal writing workshop, with invited editors of university presses. A closed, intimate event, the workshop gathered recent PhD graduates, and currently continues as an informal writing and research group.