Big Bad Wolf is back!

To all book lovers in the country, the most awaited and highly anticipated Big Bad Wolf Book Sale Colombo 2019 is back in Sri Lanka for the third 

consecutive year to revive the reading habits of eagerly anticipating Wolfies. Now an annual expectation, the inaugural sale event took place in October 2017 while the consequent Book Sale ensued in June last year. This year’s sale premieres today and opens to the public tomorrow.

Eminent for its unique concept and sale, The Big Bad Wolf Book Sale is celebrated as the world’s biggest book sale. This year, the sale is definitely prepared to satisfy the reading appetites of all avid readers looking forward to shop to their hearts’ content with numerous new titles.Behind this passionate initiative of ensuring the book sale’s return for the third time is the Big Bad Wolf Books Founder Jacqueline Ng and Andrew Yap, Big Bad Wolf Books Sri Lanka Partner Dipak Madhavan and ProRead Lanka Ltd. Director Nishan Wasalathanthri. 

Following are excerpts of an interview with the quad: 

Q:  The Big Bad Wolf Book Sale has become a much anticipated and massive international phenomenon. Could you tell us the story behind the Big Bad Wolf Book Sale and the significance of its name?

Jacqueline Ng: The very first Big Bad Wolf Book Sale was launched in Malaysia in 2009, and crowds have been engaging with the Sale enthusiastically ever since. This eventually led to a growing popularity for our large-scale events across Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. Consequent to its unparalleled success, the Big Bad Wolf Book Sale was recognised as the world’s biggest book sale in 2011. 

However, when we wanted to introduce the Big Bad Wolf Book Sale, we had a limited marketing budget to work with and also to buy a small ad space in one of Malaysia’s leading newspapers. So, my husband, Andrew Yap mentioned that we must come up with something catchy enough that will capture reader’s attention. After deliberating over a few names, we decided that we’ll call it the Big Bad Wolf Book Sale as it wasn’t just a character in a book but also because many people would be able to remember it – top of mind recall, considering it being a part of most reader’s childhood.

To us, the Big Bad Wolf Book Sale’s mission stands clear and that is to build a new generation of readers by providing the access to affordable brand-new English books. To date, the sale has expanded to 10 countries in total; Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Taiwan, UAE, South Korea, Pakistan, Myanmar along with Malaysia and Sri Lanka and now holds exciting Book Sales spread across 26 cities in all these countries.

Q: What is the concept behind the Big Bad Wolf Book Sale and what do you hope to ultimately achieve through this amazing venture for book lovers in Sri Lanka? 

Nishan Wasalathanthri: We believe that knowledge must never be felt as an entitlement that needs to be chased and instead must be made equally available to everyone. Having already established that there is a heartfelt need for access to brand-new and affordable books from diverse genres and creations for everyone who not only love books, we also want to encourage people to read more, educate themselves and improve their English knowledge. 

So, we have translated this as our vision along with the team behind the Big Bad Wolf Book Sale to bring this change to the world, step by step, through books. Since this concept was introduced to Sri Lanka in 2017, it has capably penetrated the market and proved to be a resounding success. The Big Bad Wolf Book Sale is now an event that is being marked on everyone’s calendars and is much anticipated by fans all across the country. 

Q: Did you face any challenges when preparing to bring down the event to Sri Lanka this time round?

Andrew Yap: Our passion has allowed us to revisit Sri Lanka for the third time and in our pursuit to continuously make books accessible and affordable to people, we often face challenges. Coming to Sri Lanka is inevitably a challenge, to be able to sustain and also ensure prices of books this year remain affordable to compensate against the increasing dollar we had to tweak our operating hours this time around. Instead of having a 24-hours non-stop Sale throughout the 11 days, the Big Bad Wolf Book Sale Colombo 2019 will open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and operate 24-hours non-stop over the weekends. Starting from 10 a.m. on Friday and ending at 10 p.m. on Sunday offering brand-new English books at 50% to 90% off recommended retail price.

Q: What makes the Big Bad Wolf Book Sale unique, widely loved and extraordinarily successful across the region?

Nishan Wasalathanthri: There are several aspects about the Big Bad Wolf Book Sale that makes it unique, definitely the biggest of its kind to take place in Sri Lanka. Distinct for its affordable prices and quality, abundance of genres and range in creativity contributes immensely to its popularity globally. Unlike any other sale, the Big Bad Wolf Book Sale fulfils every bookworm’s dream offering a hassle-free and tranquil book shopping experience with over 1.5 million books and numerous new titles. 

For the first time ever, you can also buy books on an easy payment instalment plan, offered via our Official Bank Partner, Sampath Bank. Through this, we hope that more people will be able to purchase their favourite books without any burden. Additionally, this year again the Ministry of Education has widely supported and endorsed the Big Bad Wolf Book Sale.

Dipak Madhavan: Another aspect of this sale would be the recruitment of students from tertiary education levels to be part of the Book Sale making it a seasonal involvement for undergraduates every year. Our recruitment team carefully processes each application and have the applicant’s academic qualifications and previous work experience information substantiated. They will later be shortlisted based on a number of criterion and undergo an extensive recruitment process before they ultimately become a part of this event. 

Students from universities and undergraduates require the right level of skills and work experience as well as the confidence to allow them to swiftly make their way in this fast-paced world and we believe that the Big Bad Wolf Book Sale equips them with the right foundation. If they have the right attitude and the eagerness to learn from new experiences and given the challenging nature of an event of this calibre, they would no doubt gain a first-hand exposure and understanding of a foreign entity whilst being in their own country. They get to identify their potential, challenge themselves, learn from the tasks assigned to them and inhabit teamwork spirit working with each other. 

Q: The Big Bad Wolf Book Sale last year conducted a CSR program alongside the Sale. Could you share with us if there are any CSR plans this year?

Jacqueline Ng: We believe that everybody, regardless of status, has the right to learn. While we see the purpose of the Sale itself as a social responsibility, we also believe in giving back to the community through our CSR arm, Red Readerhood (RRH). This time around, we are collaborating with the Centre of Hope, a charity organisation that operates a care home and educational centre at four main districts such as Ampara, Batticaloa, Colombo and Mullaitivu. The Big Bad Wolf Book Sale would be kick-starting this initiative by pledging 500 books to start this collection and visitors can purchase and donate books towards this worthy cause during the 11 days Sale at the designated area.

In 2017 and 2018, Red Readerhood successfully collected and gifted over 10,000 schoolbooks and educational material to Grade 5 top scholarship scorers and underprivileged Grade 11 students. Other entities such as Promowatch, Nations Trust Bank and DSI were also part of this noble initiative and were instrumental in contributing to donations as well. 

Q: What highlights are particularly in demand in Sri Lanka market and what is new this year?

Andrew Yap: There will be more than 1.5 million books at the Sale ranging from crime thriller, romance, sci-fi, young adults, self-help, business, cookbooks, and more. There’s definitely a book for everyone. We understand that it is important to develop the habit of reading since young and hence, we will have a large assortment of children’s books ranging from activity books, story books, colouring books and more. 

Additionally, this year we will also have a series of Magical Books that will amaze not only the children but also parents. These unique Magical Books or also known as the Augmented Reality (AR) Books for children at the Sale. A preschool learning series and bedtime stories that uses cutting-edge technology that revolutionizes reading for the next generation, allowing children to sing, learn and read. It Suitable for children from one to five years old, Magical Books create an immersive and interactive reading experience which is also a way of getting your children to be more excited to pick up a book. With the Magical Books, parents can make use of both physical books and technology to help instil the love of learning and the habit of reading among the young ones

Q: What advice/tips would you give to those eagerly anticipating the Sale?

Dipak Madhavan: There will be a lot of walking, roaming and browsing through the books on display so do dress comfortably and wear comfortable shoes such as sneakers or flip-flops. Bring your own bag and the ultimate bucket list for your book howls. Beat the traffic by visiting during non-peak hours to shop freely and always return an unwanted book back to its place. This year we have an improved array of food and beverages options with vendors such as Pizza Hut, CBL Kottu, Akbar Tea, Elephant House and Norfolk Foods to name a few outside the hall so make sure your tummy is full before you start your book buying binge. 

Visitors and book lovers who look forward to the Big Bad Wolf Book Sale can get a glimpse of the list of books they can expect to see at the Sale this year by visiting our Facebook page through the linkwww.facebook.com/bbwbookssrilanka and our new Instagram page through the link www.instagram.com/bigbadwolfbooks_lk/.