Kyobo Book Centre announced on the 4th that it will hold the '10th Kyobo Book Centre Story Contest,' co-hosted by Studio S and Showbox, and sponsored by Whale Breathing Library, To You Dream, Korea Creative Story Writers Association, and Hongdangmu.
Since its inception in 2013, the Kyobo Book Centre Story Contest has continuously selected works centered on new ideas and well-structured, high-quality compositions. This year, marking the 10th contest, it seeks writers and works with Korean and creative stories that can attract global attention. Regardless of genre or content, anyone can apply, whether established or new writers, as long as the work can be developed into secondary content such as movies, dramas, or webtoons through OSMU.
The submission period is until June 1, and the categories are mid-to-long novels, short stories, and children's stories. Applicants should fill in the theme, planning intention, characters, plot, etc., and submit the manuscript online via Kyobo Book Centre Story.
The judging process is divided into preliminary and final rounds. Works that advance to the final round in the long-form category will undergo a final evaluation, with winners announced in September. To celebrate the 10th contest, the total prize money has been increased from 80 million KRW to 100 million KRW, and the number of awarded works has been expanded to 14 to discover more works and writers than in the previous nine contests.
The awards are as follows: Grand Prize for mid-to-long novels (1 person) 50 million KRW, Excellence Award for mid-to-long novels (1 person) 10 million KRW, Merit Award for mid-to-long novels (5 people) 5 million KRW each, Merit Award for children's stories (2 people) 2.5 million KRW each, and Merit Award for short stories (5 people) 2 million KRW each. In addition to prize money, winning works will receive support for publishing in print and eBook formats and various assistance for OSMU development.
Many winning works have been adapted into various contents such as dramas, movies, radio dramas, and musicals, proving each time that this contest is optimized for OSMU. Notable works include the 1st Grand Prize winner 'Singleville,' the 2nd award-winning work 'Pure Boxer Lee Kwon-sook,' the 3rd Grand Prize winner 'Welcome to the Witch's Restaurant,' the 4th Grand Prize winner 'Shift,' the 5th Grand Prize winner 'Gosiman,' the 6th Grand Prize winner 'The Man I Killed Has Returned,' the 7th Grand Prize winner 'Piercing Heart,' the 8th Grand Prize winner 'Pung,' the 9th Grand Prize winner 'The Case of the Peerless Handsome Man,' and the Merit Award winner 'The Mechanic of Purgatory.' These major winning works have been reborn not only in publishing but also as movies, dramas, and webtoons every year. Furthermore, all major winning works have signed publishing contracts, proving the contest's appeal not only to writers but also to publishers and OSMU business operators.
Works that have been adapted and presented to viewers so far include the 2nd contest Merit Award-winning work 'Joseon Marriage Agency: Flower Crew' (writer Kim Irang), the 3rd contest Grand Prize winner 'Welcome to the Witch's Restaurant' (writer Gu Sang-hee), and the 6th contest short story winner 'Luwak Human' (writer Kang Han-bit). These works have created numerous buzz domestically and internationally and have been exported overseas.
Especially, the 10th contest is the largest literary contest in Korea, with the grand prize amounting to 50 million KRW. Co-host Studio S, a subsidiary of SBS, and major domestic film production and distribution company Showbox are increasing professional participation by providing sponsorship funds, participating in the final judging, and securing partial priority negotiation rights for video adaptation, raising expectations for the video adaptation of winning works.
The number of submissions to the story contest is increasing every time, including works from both new and established writers. The 9th contest received 2,301 entries, setting a record for the highest number of submissions, and this year is expected to surpass that significantly.
Kyobo Book Centre stated, "The world recognizes the excellence of K-content. We hope to encounter more excellent original stories, which are the foundation of K-content, in this 10th contest." They added, "Now the world laughs and cries over the same stories. We hope that works discovered through the Story Contest will be at the center of this."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
