VOL.75/2024.10

Travelers sailing through the sea of knowledge - 'Across Publishing Group Inc.'

 

2019.07.08

 

 

Information and knowledge inundate our lives daily. Selecting what's important amid that torrent of data is not an easy task. South Korean publisher Across Publishing Group Inc (Across below) creates books that enrich lives, plucking knowledge from a sea of information. Across say they eagerly navigate the waters, publishing books with firm standards and values.

 

 

Across seeks to publish books that carry the knowledge people need to
live their lives, not knowledge that is irrelevant.

 

 

Q. Please tell us about Across.

 

A. Across is a publishing company that focuses on humanities and culture. We also publish books on society, economics, management and other knowledge-based genres. Following our first publication in March 2011, we have released 95 books so far.

 

Q. It's striking that you say your company aims to open a new frontier of cultural content for today's generation after traveling across a sea of knowledge to reach readers. What is Across's goal? What does the company aspire to become?

 

A. At Across, we're a collection of people who have come together to set off on a journey across the sea of knowledge in search of readers and fun adventures. Also, we're full of people who want to create that moment in which knowledge becomes wisdom. Across wishes for the knowledge inside our books to become absorbed in our readers' lives and eventually turn into wisdom. We also want to create books that are filled with the knowledge that readers actually need and not textbook facts. The company's biggest hope is that the knowledge that mankind has researched and studied over the years can be placed into books and later transform into wisdom that can make our lives plentiful and full of value.

 

Q. Are there books from Across you would like to tell our overseas readers about? Please tell us of any representative works Across has.

 

A. First, we would like to recommend Twelve Walks by Professor Jeong Jae-seung of KAIST whose work focuses on bio and brain engineering. We feel Twelve Walks reflects Across's true colors out of all our books. The book contains 12 lectures discussing things like the wisdom the human brain has that enables it to make smart choices, and the insight science has, helping us to discover future opportunities in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. After its release, over 250,000 copies of the book were sold in the course of a year, making it one of Across's bestsellers.
In addition to this book, others we'd like to shed light on would be a collection of op-eds written by Professor Kim Young-min of Seoul National University called Think of Death in the Morning, Sungkyunkwan University Professor Oh Jong-woo's book on aesthetics Words and Ideas of Art, When Words Hurt by Professor Hong Sung-soo of Sookmyung Women's University that deals with hate issues, and lastly, essayist Eunyu's prose collection Coming Words to Me.

 

Twelve Walks, Think of Death in the Morning

 

Words and Ideas of Art, When Words Hurt, Coming Words to Me

 

Q. When leafing through Across books, one can feel much thought was put into them to create really great content. Do you have special criteria you look for when searching for new manuscripts or authors?

 

A. Our top priority is never to publish books that might fool people with unverified knowledge or deceiving words. Our second priority is to release books that are based on accurate knowledge and research. Next would be to avoid publishing content that can stir up hate or prejudice. Lastly, we want to create books even ordinary readers can understand, and not just specialists. These four criteria we strive to abide by.

 

 

The keywords that express Across best are
'crossover' and 'new knowledge'.

 

 

Q. What are some keywords that can describe Across most accurately?

 

A. We came up with the name of our company, Across, to express our goal to leap across boundaries and deliver new knowledge that comes from binding together ideas from different fields in an easy way to understand. This is why we believe 'crossover' and 'new knowledge' are the best keywords to describe us.

 

Q. Could you tell our readers about any new books Across is preparing?

 

A. This summer we are planning a book called North Korean Language Lesson that deals with North Korean life and linguistics aimed to help preparations for the expansion of inter-Korean exchanges and an era of peace on the Korean peninsula. We also have in the works a book called Reading Lesson for Parents (working title) that aims to help children read on their own.
At times when we look at social media, some users leave comments saying they trust and read books from Across because of our brand. We feel this is the best compliment a publisher can receive, and we will continue our efforts to be the kind of publisher readers can trust.

 

 

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Arranged by Hwang jina