[Chungmuro Book Cafe] Star Instructor Kim Mi-kyung Talks About Self-Development in the COVID Era

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] Star YouTube instructor Kim Mi-kyung's new self-development book "Kim Mi-kyung's Reboot," released after about three months, has taken the number one spot on the bestseller list. The popular instructor and CEO vividly records her thoughts and experiences during the difficulties caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Asia Economy selected bestsellers from books sold between the 2nd and 7th of this month. The rankings were based on sales volume from major online and offline bookstores such as Interpark, Yes24, and Kyobo Bookstore, combined with ratings from our culture department reporters to calculate a comprehensive score.

"Kim Mi-kyung's Reboot" was published on the 1st. Previously, Kim Mi-kyung released "This One Phrase Saved Me" on March 25. That book was her first new release in about two and a half years since "Mom's Self-Esteem Study" in November 2017. It took only about 100 days to publish "Kim Mi-kyung's Reboot," as it documents the sudden changes brought by COVID-19.

Kim Mi-kyung is the operator of the YouTube channel "Kim Mi-kyung TV," which has 1.1 million subscribers, as well as the CEO of W Insights, a female marketing specialist company, and Art Speech & Communication, an online education company.

COVID-19 has brought many changes to Kim Mi-kyung's life. Lectures were abruptly halted, and as a CEO, she had to worry about her employees' livelihoods. The publisher Woongjin Knowledge House describes "Kim Mi-kyung's Reboot" as Kim Mi-kyung's COVID survival diary.

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, many books have been published discussing how the world has changed and how to prepare for it. However, most of these focus on macro-level forecasts and predictions by futurists and investment experts. "Kim Mi-kyung's Reboot" records the essential survival methods for individuals.

Recently, many YouTube channels have influenced the bestseller market, and "Kim Mi-kyung TV" is one of them. Oprah Winfrey's "What I Know For Sure" was introduced on "Kim Mi-kyung TV" last year and became a bestseller in Korea five years after its domestic release. The combination of Kim Mi-kyung's high public recognition and the COVID-19 issue has empowered "Kim Mi-kyung's Reboot."

As Kim Mi-kyung's new book creates a sensation, "The Having," which had held the number one spot for a long time since April, has been pushed down to second place.

Alongside "Kim Mi-kyung's Reboot," "The World After COVID-19" ranks tenth, confirming that COVID-19 remains a hot topic in the bestseller market. "The World After COVID-19" is a book by Jason Schenker, chairman of the U.S. financial market research firm Prestige Economics, predicting the post-COVID-19 era.

Children's books "Common Siblings 5" and "Seol Min-seok's Korean History Adventure 14" entered the bestseller rankings immediately upon release, reaffirming their strong popularity, just like previous series installments.

"The Nature of Money," written by Korean-American entrepreneur Kim Seung-ho, who founded the global company Snow Fox, a kimbap and sushi restaurant chain in the U.S. in 2005, remains popular. The book discusses how to create and grow seed money with bare hands, as well as life and money lessons learned through self-made success.

In this chaotic era, the popularity of essays remains strong. Kim Soo-hyun's "Effortlessly and Comfortably" and Kim Ina's "Ordinary Languages" have been ranking high on bestseller lists since May. "Effortlessly and Comfortably" attracted attention by being exported to Japan for a record-high advance payment of 20 million yen (about 224.32 million KRW) in Korean publishing history.

The popularity of the humanities essay "When I Don't Even Know What I Want," by author Jeon Seung-hwan, published in January this year, also continues. Publisher Dasan Chodang recently released a special summer edition to commemorate surpassing 150,000 copies sold.