K-Book Trends -

Search word : "K-Book", Search result : 1,222

[TREND / TOPIC]

E-book Platforms and the Meaning of “Original Content”

E-book Platforms and the Meaning of “Original Content” The value of new methods and strategies 2020.05.04 According to the 2019 National Reading Survey, 52.1% of Korean adults were reading paper books. Adding e-books and audiobooks only pulled up the rate to 55.7%. The rate is falling with every survey. The reason for the fall in adults’ reading rate is a change of pattern in consuming content. People that enjoy other content than books reached 29.1%. Smartphones killed books.Yet, there are still readers. More and more readers are reading books with their mobile devices. Major online bookstores such as Yes 24, Kyobo Bookstore, and Aladdin have more than 10 million members each. Even e-book companies RIDI Books and Millie have millions of subscribers. There are many readers who enjoy reading genre literature through web-novel platforms such as Naver Webnovel, KakaoStory, Munpia, and Joara. In short, the missing number of paper book readers, or even mor...

VOL.22 / 2020.05

[TREND / TOPIC]

The Creative World of Baek Heena

The Creative World of Baek Heena The Nobel Prize of Children’s Literature, 2020 Laureate of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2020.05.04 Picture book author Baek Heena (49) has been named the 2020 laureate of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA), the world’s most renowned prize for children’s literature. In doing so, she is the first Korean writer to win the award. The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award was founded by the Swedish government to honor the late Astrid Anna Emilia Lindgren (1907?2002), the author of the best-selling Pippi Longstocking series which has been translated into over 100 languages and beloved by readers of all ages. Past laureates of the award include Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are), Christine N?stlinger (The Cucumber King), and Philip Pullman (The Golden Compass). Baek is the second Asian author to win this prestigious honor after the Japanese illustrator Ryoji Arai. Announcement of the Astrid Lindgre...

VOL.22 / 2020.05

[INTERVIEW / KOREAN AUTHORS]

Writer Cho Won-Jae

Writer Cho Won-Jae A more in-depth and wide-ranging discussion about art 2021.06.07 Under the motto “Art is a fun and easy toy for anyone to play with,” Cho Won-Jae wrote An Art Museum in the Corner of a Room 1 (Bacdoci Co., Ltd.) and the book became a bestseller shortly after publication in 2018 in the art category. Also, An Art Museum in the Corner of a Room 2 (Bacdoci Co., Ltd.) published in November last year, which talks about Korean art, also became a bestseller, making writer Cho an undoubted steady-seller writer of art. While art was thought to be reserved for the elegant and noble, he talks about artworks and the life and spirit of artists embedded in them through his unique, hilarious way of telling stories. Following is an interview with writer Cho Won-Jae, who has become a missionary of art as he fell in love with it. Let’s listen to his story of art, which starts simply but becomes increasingly captivating. Please introduce ...

VOL.35 / 2021.06

[INTERVIEW / KOREAN PUBLISHERS]

Safehouse Inc.

Safehouse Inc. A Powerhouse of Boundless Cross-genre Imagination 2021.05.03 Established under the slogan of being “A safe house for good stories,” publisher Safehouse is one of the publishers specializing in genre fiction in Korea. Living up to the slogan, the publisher works as a “safe house” for creators and stories so that stories about various topics that had been in the shadow can gain attention. Following is an interview with publisher Safehouse, a home to boundless imagination going across genres and media, collaborating with webtoon and video companies that need stories, particularly those that can be made into books. Logo of Safehouse Inc. Please introduce Safehouse to overseas publishers. Safehouse is a “producer of genre fiction stories” that plans and develops content for stories. Safehouse’s producers and creators cooperate from the planning stage of stories until the end. We pursue stories that have the potential to...

VOL.34 / 2021.05

[EVENT / I READ]

Lemon by Kwon Yeo-Sun

I Read Lemon by Kwon Yeo-Sun 2025.04.07 This article is a review written by a Polish reader ofK-Book Trends after reading a Korean book.If you want to share your wonderful experience of reading Korean bookswith other overseas readers, please send us an email!kbooktrends@gmail.com Are you interested in psychological thrillers that leave you questioning everything? Do you enjoy stories that aren’t just about solving a mystery but about the aftermath of tragedy? Then Lemon (Changbi Publishers) is the book for you! English and Korean covers of Lemon Kwon Yeo-Sun’s Lemon, translated by Janet Hong, is a gripping dive into the unresolved tragedy of the “High School Beauty Murder” in South Korea. In the summer of 2002, when everyone was caught up in World Cup fever, nineteen-year-old Kim Hae-on was murdered. But here...

VOL.81 / 2025.04

[EVENT / IMAGE OF K-BOOK]

The Flower of Korea, “Mugunghwa,” Blooms

Image of K-Book The Flower of Korea, “Mugunghwa,” Blooms 2025.03.10 Korea’s National Flower, the Mugunghwa There’s a special flower in Korea: mugunghwa (hibiscus, rose of sharon). The mugunghwa, which won the most votes in the “Which flower/plant reminds you of Korea?” survey by K-Book Trends, is not just a plant, but an important symbol of Korea’s history and spirit. The mugunghwa is a flower that means “blooming eternally.” It symbolizes the perseverance and strong spirit of Koreans as it constantly blooms new flowers from summer to fall every year. Koreans have long used it to express their national identity and pride. Most recently, it has gained more attention worldwide when the popular Netflix series “The Squid Game” featured a game called “Mugunghwa kkochi pieotseupnida (무궁화꽃이 피었습니다, meaning ‘mugunghwa f...

VOL.80 / 2025.03

[INFORMATION / INFO]

2020 Korea-Indonesia Online Meeting

2020 Korea-Indonesia Online Meeting K-Book Platform turns into a networking channel for Korean publications’ advancement into overseas markets 2020.09.07 The Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism (Minister: Park Yang-Woo) and the Publication Industry Promotion Agency of Korea (KPIPA; President: Kim Soo-Young) hosted the 2020 Korea-Indonesia Online Meeting in the COEX Conference Room in Seoul from June 29th (Mon.) to July 1st (Wed.) to reinvigorate the publishing industry struggling with restricted exports due to the recent pandemic. Icon of “Visiting Korean Book Fair 2020” The two organizations have been hosting the “Visiting Korean Book Fair” since 2015 to support the export of domestic publications. Publishers have been visiting 3 to 5 promising new overseas markets and carrying out 1:1 business meetings each year. This year, it was the third fair held in Indonesia after 2017 and 2018, but due to the recently imposed restrictions on immi...

VOL.26 / 2020.09

[INFORMATION / NEW BOOKS]

Green Tangerine

Green Tangerine 2020.08.03 A heartwarming consolation for those that have gone through puberty and a period of transition in life - Green Tangerine Turning 9th graders next year, four friends go on a trip to Jeju Island. On the last day of their trip, they make one special promise and bury it inside a time capsule. What stories lie behind the unspoken story of the four friends? "A tangerine that fully ripened hanging on a branch under the abundant sunshine, and a tangerine that grew desperately with the nutrition left in the branch after it was cut off before ripening. Which tangerine represents you and us?" We have all went through that “green” time. People all live through the “green” days in life’s wave of high time and low time. We’ve had tough and lonely days in the past... but those could be overcome because we were together. New novel by Cho ...

VOL.25 / 2020.08

[TOPIC / TRENDS]

South Korea’s Literary Awards

South Korea’s Literary Awards 2018.07.31 Authors of South Korea usually start their careers by writing short stories. Every January 1st, South Korea’s key newspapers print literary works that have snagged awards, like short novels, poems, reviews and fairy tales. These contests by the papers are called “sinchunmunye”, which would translate into “spring literary contest”. This tradition began in 1925 by DongA Ilbo newspaper and for the next near century, South Korea’s key writers would first meet readers through this method. South Korea’s literary editors read these works at the beginning of the year, assess the literary potential the writers have and start contacting the new authors. The writers usually win around 5 million won per prize and winning an award at these annual competitions is considered a great honor. For many, a long time is spent honing their craft.Prominent literary magazines like Literature and Society, Munhakdongne (Literary Neighborhood), Creat...

VOL.11 / 2018.07

[TOPIC / KOREAN PUBLISHER]

GOZKNOCK ENT

GOZKNOCK ENT How About a Genre Novel to Read on a Quiet Day? 2018.07.31 Imagine a hunter who seeks out his prey for writing, hunts it down, collects it and cooks it after. If one were to look at Gozknock ENT, they would be reminded of such a hunter, as the workers here become observers and explorers in order to find good writing. They are in their second year of existence and they already have a strong reader base and are known for their genre novels. Readers say they don’t need to think twice when it comes to books from Gozknock - they just read them. The below is a Q&A with Bae Seon-a, head of Gozknock ENT currently sprouting stories for film adaptations in a garden of content. KPIPA Could you tell us what kind of place Gozknock ENT is? Bae Gozknock ENT is a development company that creates original stories ready to be adapted into video, in addition to genre novels. We combined the Korean word ‘gozknock’ which means quiet, cozy with ‘ent...

VOL.11 / 2018.07

VOL.94/2026.05

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