K-Book Trends - Humanist Books

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Humanist Books Spreading wide, deep knowledge and culture 2017.10.10 Recently, I set out to conduct an interview with Seo-hyeon Hwang, executive editor at Humanist Books. After setting out from Hongik Univ. Station and finding my way through the narrow paths of Yeonnam-dong, passing by several pretty cafes with outdoor seating, I found myself before a gray, modern building. The word "Humanist" can plainly be seen on one side of the building. After stepping into the coffee shop on the first floor and making my way down a set of stairs I discovered books Humanist has published, all organized neatly. From the basement to the top, the floors of the building are well connected, like water flowing. From the outside it is clearly a building with sharp angles, but the interior everything fits perfectly. I randomly lift my head in the center of the building and the open ceiling lends a view of the blue sky above. I think to myself, 'This is a quite human building'. From the exterior, it may seem cold and hard, but inside everything is connected in a fluid manner and visitors can feel the warmth of people anywhere they go. Then I think, perhaps this is what the study of humanities is about. Many subjects of studies that seem disconnected come together and build relationships, with reasons and emotions within them meshing. One day in September when the sun was still hot, I visited Humanist Books. It has been 16 years since its establishment and in that time Humanist Books has published roughly 1,000 books while spending time with 1,800 authors. The publishing company has met with 10 million readers and also seen 7.5 million podcast listeners. It has also continuously organized events including lectures on humanities and book concerts to increase contact with readers. Also, in order to expand opportunities for knowledge exchange, the company opened the "Humanist University" and made 39 classes available. The students who went through the company's courses measure at some 2,000. Humanist Books sees itself as a partner of valuable life and is always thinking of ways to be closer in touch with readers. There was a time when the study of humanities was deemed a narrow minded area of study. However, Humanist Books has insisted on publishing books based on the study of humanities for the past 16 years, like history, philosophy, nature, science and art. During that process, humanities came into the limelight in South Korea and the insight Humanist Books has been surprising as it viewed the future and the value of humanities from a long-term point of view. The following is a Q&A with the executive editor of Humanist Books, Seo-hyeon Hwang. KPIPA When Humanist Books first started out in 2001, it named itself as a specialized publisher for books on humanities. Could you tell us about the road the company has come so far? Hwang 2017 will be the 16th year for Humanist Books. When I look back on the road the company has traveled so far, it fills me with emotions. When the company was first founded, we had a vision we would publish 1,000 books on basic knowledge that children, students and adults could read, including history, philosophy, science, nature and art. Also, we told ourselves we would contribute to creating valuable knowledge for a more creative South Korea communicating with the world by finding new authors at home and improving our editing skills. Our direction as a publisher specializing in humanities was quite clear. Some people said we were reckless, but in our 16th year we look back on our accomplishments: near 2,000 authors and 1,000 books on humanities. I feel we've really made strides in making our vision a reality. In our first years, we published educational books on humanities for university students and the general public, and later created an alternative textbook for teenage students as well as elementary school children. We also established a subsidiary called "Human Children" in 2006. In 2012, we started publishing books on the Korean language and literature and later focused our efforts in creating more books on humanities and expanded the range of our books to nature and science. I'd like to introduce a few of our books by year. In 2001 we published a talks series by Jeong-il Do and Jae-cheon Choi while in 2006 we had Yuk-hoon Kim's The Living Textbook on Contemporary and Modern Korean History. Later in 2008 there was Mun-ho Park's Brain, the Emergence of Thought and Le Monde World History 1 that was organized by Le Monde Diplomatique. In 2009, the president of Humanist Books published What Makes an Editor?. A year later we published Korean History for Foreigners written by the national association of history teachers, as well as The Living Textbook on Geography 1, 2 written by the association of geography teachers. In 2012 we had Ji-young Gong's Musical Chairs and in the year after that, we published Si-baek Park's The Annals of the Joseon Dynasty series. Among others, we also had Mun-ho Park's All about Brain Science through Pictures. One thing we are proud of is the fact that more than 90 percent of our books have enjoyed longevity and sell well to this day. In addition to this, 20 percent of our books or 200 of them have been recognized for their excellence, like being selected as books of the year. KPIPA When looking at books published by Humanist Books, most of them have been written by local authors. Many of them have been jointly authored, as well. Hwang In line with our founding vision and mission, we have the highest percentage of local-made books at 86 percent out of all the publishers in South Korea, thanks to our efforts to find more South Korean authors. Over the past 16 years, we have worked with about 1,800 authors. Even from this number alone we can tell we have a high percentage of local authors who work with us. We've also had many experiences with books that have co-authors. It's not an easy task, getting everyone's writing together from the planning stages, but there are many positive sides to it, as you can approach subject matters from various points of view. This also goes for the books co-authored by national teacher associations for history, Korean language, social studies and geography as well as those written by key authorities on humanities. One of our biggest assets is our pool of authors and it is a boon for us to have so many "power authors". KPIPA We've noticed Humanist Books has many books that have gone through extensive periods of cooperation and planning. And all of those books have become steadysellers in South Korea. One would be The Annals of the Joseon Dynasty series by Si-baek Park. We doubt any of this was easy for the company. Hwang I feel the more time we spend planning a book, the bigger the chance we will have in creating a steadyseller, whether it be 3, 5, 7, or 10 years. Our talks series during our first years would be a good example, as well as The Living Textbook on Korean History. Dozens of our staff worked day and night for months to analyze textbooks used in the United States and Europe. Back then we had no idea these books would become strong steadysellers that could sell over a million copies over the course of a decade. This was the same for Si-baek Park's The Annals of the Joseon Dynasty. The series was completed after 10 years, and two years after its completion we worked on a revised version. We now have a goal in mind to complete the English version of this series in three years. We also spend as much time and effort into revisions as we do new books to maintain our reputation as South Korea's leading steadyseller publisher. Not only do we have Park's The Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, we also have the 20th anniversary edition of Jung-kwon Chin's Aesthetics Odyssey as well as a 10th anniversary edition of Jeong-il Do and Jae-cheon Choi's Talks - Humanities Meets Nature and Science. The Living Textbook on Korean History also has a 10th anniversary edition. By working on revised editions, we help books live in tandem with the changing times and help the books continue maintain their reputations through time. KPIPA The company also creates podcasts. We are curious as to how this started and what the reaction has been so far. Hwang We first launched our podcasts in the summer of 2013 through Si-baek Park's The annals of the joseon dynasty. We were able to open a channel of communication with our readers and so far we've had 7.5 million readers. Based on that experience, we endeavored on a new challenge in March 2016, which was “Book Chatter With Writers”. We've created a space where writers can meet readers by using books we've published. Our podcasts are created over the course of several days and we spend seven to nine hours discussing one book, like we're reading it very closely. One characteristic of our podcasts is that we have no writers or scenarios. Everything is live. There is much to talk about with the stories from the books alone and we offer a useful, full time for our listeners as authors as well as the publishing company's president comes to talk on the podcast. We wish to act as a connecting platform for book clubs nationwide and people who love books in general. KPIPA "Reading entertainment" is becoming popular in the publishing industry. This of course, calls for the role of the publisher. We know you've been keeping up relationships with your readers through lectures and book concerts. Hwang As I said before, we remind ourselves of our founding motto that Humanist Books will start with books but not stay in one place. We try to think "One Source, Multi-Use". Through this, we think of the expanded role of books. After roughly a decade since Humanist Books' founding, we launched the Humanist University, podcasts and power writer ON for reading entertainment projects. These are all opportunities for knowledge and culture exchanges through books. We did this because we feel it is the role of the publisher to provide readers with opportunities to experience new imaginations and creations. One leading example of this would be the Humanist University, where we provide lectures given by writers who have worked with us. Every year we've had nearly 1,000 readers participate. Even now we have many discussions on books between readers and writers in our basement lecture hall. We feel this is the true form of publishers in the 21st century -- creating areas for knowledge exchange. KPIPA Before we wrap up, are there books you'd like to introduce to offshore readers? Hwang First of all, I'd like to recommend books on art. One of these would be The Sounds of the Metropolis by Hee-kyeong Lee. It is a book on the scenery of modern music across major cities in the 20th century, like Vienna, Berlin and New York City. The book touches on the lives and musical worlds of modern musical composers who created changes in music and sound. We planned this book very thoroughly and I feel it would be of great interest to foreign readers. Second would be the Art Museum In Your Hand series by Young-sook Kim. The publication introduces 100 pieces of art one should see at world-famous art museums like the Louvre, Orsee, National, Prado, Vatican and Uffizi. I have high hopes it can be a good guide for those traveling through Europe to see art. Next up is a book on social sciences. It is a book called A Very Special Biology Lesson by Su-cheol Jang and Jae-seong Lee. Jang is a biologist while Lee is a scholar on the Korean language and the book takes the form of a Q&A between Lee, who knows little of biology, and Jang. It's been considered as a good book for the general public to understand biology and address any questions they might have had. Aside these, there are books for students I'd like to recommend - So-jung An's Math From A Backpack, A Trip Taken Out of Math and Jin-kyung Lee's Math's Dream. So's books are like a record on the trips the author has taken to locations like Egypt, Greece, Italy and India. They're easy books on the modern history of mathematics and I believe they can be read with fun by those who have interest. By browsing the books at Humanist Books, the author of this article was able to enjoy the knowledge of today and the history they tell. People say publishers can be determined by their books and Humanist Books has read the flow of generations well and continues to talk to readers by thinking of the meanings inside those changes. Humanist Books has shown it breathes together with readers and the world through living knowledge. I offer encouragement to the company as it heads towards its 30th anniversary, always thinking ahead. Humanist Hompage : www.humanistbooks.com Humanist Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/hmcv2001 Arranged by Ji-hye Gwon