Big Bad Wolf, dubbed as the world’s largest book sale, is coming back to Myanmar and this time it will be selling one million English-language books with a huge discount at Fortune Plaza from 10 to 20 January.
Born and raised in Malaysia, the Wolf is a brainchild of booksellers Andrew Yap and Jacqueline Ng. In Myanmar, the couple joined forces with U Myo Aung, the director of Ready 2 Read (Myanmar), and introduced the Wolf last January.
“This is the third sale in Myanmar. Last year, we held the first one in Yangon and the second in Mandalay,” said U Myo Aung, who has over 40 years of experience in publishing, at the press on Tuesday.
One million books with 15,000 titles will be discounted from 50 to 90 per cent of the original prices. The copies are mainly sourced from publishing houses in the UK and the US.
Ng explained their pricing strategy: “We have to think a price that can entice people to buy not for themselves but as a gift for their friends. Bestselling books tend to be published in large quantities. So, there are many high-quality books remain. We don’t have some latest titles. Still, there are 15,000 titles to choose from.”
Ten local publishers would also participate in the 2020 sale, Ng added.
U Myo Aung (left) and Jacqueline Ng (right) at the press.The last two sales in Myanmar are a hit. The organisation’s figures show over 250,000 people visited the two events held for 11 days each. According to U Myo Aung, 40 per cent of the books sold were non-fiction, 35 per cent children’s books and 20 per cent novels.
“I noticed younger people bought novels more,” U Myo Aung recalled.
The very first sale commenced in Malaysia in 2009. The Wolf has so far visited Indonesia, Thailand, South Korea, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and the United Arab Emirates, besides Myanmar.
Through its CSR wing, Red Readerhood, the organisation will continue its collaboration with a local library promotor, Save the Library, to donate books to libraries throughout the country. A total of 6,512 books were collected from the previous sales. The Wolf this year has pledged 500 books to the cause and customers are also encouraged to purchase books at the sale and donate them at the Red Readerhood booth located right after the cashier counters.
There will also be programmes anyone can participate to win tickets for the VIP sale on 9 January. Follow its Facebook @bbwbooksmm and Instagram bigbadwolfbooks_mm to get the first picks!
Address: Myanmar Expo Hall, Fortune Plaza, Thaketa Township, Yangon
Date: 10 – 20 January 2020
Hours: 9 am – 12 pm
