India, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines. In 1976, an Australian office was established in Sydney to handle sales in the Asia-Pacific region. The success of the Australian operation in the 1970s was such that it was able to begin printing its own editions. In 1989, Mills & Boon product sampled over 700,000 of their novels to East German women who were newly liberated from the Soviet Union (see Fall of the Berlin Wall). This giveaway led to the novels' popularity in eastern Germany. Within four months of that product sampling event, Mills & Boon's books were sold on newsstands throughout the region; in 2 years they "gained market share in Poland, sold six-and-a-half million romance novels in Hungary, and achieved $10 million in sales in the Czech Republic." Footnote Their books are sold through a combination of subscription and retail sales. For example, in any given month they publish eight novels in their Modern line; six of those are available on the retail market, and all eight are available to buy directly from the company both on and offline. Mills & Boon encourage readers to subscribe to their favorite lines, whose books will then be delivered to their home. One distinctive feature of both Mills & Boon and Harlequin (in North America) is the length of time their books are available to buy. They publish a set number of books each month which are sent to subscribers and displayed on stands in book shops. At the end of the month, any unsold copies in the shops are withdrawn and pulped. Titles are available to buy direct from Mills & Boon for 3 months or until they are sold out, whichever is sooner. Again, any remaining books are disposed of. Fans looking for particular books after this time must find them second-hand. Mills & Boon has over 3 million regular readers in the UK annually. Romantic fiction constitutes the largest section of the adult paperback fiction market and Harlequin Mills & Boon publishes series fiction, promotional titles, gift packs and single titles under different brands and imprints: Mills & Boon, and Mira. As of 2008, 200 million Mills & Boon novels were sold globally per annum and, in the United Kingdom, one paperback was sold on average every 6.6 seconds. Mills & Boon accounted for nearly three-quarters of the British romantic fiction market in that year. Outside the