‘Don’t support book hoarders’

Indie publisher Avenida Books has a short but stark warning post-MBIF.

Indie publisher Avenida Books has a short but stark warning following this year’s Manila International Book Fair.

“New stocks are coming,” it said in a Facebook post on Saturday, Sept. 19. “Don’t support book hoarders.”

During MIBF, which ran from Sept. 9 to 13, several reports surfaced about suspected book hoarders allegedly buying boxes of books with the intention of reselling them at higher prices.

Some anecdotes claimed that certain titles were later sold for as much as three times their original prices.

Others, however, defended some of those suspected of hoarding, suggesting they may have simply been offering “pasabuy” services for fellow readers.

The concerns have prompted some publishers and booksellers to impose purchasing limits.

National Book Store, for instance, limited sales of the highly anticipated English translation of Yang Shuang-zi’s “Taiwan Travelogue” to one copy per customer per day.

Anvil Publishing, meanwhile, imposed a limit of five copies per title per person per day. Limited releases exclusive to Sept. 12 and 13 were capped at one copy per person per day.

Avenida Books was founded in 2019 by Nida Ramirez, the longtime publishing manager of the now-defunct Visprint, home to the iconic Bob Ong books.

The publisher is behind newer editions of several contemporary Filipino literary hits, including anniversary editions of Bob Ong books, National Artist Ricky Lee’s “Para Kay B,” Carlo Vergara’s “Ang Kagila-gilalas na Pakikipagsapalaran ni Zsazsa Zaturnnah,” Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo’s “Trese” series, and Ronaldo Vivo Jr.’s “Dreamland” trilogy and crime novels.

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