K-Book Trends -

Search word : "Covid-19", Search result : 170

[TREND / TOPIC]

Dreaming of a Different Peace as We Depart from Houyhnhnms

Topic Dreaming of a Different Peace as We Depart from Houyhnhnms 2024.08.05 The 2024 Seoul International Book Fair (SIBF) has concluded with great success. During the peak hours when the crowd surged, I found myself in a state of constant anxiety, hoping that everything would go smoothly. As visitors queued up, stretching so far that the end of the line was out of sight, and the temperature inside rose, making the air conditioning struggle, my heart tightened. Yet, now I breathe a sigh of relief that the event ended without major incidents. Main posters of 2024 SIBF Challenges in preparing for the 2024 Seoul International Book Fair This year’s preparation for the Seoul International Book Fair was fraught with challenges. Traditionally held in Hall A on the first floor of COEX, we were informed last year to reduce the event...

VOL.73 / 2024.08

[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 / SPECIAL PROJECT]

Korea Today and the Charm of Korean Culture

Special Project [English Books in Korea ①] Korea Today and the Charm of Korean Culture 2024.06.03 I’m pleased to be able to introduce the English edition of my book about Korea through this interview. This is because such an opportunity does not come around often, and because through this, I can draw the attention of the industry and readers in this harsh climate where the number of English books about Korea is decreasing rather than increasing.One keyword that automatically comes to mind when you think of English books about Korea is “Kinokuniya” bookstores in Japan. I was literally overwhelmed by the number of English books about Japan that I saw at Kinokuniya Bookstore in Japantown, San Francisco, US. On the other hand, the number of English books published in Korea is far too little, and the fields are focused on culture and language, with very few on economics, society, practical skills, and people. What’s more, the number of titles is shrinking.M...

VOL.71 / 2024.06

[TREND / BOOK TRIP]

In Search of a Garden Where Our Beautiful Korean Language Breathes

Book Trip [A Trip to Literary Museums ②] In Search of a Garden Where Our BeautifulKorean Language Breathes Introducing Sonagi Village at Hwang Sun-won, Literary Housein Yangpyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do, and Beyond 2024.06.03 The works of Hwang Sun-Won have a solid presence in Korean literature. The literary world he has built transcends time, genre, and ideology, naturally expressing the most Korean emotions. It was around 1952, when Korea was undergoing the Korean War, when his representative short story Rain Shower (read Sonagi in Korean) was released. However, it is difficult to recognize such a period from the portrayal of the two main characters in the novel. The only clue that connects the story to reality is the place name “Yangpyeong” that appears at the end. The thoughts that germinated in this place became the driving force for creating a literary space, and it led to new attempts to reinterpret the work in various ways.The Sonagi Village in the Hwa...

VOL.71 / 2024.06

[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. It started for fun After stumbl...

VOL.70 / 2024.05

[TREND / SPECIAL PROJECT]

Korea is Now All About Plants!

Special Project [Book × Plant] Korea is Now All About Plants! 2024.04.01 By their very nature, books are vessels of knowledge encompassing all fields. Endless topics can be written about depending on the material and message. In the [Book × _____ ] series, experts recommend Korean books in their respective fields that you’ve been curious about but had trouble discovering more about. Now, let’s jump into the infinite world of books through the collaboration of books with various fields. Childhood dreams inspired by the beauty of plants My first dream in life was to be a botanist. I was only 6 years old - a kindergartener. It was thanks to my mother, who loved to grow plants, and my father, who loved nature so much that he took me on trips whenever he could. The fact that I grew up in the countryside and was always around plants was also one of the reasons why I wanted to be a botanist. Ho...

VOL.69 / 2024.04

[TREND / EXPORT CASE]

Korean Literature in the American Market

Export Case Korean Literature in the American Market 2024.04.01 I began translating Yun Ko-eun for a literary translation workshop in 2015, as an undergraduate at Princeton University. Little did I know at the time that ten years later, I would still be translating Yun’s work. The Disaster Tourist (Minumsa), her first novel to be published in English, came out with Counterpoint Press in 2020. Her short story collection Table for One (Munji Publishing)–Yun’s debut publication, which was released in Korea in 2008–will come out in English with Columbia University Press in April of this year. I’m now working on a third book translation of Yun’s forthcoming novel Art on Fire (EunHaeng NaMu Publishing), and I hope to continue working with her for years to come. Korean (left) and English (right) covers of The Disaster Tourist The publication timeline for my translations was affected by the ...

VOL.69 / 2024.04

[TREND / KNOWLEDGE]

Recent Status of Korean Webnovels

Knowledge Recent Status of Korean Webnovels 2024.04.01 The size and the current status of the market The webnovel industry, which was officially recognized in 2013 with the NAVER Webnovel Contest, has nearly doubled every year since then - expanding to a market worth 1 trillion won by 2024. It has firmly established itself as one of the pillars of the Korean content market alongside webtoons. Media mixing is actively taking place through the content value chain centered on Kakao and Naver, and this potential has attracted many creators to take on the challenge of writing webnovels full of dreams.According to the “2022 Status Survey of the Webnovel Industry” published by the Publication Industry Promotion Agency of Korea (KPIPA) in 2023, the number of webnovel users in Korea was estimated at 5.87 million, and the estimated revenue of the entire webnovel industry was w...

VOL.69 / 2024.04

[TREND / KNOWLEDGE]

2023 Publishing Statistics & 2024 Publishing Market Outlook

Publishing Industry 2023 Trends in the Korean Publishing Market and 2024 Forecast 2024.01.02 2023 Trends: Growth in self-help, comics, and parenting books As the COVID-19 pandemic turned endemic in the spring of 2023, travel books saw a resurgence in popularity. The popularity of anime such as Slam Dunk has led to increased sales of manga, and popular YouTubers have joined the publishing market using manga characters. In addition, books by popular writers for grown-up readers, such as physicist Kim Sang-Wook, have been transformed into children’s educational comics. * K-Book Trends Vol. 42 – Go to the interview of writer Kim Sang-Wook In addition, despite recording the world’s lowest birth rate, the popularity of books on raising children in Korea has increased. While the market for marriage, family, pregnancy, and childbirth has decreased, the market ...

VOL.66 / 2024.01

[TREND / KNOWLEDGE]

2020-2022 Bestsellers: Korean Self-help Books

Publishing Policy 2020-2022 Bestsellers: Korean Self-help Books 2023.12.04 2020-2022 Bestsellers: Korean Self-help BooksDiscover Korean self-help books that share life wisdom and secrets to success! 2020 1 Secret of the Top 1% in Harvard 1 Reboot 3 The Having 4 Eight 4 I Start My Day at 4:30 AM 6 This One Phrase Sav...

VOL.65 / 2023.12

VOL.74/2024.09

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