VOL.84/2025.07

 

The “Anxiety of Youth” Crosses National Borders

 

2025.05.07

 

What defines independent publishing? As publishing formats diversify and formerly “self-published authors” begin to compete by starting their own publishing houses, the question of what constitutes independent publishing has become a hot topic. In the absence of objective indicators, independent publisher Balcony defines independent publishing as follows: publishing that can entice readers with its own narrative without large-scale capital investment. In this sense, Yeon Jeong’s Tomorrow’s Sun Will Rise, But What About Tonight? can be considered one of the clear success stories of independent publishing.
Before it was published by Balcony in 2020, Tomorrow’s Sun Will Rise, But What About Tonight? was an independent publication that Yeon Jeong wrote as a palm-sized book and distributed on a small scale. The publisher at Balcony discovered the book, which had been distributed in less than five independent bookstores, and signed a publishing contract believing in the story’s potential. It turned out to be a good bet. The number of distributing outlets has multiplied beyond the five independent bookstores, and the book has been translated and published not only in Korea but also in Indonesia and now Japan. In the Korean market, it has sold more than 25,000 copies as of 2025. It has proven that essays with a distinct narrative have the power to carve out a market for themselves.

 

 

Idol Artist: The Spark Behind the Success

 

Tomorrow’s Sun Will Rise, But What About Tonight? didn’t start out as a hit. It started when Seungkwan, a member of the Korean idol artist group Seventeen, introduced the book on a program. It was neither a book introduction nor an educational program, but a healing entertainment program. There was also absolutely no way for Balcony to pay for advertising or get in touch with Seungkwan - it was just the result of Seungkwan’s sincere love for the book, which led to a brief two-minute introduction. That’s all it took to ignite the fire.
However, this cannot be attributed solely to the fact that it was endorsed by an idol. If the narrative in the book had not met readers’ expectations, Yeon Jeong and her book would not have been as consistently loved as they are now. In fact, after the Indonesian translation was published first, she was invited to speak at the online book festival “Festival Buku Asia” as an “author that readers love” rather than the “author advertised by an idol.”

 

 

Message, simple sentences, and the author’s character

 

The question is, how did come get to capture the hearts and minds of Indonesian and Japanese readers, let alone Korean readers of similar sentiments? While there is no precise data to analyze, the book’s competitive advantage from the publisher’s perspective boils down to three main things.
First is the book’s message. Tomorrow’s Sun Will Rise, But What About Tonight? is an essay about the life of a young adult named Yeon Jeong. Young people, not only in Korea but in every country in the world, are facing a much more precarious time than in the past. Housing, employment, relationships, and other factors that make up an individual’s life are rarely stable. Yeon Jeong writes a very frank confession about this unstable youth.
The book is filled with stories about the reality of paying rent in a tiny “room” that can hardly be called a home, how she goes to buy strawberries and finds herself buying cheap, damaged strawberries, and how she struggles to find happiness in the midst of all this. She also talks about what she thinks about the people in her life, such as friends, lovers, and family. These are not something that only Koreans face. Yeon Jeong’s narrative transcends nationality and penetrates generations, which is why Tomorrow’s Sun Will Rise, But What About Tonight? has become a beloved book abroad.
Second, every sentence in Tomorrow’s Sun Will Rise, But What About Tonight? is written in a clear and concise style. After Yeon Jeong wrote the first draft of the book, she asked as many friends as possible for feedback. She rewrote and revised the sentences until even her friends, who don’t usually read, said it made sense. In other words, she ensured that her message was still on point, and that it made sense to any reader. Clear and easy sentences ended up being a powerful weapon in the book. In the age of short-form videos, long, complicated sentences cannot tempt the eyes of many readers. However, Yeon Jeong’s sentence structure was simple enough to survive the short-form era. This also helped in the translation process. Because Yeon Jeong’s sentences didn’t contain complicated Chinese characters or old Korean words, there was no need to spend a lot of time reviewing the translation.

 

 

Third, Yeon Jeong’s unique persona outside of the book helped boost the book’s sales. The author regularly uploads content about her daily life and preparations for her works on Instagram. She responds directly to her readers’ book reviews, and whenever she receives a comment from an overseas reader, she makes sure to thank them by saying, “I might sound a bit awkward because I’m using a translator.” Thanks to her cross-border communication, Yeon Jeong has become a “favorite author” of readers beyond Korea. The way people treat writers of different nationalities has changed. While the best you could do in the past was to learn the author’s language and send a letter or email to the publisher, nowadays, writers and readers can communicate in real-time. Yeon Jeong seized the opportunity to capitalize on this change in media and is still connecting with readers today through Tomorrow’s Sun Will Rise, But What About Tonight? She is breaking down the psychological barriers that readers feel from overseas authors.

 

Cultural differences are small details

 

When signing a deal with Indonesia, the first export country for Tomorrow’s Sun Will Rise, But What About Tonight?, our biggest concern was, “Will Indonesian readers be able to relate to Korean sentiments?” Japan is not as culturally different from Korea as Indonesia. However, even though Indonesia is the same as other Asian countries, there are definitely some differences in lifestyle.
In particular, there is a story about going to the bathhouse with mom in Tomorrow’s Sun Will Rise, But What About Tonight? As the author scrubs her mother’s back in the bathhouse, she imagines herself coming to the place without her one day and gets teary-eyed. However, interestingly enough, the bathtub story was the one that readers expressed the most empathy for at the aforementioned book festival, Festival Buku Asia. This is because, despite the cross-cultural difference in “scrubbing off dead skin,” the loss of mom in the future was deeply felt by readers. In the end, “cultural differences” are just a small detail in the face of the power of literature.

 

 

In light of this, it might be a good strategy for foreign publishers to target the Korean independent publishing market. Currently, the Korean independent publishing market is full of bolder and more honest stories, unlike the established publishing market. The raw stories that cannot be found in established literature, the precarious confessions of anxious young people, and the worries of the times that can be understood regardless of nationality are actively marketed in the Korean independent publishing market. I believe that a small blue ocean will open up if we can capitalize on this point faster than anyone else.
Tomorrow’s Sun Will Rise, But What About Tonight? aims to connect with the Taiwanese market at the upcoming Seoul International Book Fair (SIBF), as Taiwan will be the guest of honor. I don’t think it’s unreasonable for the book to reach Taiwan after Indonesia and Japan. As I have said many times, the restlessness of the youth of this era is breaking down borders. Tomorrow’s Sun Will Rise, But What About Tonight? will prove that if there is only one book that can speak for them, even if it is not written by an author of the same nationality, it can be a consolation.
In closing, I would like to leave you with a brief introduction to Tomorrow’s Sun Will Rise, But What About Tonight?

 

 

 

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Written by Hee Seok (Publisher of Balcony)