[theqoo] WHAT MADE ME REALIZE THAT KOREANS REALLY STOPPED READING BOOKS

I speak four languages, so I usually read books in the original language. In other countries, bestsellers turn over pretty quickly, and once a book sells over a million copies, all kinds of special edition covers keep coming out nonstop.

Personally, I think some of these special editions are absolutely insane ㅋㅋ Special editions are meant for collectors, so they’re expensive, but when a book sells over a million copies, even the special editions keep selling ㅋㅋㅋ

And to even get on a bestseller list, you have to sell 200,000 copies within a week, but in Korea, it’s like… selling just 300 copies can make you a bestseller. That’s honestly wild.

It really makes you feel how bad the book market is here. Since people barely read books, bestseller turnover doesn’t happen much. And there are so many different bestseller charts, it’s partly marketing by the publishing industry, but still…

Even “steady sellers” keep getting renewed in other countries, but in Korea, steady sellers are basically fixed forever……

The biggest difference is book fairs. In Korea, books don’t sell well, so publishers try to boost sales at book fairs and sell merch. But in other countries, book fairs are basically festivals for publishing industry people, so they barely sell books directly to general readers.

Book sales like that usually happen through publishers themselves (like Minumsa’s fam sale) or through bookstores, not on the scale of a book fairㅠ

In Korea, opening a bookstore as a startup is a huge gamble, but overseas, things are much more segmented. There are genre-specific bookstores, ones that only sell web novels, or only classics, or only romance, etc.

There are tons of concept bookstores, they get massive support from readers, and reader communities are insanely active.

And when you go to big offline bookstores, it’s like a packed street market. There are so many people that you have to line up just to pay for booksㅋㅋㅋ Even my mom was shocked. She was like, “Wait, why are there THIS many people in a bookstore?” ㅋㅋ

Another interesting thing is that in Korea, books about stocks, economics, and self-improvement are placed right at the front, to the point where they feel like the main category. But in the other three languages I read in, self-help books are basically “who even reads that?”

Sure, famous ones like Atomic Habits sell okay, but aside from those, people don’t really read self-improvement books much. The only real difference between countries is which fiction genres they prefer is overall, fiction absolutely dominates, making up like 80–90% of the market.

Book clubs are another difference. In Korea, book clubs feel more like gatherings where you’re supposed to read “useful” books, reflect deeply, and exchange intellectual, elevated opinions, so they’re not very accessible.

In other countries, there are tons of book clubs, both big and small. Many are super casual, just people with the same taste reading whatever the club master chooses, or casually working through books together.

Also, Korea’s audiobook market is small and not very mainstream, but overseas, audiobooks are huge. Even people without visual impairments listen to audiobooks a lot, and many books are released with an audiobook version at the same timeㅋㅋㅋ There are so many businesses built around books.

And it’s not like libraries are free overseas either. Most libraries require a paid membership (around 50,000 won per year). Libraries also aren’t as common or scattered throughout neighborhoods like in Korea, so most people just buy books.

Most importantly, there’s a strong perception that not reading books is embarrassing or shameful. Even people who don’t really read at least pretend to, and people who truly don’t read will still read at least one book a month (including audiobooks).

If you don’t even do that, you’re kind of treated like you’re not a “proper modern adult”;;

For working adults, reading 2-3 books a month is pretty normal.

There are books that become massive trends during certain periods, and if you haven’t read them, you sometimes can’t even join conversations, so everyone rushes to read them. It’s kind of like in Korea, if you said you’d never heard the song APT at all, people would be like, “What?? How do you not know that?”... that kind of situation.

Even people with reading difficulties will listen via audiobooks at least.

But in Korea, just holding a physical book already makes people go, “Oh…” Either they feel it’s not their vibe (not trendy, kind of boring), or they think you’re super unusual.

original post: here

1. You're right, I don't even read an entire book in a year... This year, my goal is to read at least one~

2. 300 copies to be considered bestseller... Wow we really don't read

3. I was reading a book for a couple of days, but the online community keeps decreasing

4. I'm f*cking jealous you speak 4 languages

5. It's just too tiring, I only read web novels once in a while..

6. Please, web novels are novels too, please count those in...

7. I need to read more this year ㅠㅠ

8. Books are boring

9. I seriously can't read..... I feel like I have ADHD and can't bring myself to continue reading

10. I don't have time to read... But I have time to browse TheQoo ㅋㅋ

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