VOL.97/2026.08

 

From Upcoming New Releases to Sales Statistics

The Korea Publishing Information System: Powering Korea’s Publishing Infrastructure

 

2025.07.07

 

What is the first place readers, bookstores, and libraries should look if they want to know about new releases coming out next month or the most popular bestsellers these days? Vice versa, what is the first thing a publisher that is about to release a new book should do if they want to publicize the book in advance to readers, bookstores, and libraries, and use the feedback to decide on the number of copies to publish or develop a marketing plan? The answer is to visit the Korea Publishing Information System.
The Korea Publishing Information System is a publishing distribution platform that supports all processes from book production to distribution and sales. Since its launch in September 2021 by the Korea Publication Industry Promotion Agency (KPIPA), it has been dedicated to facilitating the exchange of book-related information and networking among all those involved in the book industry, including writers, producers, sellers, and readers.

 

A platform for all those who write, produce, sell, and read books

 

Before examining how readers, bookstores, libraries, and publishers can maximize their use of the Korea Publishing Information System, it’s worth taking a brief look at how the System originated. When discussing the inception of the System, people often mention the bankruptcy of Songin Bookstore in 2017. At the time, the bankruptcy of Songin Bookstore, the second-largest wholesaler in Korea, had a significant impact on publishers, who were unable to track the distribution channels of books. This incident highlighted the need for a more advanced system for managing book production and distribution. Developed in response to this need, the Korea Publishing Information System currently collects sales data from major bookstores (Kyobo Book Centre, YES 24, Aladin, Youngpoong Bookstore, and 279 regional bookstores as of June 2025), as well as the inventory quantities held by wholesalers (Woongjin Booxen, Korean Publishers Cooperative) and the inventory copies of certain regional bookstores (limited to bookstores that have agreed to provide data).
However, if we examine the Korea Publishing Information System more closely, we can see that it not only reflects the desire for advanced distribution management, but also the aspiration and blueprint for a better publishing industry structure and culture in Korea.

 

 

Envisioning a better publishing industry structure and culture

 

The Korea Publishing Information System not only provides inventory and sales data, but also offers various statistics, collects metadata on books, and provides this information to various institutions that require book information, such as distributors.
I would like to briefly share my experience as an editor and loyal reader who strived in this endeavor. The reason why I had no choice but to struggle was, of course, because I was a member of the publishing industry, which had never experienced prosperity since the founding of Korea. Even so, the working system was too inertial, there were few ways to promote new releases, and before long, they became “old books” that were no longer mentioned by people and could not be promoted anymore.
Once the editor is done editing and printing the book like crazy to meet the publisher’s “publication schedule,” the person in charge writes a “press release” with all kinds of info about the book, and a few days later, when the book with all the finishing touches and binding is ready, they send it out to media outlets and distributors along with the press release. So, except for so-called “flagship books,” in many cases, those “few days” are almost the only time to meet with bookstore MDs and decide on marketing directions. Part of the reason why newspaper reviews are said to have lost their power is probably due to the structure of being required to write an article within a few days to a week or two after receiving a book. When I visited the New York office of Publishers Weekly, I learned that American publishers create mock-up copies several months before publication and distribute them to reviewers in order to receive in-depth reviews and use them for promotion. I thought this was like a system from a dream.
The Korea Publishing Information System was designed with these aspirations in mind. Of course, it will have to work well, which I will discuss later.

 

 

Promotion of books for publishers, discovery of books for readers

 

Korean publishers that make good use of the Korea Publishing Information System utilize the system in the following manner.
Publishers enter information (metadata) about books well in advance of publication. By simply pressing the “send” button once on the System, publishers can transmit and manage book information without having to send individual emails to each distributor. As the metadata of books is developed to automatically match the distributor’s system, distributors can reduce the effort required to register book information and focus on other services. Later, when additional press releases are requested by media outlets or bookstores, they can log into the system and send the book information by email.
On the Korea Publishing Information System, books with input metadata are continuously displayed; in particular, books scheduled for publication are promoted in a separate corner and then re-exposed in the new release corner after the publication date. This book information can be referenced by various bookstores and libraries for ordering or adding to their collection lists. Specifically, the Korea Publishing Information System publishes a “200 Books of the Month” list every month for local bookstores to reference, and also provides MARC data used for library cataloging, as well as book lists sorted by subject, sales volume, and check-out rankings. As a result, the number of institutions, bookstores, and libraries utilizing computer networks through API transmission continues to grow.

 

 

 

Beyond boundaries and time: the Korea Publishing Information System as a connecting bridge

 

The utilization and public awareness of the Korea Publishing Information System are steadily increasing thanks to various functional improvements and promotions. However, in order to collect and provide meaningful statistics on the publishing industry and share public resources such as book information with various stakeholders in the publishing industry, its utilization must be further enhanced in the future.
At the academic seminar commemorating the 80th anniversary of the National Library of Korea in May, Wayne Graham, CIO of the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR), emphasized in his presentation titled “Beyond Boundaries and Time: Metadata as a Connecting Bridge” that we must first and foremost build and utilize metadata properly in order to discover books and share knowledge regardless of region or era. This is not simply a matter of efficiency and practicality, but rather a “duty” of those who deal with knowledge and those who live in this era “first.”
This is where the true significance of the Korea Publishing Information System lies. So, I hope those within the boundaries will build this bridge well. I also hope that those beyond the boundaries will use metadata as a bridge to connect to the Korea Publishing Information System. With this, I look forward to the day when the gem-like books created through our connections and struggles will continue to be discovered by others.

 

 

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Written by Choi Youn-Hee (Assistant manager in the Publication Data System Management Department at KPIPA)