K-Book Trends -

Search word : "Korea", Search result : 1,229

[TREND / KNOWLEDGE]

Korean Publishers’ Efforts to Meet New Readers

Knowledge Korean Publishers’ Efforts to Meet New Readers 2024.08.05 Publishers have been putting the utmost effort into connecting readers, works, and authors. One of the examples was booktalks, where readers meet the author. Booktalks helped publishers expand the horizon of readers’ engagement with works and maintain fanship, but it was not easy to secure new readers. As a large number of booktalks turned contactless after the outbreak of COVID-19, the small influx of new readers fell even more.Meanwhile, as the marketing trend in Korea moved onto pop-up stores, many Generation Z started to take shots, do opening rushes, and leave reviews. This trend has made it a must-do event for companies when launching new products (brands). There were even reviewers who left comments on pop-up stores open in Seongsu-dong (the region in Seoul settled as a hot place among Generation Z as it became the hub of pop-up stores). Where both present and future readers...

VOL.73 / 2024.08

[TREND / TOPIC]

What the “Steady Seller Phenomenon” Means for the Book Market

Topic What the “Steady Seller Phenomenon” Means for the Book Market On books that have reached their 100th print 2024.07.01 The implication of books that hit the 100th print Kim Dong-Sik’s The Grey Man (Yoda Books) recently celebrated its 100th printing in the Korean book market. While the writer’s dramatic leap from a foundry worker to a best-selling writer has been spotlighted, what is perhaps most important is the internal narrative of the short stories contained within. This collection of 24 short stories was selected from the hundreds of short stories he posted to the horror forum of an online community, “Today’s Humor.” It is indeed a kaleidoscope of life’s short stories, sometimes hilarious, sometimes heartbreaking. Readers have responded so enthusiastically to the short story collection, which went into its 100th printing in 2017 - 7 years after it was first published, and there are many factors behind this. The factor include the dra...

VOL.72 / 2024.07

[INFORMATION / NEW BOOKS]

What If You Encountered Your Own Clone One Day?

New Books What If You Encountered Your Own Clone One Day? 2026.05 Can Hate Be Replicated?, Yoon, Hye-seong, 2026. Yoon, Hye-seong’s debut novel, Can Hate Be Replicated?, has been released as part of the "Short Series" by Safe House (Anjeongaok), a publisher specializing in genre fiction. Safe House is a production studio that creates and distributes stories for "fandoms" of genres such as SF, fantasy, mystery, horror, and romance. Author Yoon previously co-wrote the script for the K-drama 〈The Dream Life of Mr. Kim〉. While that drama offered a realistic and satirical portrayal of the lives of Korean office workers, Can Hate Be Replicated? explores a deeply human story of alienation, conflict, and the eventual downfall of a couple facing extreme suffering. The novel is categorized as a "Gyeong-jangpyeon," a format that can be described as a novella—a medi...

VOL.94 / 2026.05

[INFORMATION / BEST SELLERS]

April Blooms: Bestsellers of the Month

Best Sellers April Blooms:Bestsellers of the Month 2026.05 Major franchises dominate the majority of South Korea's offline bookstore market. Currently, four major franchises—Kyobo Book Centre, Youngpoong Bookstore, Jongno Books, and Arc N Book—are competing in the offline retail sector. Starting with Kyobo Book Centre, which has the largest number of branches, followed by Youngpoong Bookstore, Jongno Books, and Arc N Book, we will examine the top 10 best-selling books. In our previous issue, we examined the bestsellers at Kyobo Book Centre. For our May edition—the third installment of our offline bookstore analysis—we focus on the bestseller list from Jongno Books for the first week of April. Taking the top spot at Jongno Books this week is Project Hail Mary, published by RHK (RH Korea). This surge in popularity is directly linked to the cinematic release of the film adaptat...

VOL.94 / 2026.05

[INFORMATION / K-BOOK MAP]

A Literary Journey to Andong with Children for Korea’s “Family Month”

K-Book Map A Literary Journey to Andongwith Children for Korea’s “Family Month” 2026.05 Andong, a city where the noble "Yangban" spirit remains very much alive, is also home to a dedicated literary museum for children. In this edition of K-Book Map, we invite you to Andong, a destination where families can immerse themselves in both traditional Korean culture and children’s literature this “Family Month”. For those seeking a getaway that harmonizes Korea’s timeless traditions with contemporary cultural experiences, we highly recommend this journey that promises satisfaction for all generations. Kwon Jung Saeng Children's Literature Museum Your journey should begin at Kwon Jung Saeng Children’s L...

VOL.94 / 2026.05

[INFORMATION / AGENCY LIST]

Agency List

Agency List Agency List 2026.05 Abba Communication Ltd. Launched as a translation and interpretation agency in 204, Abba Communication (Abba here after) now also acts as a copyright agency. Abba supports young Korean publishers who are aspiring to build experiences in moving on to the international market, providing consultation on the way until they become global. Abba’s special forte is its excellent professional team with expertise in re-writing and/or editing synopses and introductions into texts both competitive and persuasive. Other services Abba provides include translating original materials and creating promotional texts. Focused Subjects LiberalArts : Biography, Management, Negotiation ...

VOL.94 / 2026.05

[TREND / SPECIAL PROJECT]

Want to Know More About Korean Architecture?

Special Project [English Books in Korea ②] Want to Know More About Korean Architecture? 2024.07.01 I start this article with the confession that writing an introduction to English books on Korean architecture is perhaps even more challenging than writing an English book on Korean architecture itself, primarily because the absolute number of such books is so small. Considering the fact that the Korean architecture market is not small at all, that many of the world’s leading architects have left their legacies in Korea, and that Korea has consistently participated in international architectural events such as the Venice Biennale, this is somewhat surprising. This is even more true when we consider that there are a significant number of people in the Korean architectural community who have had first-hand experience in other countries through studying or working abroad and are familiar with foreign languages. For a country that exports so many th...

VOL.72 / 2024.07

[TREND / EXPORT CASE]

Top 10 World Bestseller of Picture Books: Publisher BookGoodCome

Export Case Top 10 World Bestseller of Picture Books:Publisher BookGoodCome 2024.07.01 BookGoodCome is a publishing house established in 2009 by a couple ? writer Lee Rury and translator Lee Soon-Young. It enters its 15th year on July 4 this year. For the past 15 years, the publishing house has published about 330 titles, and 150 of them are creative books it planned. BookGoodCome has been participating in a number of international book fairs every year since 2011, and has signed approximately 100 export contracts up to date. So, let’s take a look at world bestsellers published by BookGoodCome! * K-Book Trends Vol. 10 ? Go to the interview with BookGoodCome BookGoodCome’s booth at the Frankfurt Book Fair No. 1 is the Coda the Polar Bear series. Its first volume is Coda the Polar Bear: The First Story, Black Noses, written by Lee Rury and illustrated by Bae Woory. It was exported to 3 countries, incl...

VOL.72 / 2024.07

[INFORMATION / NEW BOOKS]

How close are we, and how far apart?

New Books How close are we, and how far apart? 2026.04 Kim Yeon-su, Hirano Keiichiro, Nearby World (2026) Nearby World, a collaborative project planned and written by Kim Yeon-su and Hirano Keiichiro, prominent novelists representing Korea and Japan, has been published. Nearby World is the first installment of the Cross series, in which two authors living in different languages and cultures select a theme, in this case, ethical dilemmas, and each complete a work to be bound into a single volume. Author Kim Yeon-su explains that the term ethical is not a binary distinction between right and wrong, but rather an attitude of contemplating each person's own truth and sense of rightness within events where the desires of countless humans are intertwined. The volume includes Kim Yeon-su's Our Failure followed by Hirano Keiichiro's The Decisive Moment, concluding w...

VOL.93 / 2026.04

[INFORMATION / BEST SELLERS]

Spring 2026 Bestseller List

Best Sellers Spring 2026 Bestseller List 2026.04 Major franchises dominate the majority of South Korea's offline bookstore market. Currently, four major franchises—Kyobo Book Centre, Youngpoong Bookstore, Jongno Books, and Arc N Book—are competing in the offline retail sector. Starting with Kyobo Book Centre, which has the largest number of branches, followed by Youngpoong Bookstore, Jongno Books, and Arc N Book, we will examine the top 10 best-selling books. In the previous issue, we examined the bestsellers of Kyobo Book Centre, Korea's largest bookstore franchise. For this April issue, as the second part of our offline bookstore bestseller analysis, we looked at the bestsellers of Youngpoong Bookstore for the first week of March. The top-ranked book at Youngpoong Bookstore during this period was the picture book Mom Became a Ghost! published by Gilbut Children’s Books. It ...

VOL.93 / 2026.04

VOL.94/2026.05

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