The Tenth Annual Great Bargain Book Sale ends Tuesday, March 29. Year after year the event gives book-lovers and new-comers an opportunity to explore thousands of titles and possibly find an exclusive first edition or unedited volumes.
Over the course of the eight day event, the book sale offered exhibitions for every literary, artistic and research genre and covered 2,300 square meters.
The event honors important literary figures Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare in the 400 year anniversary of their deaths. Elena Garro, Gonzalo Rojas, Rubén Darío and Umberto Eco are also remembered during the literary extravaganza.
In addition to offering thousands of titles, the sale has many activities for all ages such as narrations, readings, story tellings, poetry readings, discussions by writers and poets, tributes and areas for attendees to relax and read.
The journey a book takes to arrive at the bargain sale depends on each publishing house. Books from independent publishing companies can survive on the market for longer and it isn’t uncommon to find them in their first editions. Books from big international publishing houses, on the other hand, tend to sell out within six months of being released onto the market and it is common that they go through four or five editions.
The Great Bargain Book Sale represents the last chance for many of these editions to sell. The books that are not sold at the sale price are destroyed to make more room for new books and the paper pulp is recycled and made into different works of literature.
This makes the event into an adventure for anyone searching for a rare edition that is normally difficult to find. Many publishing houses offer editions that are no longer in print giving the shopper the opportunity to take home a much-searched-for treasure.
Book-lovers also have the opportunity to meet face-to-face with some of the creators of their favorite works of literature. The writers participating in the 2016 event include: Benito Taibo, F.G. Haghenbeck, Alberto Chimal, José Gordon, Ángeles González Gamio, Luis Felipe Fabre, Brenda Lozano, Alejandro Rosas, Sandra Molina, Karen Chacek, Guillermo Osorno and Alejando Almazán.
Independent publishing companies have considerably increased their presence at the event with publishing houses like Almadía and Resistencia. The independent publishing boom in Mexico brings the work of young Mexican writers closer to potential readers.
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