Saturday, September 19, 2015

6 Ways to Maximize Your Visit to the Manila International Book Fair (#MIBF2015)

The 36th Manila International Book Fair is here again! Do you have plans to visit the book fair? Book lovers like me usually look forward to this yearly event and mark our calendars so we don't miss it. There are many exciting things that happen every year at this fair: book launches, storyteling sessions, book signing, meet and greet with authors and illustrators, seminras and workshops and BIG discounts from publishers! 


Photo source here.


I love going to the bookstore. The prospect of finding good books to read make my heart beat faster. hahaha Thus, going to the MIBF where there is a sea of books makes me feel ecstatic. ;) 

So, with two days left of the book fair, how do you make the most of your trip to SMX? Let me share some ways based on my previous visits in the past years.

1. Get FREE tickets to the MIBF through the bookstores or publishers who will be exhibitors at the fair. You don't need to spend on tickets. Publishers and bookstores usually give away free tickets either at their branches or you can download from their websites. We got our free tickets this year from Fully Booked BGC. 

For example, you can print this ticket from OMF Lit and present it as your FREE pass.




Here are some links where you can download FREE tickets to MIBF 2015.

Adarna House
CSM Publishing
JesCom
St. Matthew's Publishing

2. Make a list. Make a list of topics where you plan to get new books. Then, check out what books (old and new) you'd like to get for these topics you have in mind. Or if you have book titles already that you are interested to buy, make a list of book titles.

3. Check out publishers for promos and events. Once you already have a list of topics or book titles, I suggest that you check out the websites or social media accounts of the publsihers of these books on your list. That way, you would know if they have promos like discounts or book bundles for the books that you like. You might also find interesting activities related to the books in your list like book launch or book signing, meet and greet with the author or free pass to special events by the publisher for those who will buy copies of their books.

Here's an activity by Scholastic for the Geronimo Stilton series.


Check out my post about Geronimo here.

Here are some examples of promos you might want to avail of.

Source: OMF Lit's Facebook Page.





Here are some book launches you might find interesting.




The official book launch of this book by one of my brothers from CYA
will be on Sunday. Grab a copy if you are a leader! Launch price is P325!


This is the first book of my friend Jomar Hilario.
It will be launched on Sunday together with other new titles
from Shepherd's Voice Publications. Take advantage of its P250 launch price!


4. Get the exact location of the publishers whose booths you want to visit. Get their booth number as well as their location. You can find this at their websites or social media posts also or at teh entrance of SMX where this is usually posted. This helps you plan your route around the book fair. Believe me, if you haven't been to the past MIBFs, you can easily get lost and overwhelmed and forget where you want to go or what you really want to buy. This brings me to my next suggestion.

5. Set your budget. After considering the promos, you need to edit your list of books that you want to buy based on how much you are willing to spend for your visit. It might be difficult to stick to your budget once you are already at the book fair (especially if you are a bookworm like me) but having a budget would at least caution you or remind you not to buy too many books or all the nice books that you will see. What you can do is make a list or mental note of the nice books you'll see and plan when to buy them. Make them part of your next shopping list or wish list for Christmas for example. You can also ask the publishers or sellers if they will have future sales and promos in their stores or branches. This will give you an opportunity to save up for these future promos.  


You can get this discount couplon when you post a photo
of yourself at OMF Lit's booth. 

6. Enjoy the experience of going around the book fair. The place might be crowded especially during weekends but you can still enjoy going around the venue by taking your time to browse through aisles and aisles of books and other educational materials that you will see at the MIBF. 

11 comments:

  1. I also love going to the bookstore. And I consider books as our gateway to the places we havent seen and visited. Books help us with our discoveries. Books help us learn new words. This coming Sept 16, i will ask my mom if she could help me with the boys. I would want to buy a few titles:) thanks for this.

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  2. And I completely agree with the last key point, enjoy lang. You are correct in saying people should set budgets. I am assuming na once there, there are going to be a lot of pubishers offering promos and that results in people spending more than they should have. I suspect too, by creating a list of books to buy, there is less chance of going home with books that would remain unopened.

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  3. I am really not into books but I have friends who are. I will share these tips to them. This will allow them to save more time and money in their hunt!

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  4. Awww... I super miss book fairs! I am a literature buff, and enjoy bargains on books and literary materials. When I moved to Europe, 70% of my luggage was books and art stuff. :D My mom actually sold my clothes, but she saved my books because she "knows how much they mean to you". It's a must that people, specially the youngsters, are still encouraged and motivated to read actualy books. There have been debates on closing down libraries, or turning them to biblical museums, due to lack of users. I hope that won't never happen, in spite of the growing digital age!

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  5. i used to love going to book fairs, in my home town, Bucharest. I loved meeting the authors and get autographs. That's where I met my favorite author a few times and I almost melted and barely mumbled my name when I handed him the book for a dedication. I have a unique name, so you can imagine my total amazement when I've read my name in his next book!

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  6. I badly want to go here because I want to know the authors who write children's book. I love to write one in the future and exposing myself to their work and other books would be a great help and besides I love reading books as well :)

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  7. I love the info graphics in your blog post, I haven't been to a book fair since primary school, however I love reading and it seems you can get great discounts and promo offers by attending a book fair, something for me to consider!

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  8. Wow! Andaming events! I have a shy shelly book 1 & 2. Gusto ko rin ung mga pambatang books. huhu. I want my son to be a book lover. Pero I'll be honest, I myself, am not. Minsan lang pag sinusumpong and naisip magbasa. I'm not like those who take books as their daily bread! I'm sure book lovers will love this!

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  9. The first point is really important. It's the key in the event anyway. Haha. I tend to get overwhelmed with lots of activities spontaneously going so you are right to make a list beforehand on my priorities. At the same time, the budget is also take into consideration. thank you for these tips. :)

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  10. I love those kind of place where you go into aisles looking at hundreds and hundreds of books of every genre. I had a book festival each year in a small town back in France, but it was taking the whole center and we could just find absolutely everything from old to new, from history to kids and dictionary and fiction. Absolutely everything and everyone, passionate or curious would just go around with every day some authors for autographs in the main building. I loved it so much, even got autographs from my favorite french author on all of his books Haha

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  11. book fairs are the best! my kids love going to them and can spend a long time there! the problem is wanting so many books : ) love your tips, I'll have to keep them in mind for the next fair I attend.

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