The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
  • World Expo 2030
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
  • Hangzhou Asian Games
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
  • World Expo 2030
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
  • Hangzhou Asian Games
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
  • Login
  • Register
  • Login
  • Register
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
  • 1

    N. Korea holds politburo meeting to discuss Kim-Putin summit: KCNA

  • 3

    BLACKPINK's contract renewal still in limbo

  • 5

    Kim Jong-un's rejection of Russia's food assistance irritates North Korean defectors

  • 7

    INTERVIEWVirtual K-pop group MAVE: is more than just pretty pixels

  • 9

    Russia lodges protest to S.Korean envoy over Yoon's UN speech

  • 11

    Arrest warrant hearing for DPK leader Lee to be held Tuesday

  • 13

    Korea hammers Thailand to clinch men's football knockout berth

  • 15

    Appellate court upholds 9-yr prison term for man over filming, distributing sexual videos featuring women

  • 17

    Gov't reviews changing description of Fukushima wastewater

  • 19

    JSW in talks with LG Energy Solution to make EV batteries in India: sources

  • 2

    Scientists find green way to turn CO2 into fuel with sunlight

  • 4

    BTS member Suga begins mandatory military service

  • 6

    Opposition party in turmoil as leader could be arrested on Tuesday

  • 8

    Korea boosts subsidies to rev up falling EV sales

  • 10

    Foreign employees rewarded for contribution to Korea's shipbuilding industry

  • 12

    Lawmakers want to grill business tycoons over decision to rejoin FKI

  • 14

    Disney+ aims to expand investment in original Korean content

  • 16

    Hebrew University students travel to Korea to explore musical landscape

  • 18

    Yoon signs off on plan to waive expressway tolls during Chuseok holiday

  • 20

    'Songpyeon' for low-income families

Close scrollclosebutton

Close for 24 hours

Open
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
Sun, September 24, 2023 | 00:09
Books
Desperate publishers fight over new Murakami novel
Posted : 2013-05-01 17:11
Updated : 2013-05-01 17:11
Print PreviewPrint Preview
Font Size UpFont Size Up
Font Size DownFont Size Down
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • kakaolink
  • whatsapp
  • reddit
  • mailto
  • link
Haruki Murakami
Haruki Murakami
Baek Byung-yeul

Korea's financially-squeezed publishers are ferociously competing to secure the rights to publish the new novel by Japan's superstar author Haruki Murakami.


In a country where book readership is hitting new lows amid a bad economy and explosion of mobile Internet devices, Murakami is one of the few writers capable of moving a large volume of hard copies and paperbacks.

In Japan, more than a million copies of his new work, "Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage,"were sold in just the first six days of its release in mid-April, surpassing the pace of Murakami's previous work, ''1 Q84,'' which needed 12 days to reach that mark.

Murakami's books have always sold well in Korea, where publishers are chasing "Colorless'' like a pack of starving dogs fighting over a piece of steak. The bidding war is led by major publishers like Gimmyoung Publishers, Minumsa Publishing Group, Munhak Sasang and Munhakdongne Publishing, which sold more than 2 million copies of 1Q84 here.

Since his debut in 1979 with the novel, ''Hear the Wind Sing,'' Murakami has published 13 novels and 46 short stories and is perennially rumored to win that year's Nobel Prize for Literature.

His most popular works include "Norwegian Wood" (1987) and "Kafka on the Shore" (2002), both translated into more than 40 languages. In 2006, New York Times reported that "Norwegian Wood'' was the most frequently stolen book in America along with J. D. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye."

The Japanese copyright owners will decide on the company to publish the Korean version on May 20, with the goal of having the book on the shelves by July. It's difficult to project how big of a check the publishers must cut to land the rights for "Colorless.'' One Korean publisher was said to have offered 100 million yen ($1.03 million) in advance royalty payment to Murakami for the right to publish 1Q84 three years ago and still failed to clinch it.

"Giving a million dollars in advance to the author means the publishing company thinks the book will sell at least a million copies," said an official of a publishing company.

"In the early days of this decade, the average royalty that the companies paid to the author in advance was about $100,000 to $200,000. Now it has risen up to a half million dollars for bestselling authors."

In a worsening book market, these big-money gambles are becoming dangerous. A slew of publishing companies last year scrambled to secure the rights for "The Casual Vacancy," the new novel series of J.K. Rowling. However, the Harry Potter author's new work has yet to create a significant buzz here.

According to separate data from the Korean Publishers Association (KPA), publishers introduced 39,767 new books last year and printed and published 86.97 million copies. It was the first time since 2000 that less than 100 million copies of new books were published over a full year. Government figures show that the average over-20-year-old Korean read 9.9 books in 2011, compared to Japanese readers who read about 40 that year.

"The reason of the decreased number is regarded as due to the worsening economic situation both inside and outside of the nation, decreased number of the reading public and increased book production costs," a KPA official said.

Emailbaekby@ktimes.co.kr Article ListMore articles by this reporter
 
miguel
Top 10 Stories
1Scientists find green way to turn CO2 into fuel with sunlight Scientists find green way to turn CO2 into fuel with sunlight
2Kim Jong-un's rejection of Russia's food assistance irritates North Korean defectors Kim Jong-un's rejection of Russia's food assistance irritates North Korean defectors
3Opposition party in turmoil as leader could be arrested on Tuesday Opposition party in turmoil as leader could be arrested on Tuesday
4Korea boosts subsidies to rev up falling EV sales Korea boosts subsidies to rev up falling EV sales
5Russia lodges protest to S.Korean envoy over Yoon's UN speech Russia lodges protest to S.Korean envoy over Yoon's UN speech
6Foreign employees rewarded for contribution to Korea's shipbuilding industry Foreign employees rewarded for contribution to Korea's shipbuilding industry
7Lawmakers want to grill business tycoons over decision to rejoin FKI Lawmakers want to grill business tycoons over decision to rejoin FKI
8Gov't reviews changing description of Fukushima wastewater Gov't reviews changing description of Fukushima wastewater
9'Songpyeon' for low-income families 'Songpyeon' for low-income families
10Big insurers up for sale, but financial conglomerates appear disinterested Big insurers up for sale, but financial conglomerates appear disinterested
Top 5 Entertainment News
1BLACKPINK's contract renewal still in limbo BLACKPINK's contract renewal still in limbo
2[INTERVIEW] Virtual K-pop group MAVE: is more than just pretty pixels INTERVIEWVirtual K-pop group MAVE: is more than just pretty pixels
3Hebrew University students travel to Korea to explore musical landscape Hebrew University students travel to Korea to explore musical landscape
4[INTERVIEW] Seoul's increased art market momentum brings Sotheby's back to Korea INTERVIEWSeoul's increased art market momentum brings Sotheby's back to Korea
5[INTERVIEW] 'Cobweb' director questions meaning of cinema INTERVIEW'Cobweb' director questions meaning of cinema
DARKROOM
  • Turkey-Syria earthquake

    Turkey-Syria earthquake

  • Nepal plane crash

    Nepal plane crash

  • Brazil capital uprising

    Brazil capital uprising

  • Happy New Year 2023

    Happy New Year 2023

  • World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

    World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

CEO & Publisher : Oh Young-jin
Digital News Email : webmaster@koreatimes.co.kr
Tel : 02-724-2114
Online newspaper registration No : 서울,아52844
Date of registration : 2020.02.05
Masthead : The Korea Times
Copyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.
  • About Us
  • Introduction
  • History
  • Contact Us
  • Products & Services
  • Subscribe
  • E-paper
  • RSS Service
  • Content Sales
  • Site Map
  • Policy
  • Code of Ethics
  • Ombudsman
  • Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Service
  • Copyright Policy
  • Family Site
  • Hankook Ilbo
  • Dongwha Group