VOL.69/2024.04

 

Anonbooks

A Publisher that Makes Books to Enrich Quiet, Peaceful Time

 

2023.05.02

 

People say that literature is the window to a beautiful world. Literature has been portraying human life, evolving anywhere where there’s language. Some literature has been developing vibrantly with its own distinct color. And there’s a new publishing house that specializes in such literature. It is Anonbooks, established in 2021. Since its establishment, Anonbooks has been focusing on publishing fiction and non-fiction, concentrating on producing modern Korean literature, involving authors from all careers, be they professional or newly debuted. Following is an interview with Anonbooks, a 2-year-old publisher that hopes to give readers a quiet, peaceful time with their tranquil literature.

 

 

It’s an honor to have you on K-Book Trends. Please introduce Anonbooks to our international readers, and give us a brief explanation of the meaning of the company’s name.

 

Hello, we are Anonbooks. We have been mainly publishing literary books, including fiction and non-fiction. The word “anon (安穩)” means to be quiet and relaxed in Korean. We hope the readers enjoy some quiet and comfortable time with our books. The name can also be read as “an on (an means ‘no, negative’ and on means ‘to have come’ in Korean),” meaning our goal is to promote new and creative literary works. The word “anon” also has the meaning of “soon” in old English literature. So, this coincidental fit led us to choose Anonbooks as our company name.

 

Anonbooks is a publishing house set up by two people with an editing career at a publishing company. There must be new things you haven’t experienced as an editor as you are sitting behind the wheel now. What were the things that were mostly new to you?

 

We’ve been thinking we’ve had enough experience engaging in the overall process of publishing a book as an editor – planning, editing, and marketing books. But, as we got independent on our own, we realized that the details of the process were taken better care of by our coworkers. The biggest thing that’s new to us is that we are the decision-makers for all the steps in the production and marketing process of books. Making a new system and taking full responsibility for our decisions were the most basic, but new experiences for us.

 

Anonbooks specializes in literature. Was there a particular reason for choosing it as your specialty?

 

CEOs Seo Hyo-In and Lee Jeong-Mi have both built careers in literary-publishing companies. We don’t think that choosing literature was based on some special, smart reasons. We have liked literature since we were young, were influenced by literature, and there’s nothing but literature to us. So, the reason has no reason. It might sound grandiose and abstract, but it’s a fact.

 

 

We chose literature because there’s nothing but literature for us.

 

 

What fields are Anonbooks putting extra efforts into, to be competitive as a literary publisher?

 

We try to pay more attention to the editing. It’s our goal to provide the best support we can from the planning stage, actively communicating with authors, so that we can have fine works. We don’t think that there’s a royal road to be equipped with competitiveness in the market. So, we have to take a shovel and pave our way, which is hard. But, faithfully building up from the basics seems like what we should be doing right now.

 

You published Narrative On, your first series, in 2021. Was there a reason for publishing the series through Tumblbug funding? And what was the reaction like from readers?

 

The Narrative On series is an anthology series for newly-debuted writers with no experience in publishing a book. It prioritizes authors with 3 years or less experience in writing, and those that have not officially made their debut in the literary circle are also accepted. Instead of suggesting authors write on certain timely topics, we let them write freely on whatever topic they like so that they can show their maximum potential. So, as the writers and the topics were obviously not that known among the public and not sure whether they could get attention from readers, it was hard to guarantee their success in the market. That’s why we used Tumblbug crowd-funding. We thought that it would be better to explain our objective for the series in detail. The funding was successful – we took the hot response from readers as valuable encouragement and support for the new publisher, and new writers.

 

 

It’s been about 2 years since your first book, and now you have 18 books in your line-up. What was the driver behind such active publication?

 

We published at least one book a month when we were working in publishing houses in the past. We think that it’s just a habit from then. But, above all, we wanted readers to remember our brand by steadily publishing good books. Publishing books continuously requires physical and substantial drivers. And the next new book we plan to publish works as that driver. We want Anonbooks to settle as a diligent publisher, rather than being complacent.

 

 

We hope that readers remember Anonbooks as we steadily publish good books.

 

 

On your list of books, authors like Son Bo-Mi, who we interviewed for this month’s volume, as well as Koo Byung-Mo and Chung Se-Rang, who have been popular among international readers, particularly catch our eyes. What was it like to be working with these writers that are much loved by Korean readers? Also, if there’s a specific standard for choosing books for publication, please share it with us.

 

We think that it was all thanks to the good favor of the authors to help a newly-established publisher with literature as a specialized field. We are so grateful for them. We were proud that the relationship we began in the previous publishing company continued, but it gave us a burden at the same time. However, we were pleased to be the first people to read and edit their distinguished scripts. The yardstick we use to choose books for publication is literary value. It’s hard to give a clear definition of it as it’s a very abstract area. However, we believe in our discerning eyes as the manager of the company and comb through the manuscripts that authors submit to us.

 

* K-Book Trends Vol. 58 – Go to the interview with writer Son Bo-Mi

 

Please introduce some of Anonbooks’ works to international readers.

 

The Book Review on Kindness by Kim Hon-Bi was introduced to the Japanese market. We hope that the book is introduced in other languages, too. Also, Bari is a Robot is a short anthology based on a modern interpretation of old tales. It includes language-transcending stories like Hansel and Gretel and The Little Mermaid, and stories unique to Korea, such as Princess Bari. The modifications made to the familiar stories will be interesting and exciting factors to readers of different languages.

 

 

Anonbooks has been publishing Webzine Anon as well. What does Webzine Anon feature?

 

Webzine Anon serializes fiction and non-fiction stories. The Neighborhood Vibe series, which contains trivial but profound thoughts that poet Kim Eun-Ji had during her exploration of the neighborhood, is uploaded every other Monday. The Food and Attitude series, a food essay by food researcher Ahn Ara, is updated every other Wednesday. Also, Kakadu, a full-length novel by Park Seo-Ryeon is updated every Thursday. Another full-length novel by Jeong Yong-Jun was added to the webzine at the end of April. We ask for your continued interest.

 

We look forward to the future of Anonbooks, a publisher that makes quiet and calm stories like its name. What are your next plans or goals?

 

Just like we’ve mentioned earlier, we aim to publish many good books. It might sound simple as is, but it is also a tough goal to achieve. From May onward, a prose collection by Lim Ji-Eun, a full-length story by Lee Yoo-Ri, and a full-length novel by Oh Jung-Yeon are scheduled to be published. We will do our best to present good books to our readers. Thank you.

 

 

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