Novel sales increase 59 percent in May

By Park Jin-hai

Sales of novel have been boosted by the Man Booker International Prize winner “The Vegetarian,” jumping over 58 percent in May, the country’s biggest online bookseller said Tuesday.

According to Yes24, sales of novels soared 58.6 percent last month from the average sales of the previous four months.

In the category of domestic novels, nearly half of total sales predicted for this year had been reached in May, the company said.

“Novels sell best near the year-end or during the summer vacation season. The May sales this year has been exceptional,” said a company official.

Industry watchers estimate that two books ― Han Kang’s “The Vegetarian” and Jung Yoo-jeong’s new novel “The Origin of Species” ― have been spearheading the strong sales.

Han won the Man Booker International Prize on May 17 and became the first Korean to receive the respected accolade.

A total of 620,000 domestic novels were sold in May, which is 24 percent up from the average 500,000 between 2011 and 2015. Also, the market share of domestic novels has climbed to 5.7 percent, up 0.8 percent.