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Search word : "Happiness", Search result : 160

[TREND / EXPORT CASE]

Spreading Its Wings To the World: The Seoul Letter Shop

Export Case Spreading Its Wings To the World: The Seoul Letter Shop 2025.01.06 On October 12, 2023, I received an email from Shinwon Agency, Korea’s first copyright export agency. They wanted to meet me at the Frankfurt Book Fair. I was going to be there, so we agreed to meet on October 19. This was about a month after I had sent them a cold email looking for an export partner. Within that month, I sent them a cover letter for my publishing house, met with them to introduce my publication lineup, and passed on additional materials about the works they were interested in. Among them was a proposal for The Seoul Letter Shop (TXTY), including a synopsis.It felt interesting and fateful that two Korean companies would be meeting in Frankfurt on October 19, 2023, to talk about working together. Shinwon said that there was a lot of interest from Anglo-American partner agencies and offered an exclusive agreement for The Seoul Letter Shop. I was flabbe...

VOL.78 / 2025.01

[TREND / ONE-LINER QUOTES]

How To Enrich Your Life

One-Liner Quotes How To Enrich Your Life Financial Planner’s Pick 2024.12.02 Jung Won-Jun is a freelance financial planner specializing in financial counseling and education. He advises young adults and middle-aged people in Seoul through public institutions and gives lectures to middle-aged people on finance at Seoul Open City University. When I counsel clients on their finances, I often meet people who are not satisfied with what they have and are constantly chasing something that doesn’t exist. We expect greater wealth to bring greater satisfaction, but it doesn’t unless you are absolutely destitute. Money cannot be the ultimate solution because it is just one of many means. Then, how can we increase our satisfaction? I would like to introduce you to two books that will help you find the answer. Author Seo Eun-Kuk, a professor of psy...

VOL.77 / 2024.12

[TREND / EXPORT CASE]

New Trends in Korean Literature

Export Case New Trends in Korean Literature 2024.10.07 It’s important to be ahead of the pack in global publishing; to find the new trends and to be future looking in order to be successful. I have always been an explorer, a seeker of the new, while travelling professionally and personally, and that has led me to discover Korean literature more than a decade ago. The first books to break through were literary masterpieces Please Look After Mom (Changbi Publishers) by Shin Kyung-Sook and The Vegetarian (Changbi Publishers) by Han Kang. After the initial introduction of Korean books to global readers who had never heard of them, let alone read them, I introduced mysteries and thrillers which are already super popular in the World English and global markets. So, readers of Steig Larrsen’s mega-bestseller, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, devoured Jeong You-Jeong’s The Good Son (EunHaeng NaMu Publishing). J.M. Lee’s The Investigation (EunHae...

VOL.75 / 2024.10

[TREND / KNOWLEDGE]

Today’s Local Bookstores Seen Through Data on Independent Bookstores in Korea

Knowledge Today’s Local Bookstores Seen Through Dataon Independent Bookstores in Korea A service for non-readers: a map of local bookstores 2024.05.07 Independent bookstores, each unique in its own way, are significant in that they create new cultures and book ecosystems. There is a platform that collects data on these independent bookstores and shares their locations, activities, and stories with readers online and offline ? it is “Bookshopmap,” a neighborhood bookstore map, which started in 2015. In this article, focusing on Bookshopmap, we will look at how the service started, how it works, and how it differs from traditional bookstores. We will also take a look at the changing trends of independent bookstores in Korea based on data statistics from the past 8 years, from 2015 to 2023. ...

VOL.70 / 2024.05

[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 / 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

[INFORMATION / BEST SELLERS]

Which Foreign Books Did Korean Readers Choose in 2025?

Best Sellers Which Foreign Books Did Korean Readers Choose in 2025? 2026.02 "Interest in Korean fiction" is an indispensable phrase when explaining recent publishing trends in Korea. Thanks to the halo effect of Han Kang's Nobel Prize in Literature win in 2024, Korean novels swept the top spots on the comprehensive bestseller lists last year. The slump in non-fiction books, driven by the commercialization of generative artificial intelligence (AI), also played a significant role. The prevailing view in the industry is that the surge in Korean fiction—and Korean literature at large—is a "butterfly effect" resulting from the contraction of the local non-fiction market, a sector traditionally dominated by renowned foreign authors rather than domestic ones. However, this situation may present a unique opportuni...

VOL.91 / 2026.02

[TREND / BOOK TRIP]

The World Grows in the Wait

Book Trip [Into the Book ⑨] The World Grows in the Wait Seoul Station and Palaces: Walking Tour of Seoul’s Traditional Landmarks 2024.04.01 The Seoul Kid There are a lot of people waiting for something in the (Seoul Station) square.The homeless uncles, lady ‘Guichani,’ people from churches,and even the officers from the police district are waiting for something. The essence of waiting is to attune yourself to the other person’s time. Waiting for the person’s arrival, the heart, or happiness is all centered on the other person. Park Young-Ran’s novel, The Seoul Kid (Woorischool), captures how two brothers grow through their waiting for Iron Man through the eyes of a boy. Two brothers, aged 10 and 18, await the “Iron Man” who left them behind. When the older brother gets tired of waiting and sets out to find him himself, the younger b...

VOL.69 / 2024.04

[INFORMATION / BEST SELLERS]

Heading into 2026: Comparing the Combined

Best Sellers Heading into 2026: Comparing the Combined Bestseller Lists of Korea’s Three Major Online Bookstoresfor the 2nd week of December, 2025 2026.01.05 There is a saying that time does not simply pass?it accumulates. Even when daily routines feel repetitive or unremarkable, the experiences we encounter continue to pile up, quietly shaping our lives. For those who look back on 2025 with a hint of regret, it offers comfort; for those who have been running without pause, it feels like encouragement. Throughout 2025, the publishing world moved forward through the quiet, persistent labor of those who worked to create each book, building their efforts piece by piece. Looking ahead to 2026 with the hope that this dedication will yield even greater rewards, let’s take a look at the bestseller list for the last month of 2025.Topping the bestsellers in the final month of 2025 was Minimal Korean History, an introductory and condensed guide to t...

VOL.90 / 2026.01

VOL.96/2026.07

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