VOL.69/2024.04

 

Munhakdongne

A Publisher that Makes Books for a Better World

 

2023.10.04

 

People say that “10 years changes rivers and mountains.” In other words, 10 years is a long enough time for even rivers and mountains to change. There is a publishing company that has been constantly changing for 30 years, a period during which the river and mountains could have changed three times, and has established itself as one of Korea’s leading publishers. Munhakdongne, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, does not simply stop at publishing quality books, but continues to expand infinitely into the world of books by organizing book reading challenges to read good books with readers, creating platforms to promote quality books more widely, and making spaces to read good books in comfort. However, Munhakdongne’s pride and love for books remain the same as in the beginning. Munhakdongne, which started as a literary publisher and now is a general publishing house, continues to present quality books to its readers through a variety of unique imprints. Following is the story of Munhakdongne’s efforts to get closer to its readers and help them shape their future through books.

 

 

It’s an honor to have you with us on K-Book Trends. Please introduce Munhakdongne to our readers.

 

Being a publishing house that is always new, fresh, and vibrant, filled with the spirit of new life, Munhakdongne is a publishing house that protects the inherent beauty of literature and the dignity of literature. Founded in 1993 as a literary publishing house, it has since expanded to cover humanities and liberal arts, economics and business, art, comics, and practicality, offering a wider variety of books.

 

Munhakdongne celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. While Munhakdongne has positioned itself as one of the representative publishing houses in Korea, please tell us briefly about the company’s path.

 

Since its establishment in December 1993, Munhakdongne has been bringing a fresh wind to Korean literature with the publication of Munhakdongne, a quarterly specialized in literature. By discovering talented new writers and continuously publishing the works of writers of our time, Munhakdongne has been shaping new trends in the Korean literary circle. Also, it has been introducing good works by famous writers from abroad so that readers can enjoy a wider variety of titles. While it started as a publishing house centered on literature, Munhakdongne has since expanded its fields to include humanities and liberal arts, economics and business, art, comics, and practical books. In recent years, the company has been actively engaged in the export of Korean works, and is committed to making Korean authors and works more widely known.
We are currently exploring various ways to bring books closer to our daily lives through new businesses related to books, such as book cafe “Cafecomma,” annual paid membership “Book Club Munhakdongne,” and book-completion challenge platform “Dokpa.”

 

 

It seems that Munhakdongne must be constantly thinking about what makes a good book. From Munhakdongne’s viewpoint, what defines a good book? What kind of criteria do you have when planning books and selecting manuscripts?

 

We believe that a good book is one that makes you reflect on the lives around you, understand the world, and look at it in a new way. We also believe that a good book is one that gives readers empathy, comfort, diverse knowledge, and entertainment. At Munhakdongne, we aim to plan and publish books that will stay with readers for a long time, not just chasing trends, but leading new thoughts and sensibilities. It is our ultimate desire to make books that make you dream of a better world.

 

Munhakdongne has been discovering new writers by hosting various contests such as the Munhakdongne New Author Award, Munhakdongne Novel Award, Munhakdongne Children’s Book Award, and Munhakdongne Young Adults’ Literature Award. Plus, you have been promoting young aspiring writers to the public through the annual Munhakdongne Young Author Award. Why do you put such an effort into highlighting new and young writers?

 

Discovering new writers is something that Munhakdongne has always valued and emphasized since its foundation. We believe that the birth of new writers can bring healthy energy not only to the literary world, but also to the cultural world and society as a whole. We believe it is important for publishers to open new chapters for those struggling at the starting line, and to give those who have just stepped forward the strength and courage to move on.

 

 

We aim to design and produce books that can be together with our readers for a long time.

 

 

You have been publishing Weekly Munhakdongne, a literary magazine. Unlike other webzine or webnovel platforms, the magazine does not have a system where you can check readers’ responses, like the number of views or comments. If there’s a point that Weekly Munhakdongne puts focus on, what would it be?

 

Weekly Munhakdongne is a platform for full-length novels, which was started with the hope that there would be more full-length novels in Korea. Since its launch in 2020, about twenty full-length novels have been published, and many of them, such as From Sisun by Chung Se-rang, and I Want to be One-Dimensional by Park Sang-young, have been widely loved by readers. Although we mainly publish full-length novels, we also publish some essays to give readers a taste of our new works.

 

* K-Book Trends Vol. 20 – Go to the interview with writer Chung Se-rang

 

* K-Book Trends Vol. 48 – Go to the interview with writer Park Sang-young

 

We believe that the most significant difference with other platforms is that Weekly Munhakdongne is aimed at creating good works, whereas other platforms are mainly aimed at viewing them. Our writers use the space to get the energy they need to write, and our readers watch the process together. We don’t keep track of the number of views or comments so that our writers don’t feel overly competitive or influenced by external factors during the writing process. We feel that this system has helped us to produce some of the best works through Weekly Munhakdongne.

 

 

Programs such as “Book Club Munhakdongne” and the book-completion challenge “Dokpa” that engage readers and encourage them to read are notable. We are curious to know how readers respond to these programs.

 

The Munhakdongne Publishing Group hopes to enrich people’s lives by reading and sharing books with readers. The programs “Book Club Munhakdongne” and “Dokpa” were designed to bring books closer to our daily lives.
“Book Club Munhakdongne” is an annual paid membership service launched in 2018. It is currently in its 6th year of operation as of 2023. The cumulative number of members to date is around 30,000. During the membership period, a welcome kit, a year-end kit, various reading programs that only members can participate in, and meetings with authors are provided. The cover voting and dummy book reviews, which involve members in the process of publishing Munhakdongne’s new books, are particularly popular.
The book-completion challenge “Dokpa” is a reading community where book lovers, including readers, authors, and editors, read a book together until they finish it. It is a contest in which several challengers complete the reading of a book together over a certain period, and close reading care from “Dokpa Mates” and book talks via Zoom with “special guests” make reading activities more meaningful and rich. Over the past two years, Dokpa has organized challenges with a total of 360 books, and about 38,200 reading records have been accumulated.
Both “Book Club Munhakdongne” and “Dokpa” have been expanding their horizons with distinct growth every year. We will continue to do our best to make readers’ reading lives richer and more diverse through direct communication with them.

 

Munhakdongne has been expanding the business with various imprints, and is actively publishing books in genres other than literature. So, what was the motivation for the imprint system? Also, which imprint do you think is unique?

 

Munhakdongne’s imprint system was created to give people with a passion for books and the ability to plan them a chance to make a soft landing in the publishing industry with the help of Munhakdongne’s system. The idea was to provide an opportunity for those with the passion and the planning capacity, but cannot start their own publishing house immediately. An imprint operates as a brand of Munhakdongne, with autonomy over planning and editing, and develops into an affiliate based on performance.
“Geulhangari,” “Dal,” and “Nanda” are examples of imprints that started as imprints of Munhakdongne and became affiliates.

 

* K-Book Trends Vol. 29 – Go to the interview with Geulhangari

 

Launched in 2022, “Storyseller” is also a Munhakdongne imprint. Specializing in literature and non-fiction, Storyseller aims to provide readers with good stories that bring smiles and heartfelt emotions. It has published books such as The Age of Daughters by Lee Seul-a and Detective Park Mi-Ok by Park Mi-ok, which have been well received by readers.

 

* K-Book Trends Vol. 39 – Go to the interview with writer Lee Seul-a

 

* K-Book Trends Vol. 53 – Go to the card-style news of The Age of Daughters

 

 

You have been exporting various Korean titles abroad. What kind of efforts have you been making to promote Korean books to international readers, and what were the outcomes?

 

Munhakdongne has been making various attempts to promote Korean writers and works abroad. Every year, we publish catalogs in foreign languages to introduce our new books, and participate in international book fairs and events such as the Frankfurt Book Fair, London Book Fair, and Bologna Children’s Book Fair to meet publishers from around the world and introduce our content in person. In addition, since having an English manuscript is an important requirement for exporting to English-speaking and European countries, we are receiving translation support from the Literature Translation Institute of Korea (LTI) and the Publication Industry Promotion Agency of Korea (KPIPA).
Through our efforts, The Plotters by Kim Un-su was published in 26 countries, and The Only Child by Seo Mi-ae was translated and published in 15 countries. We are constantly communicating with rights managers and editors at home and abroad to promote the works of many writers, including Choi Eun-yung, Eun Hee-kyung, Cho Nam-joo, and Kim Hoon, and are looking for opportunities to promote Korean literature and writers abroad.

 

* K-Book Trends Vol. 52 – Go to the interview with writer Eun Hee-kyung

 

 

What was the motivation for starting the book cafe Cafecomma? And how is it doing these days? What is Cafecomma like as a reading space?

 

The book cafe Cafecomma first opened with the hope of putting bookshelves on the streets. While there are many ways to read books, including online bookstores, we felt that books were paradoxically moving away from people’s daily lives. So, we thought of ways to make books more accessible to people, and cafes were the best place to do it. We opened the first Cafecomma in the parking street of Hongik University, and now we have branches in several areas, including Hapjeong, Shinyoung Securities in Yeouido, and Songdo in Incheon.
We want Cafecomma to be a place where people can take a break and be inspired. We strive to introduce quality books regardless of publisher by using book curations such as “New Book of the Month” and “Renowned Author’s Library,” and organize book clubs and cultural events to provide various cultural experiences through books. We believe that Cafecomma is a comma-like space where people can put down their daily burdens, and imagine traveling to another space and time while surrounded by the tall bookshelves and countless books.

 

 

We hope that our lives will be enriched by reading and sharing books.

 

 

We look forward to Munhakdongne’s next steps, as you will never stop discovering new stories. So, what are your next plans or goals?

 

Munhakdongne is dedicated to shaping the future of publishing in Korea, focusing on today and preparing for tomorrow. We are always thinking about the role publishers can play to meet the rapidly changing publishing environment and the diverse needs of readers. We are also looking for ways to go beyond simply publishing and introducing quality books, finding ways to naturally bring books into people’s daily lives. This is how “Book Club Munhakdongne,” “Dokpa,” and “Cafecomma” were born.
As Korean books are increasingly being exported overseas and made into videos, we are trying to strengthen our capabilities in this area as well. We have created an IP team within Munhakdongne and are actively working on secondary rights agreements.
We have always believed that the most important and basic virtue of a publisher is to create a good book with creative plans and sophisticated editing. We believe that it is Munhakdongne’s most valuable mission to do our best to publish quality books so that readers can build a hopeful future with books.

 

 

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