[Publishing Industry Upheaval] ② What Books Do BTS and IU Choose... The Battle of Publishing Marketing Ideas

Economic Downturn Deepens Challenges in Publishing Marketing
Growth in Basic Reader Pool Through Formation of Reader Communities
Notable Cases of Diverse Newsletter Utilization

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo Mideum] “As the economy worsens, no matter what we do, books just don’t sell.”, “We’ve tried everything we could. We don’t know what else to do.”

This is the lament coming from the publishing industry. Amid a daily decline in interest in books, the rising cost of raw materials (paper) and severe outflow of publishing personnel have led to a vicious cycle. However, they cannot just stand by idly. Many publishers are conducting marketing campaigns targeting passionate readers.

A representative method is forming reader communities. The intention is to create passionate readers and maintain a basic reader pool.

One of the methods is newsletters. Newsletters have gained attention as a tool to prevent relationship breakdowns between publishers and readers, and their numbers have increased significantly over the past two years. There are mainly two types: those containing vast amounts of information, and those that induce fandom.

Wisdom House’s ‘Aha Letter’ focuses on delivering information. It does not advertise only its own books but delivers abundant ‘information’ helpful for self-development. Currently, the number of subscribers exceeds 20,000, far surpassing the average of about 10,000 subscribers for publisher newsletters.

Park Tae-geun, head of Wisdom House, explained, “If publishers used to meet readers through the media or bookstores, now they focus on directly creating reader communities. The more readers you have, the more opportunities there are to directly promote books.”

In the case of small and medium-sized publishers, fandom-inducing types are common. Yuyu Publishing has been delivering interviews with people working in the world of books through ‘Boreum Yuyu’ every half month since December last year, with three editors taking turns.

Although the number of subscribers is 1,500, which is not large compared to major publishers, there are quite a few passionate subscribers who ‘trust and read.’ Marti Publishing’s newsletter ‘Marti’s Footnotes’ also boasts a high open rate (over 60%). It claims to serve as a ‘bridge that leads to other books,’ introducing good backlist titles without restriction (including books from other publishers).

Some create spaces for reading. Munhakdongne is forming a reader pool through the online reading club platform ‘Dokpa.’ It is a challenge that encourages readers to complete one book through reading guides and book missions by Dokpa Mates. Despite being a paid service (one free trial), 15,000 people participated this year alone.

Minumsa’s YouTube channel ‘Minumsa TV’ is a representative success case in publishing content. It has nearly 110,000 members. It has gained popularity by focusing solely on book-related content, completely excluding book promotion.

In addition, Minumsa has been operating a book club since 2011. This year, they recruited 7,000 members on a first-come, first-served basis, and it sold out within two months, showing a hot response.

However, there are also complaints that growth momentum is not visible. A publishing industry insider who requested anonymity said, “These marketing efforts affect brand awareness and help create loyal readers, but to expect sales growth, attracting new readers who don’t read books is important, and there is no sharp method for that.”

He lamented, “If a star like BTS or IU is introduced as having read a book, the effect is huge, but that is really just ‘luck.’ Even if it is possible to plan, the required cost is too high and burdensome.”