London Book Fair Day 1

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To be completely honest, the title of this post is misleading.  I am, sadly, not attending London Book Fair, nor have I ever but I hope to in the future.  However, in the next few days while the London Book Fair is going on, I will be researching tons of things on what is going on over there.  The London Book Fair is showcasing South Korea’s publishing industry, which is partly the reason why I decided that I should take a closer look at their industry too.

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I want to keep you in the know and share with you one thing I’ve learned from my research of South Korea’s book publishing world (that is discussed at London Book Fair).  Most of the information I found can be read in the PW London Book Fair Show Daily Day 1.

Webtoons (also known as comics/만화 (manhwa))

Today, let’s talk about webtoons.  South Korea seems to be the king of webtoons (or maybe we can call them the hipsters of webtoons).  Surely, with the Korean Wave that I’ve mentioned before, will eventually be introducing webtoons to the world soon.  This is why I think it is so fantastic for South Korea’s publishing industry to be showcased in London because it is breaking out of their circle of readers and letting others know about their publishing market trends.

The lecture that is taking place at London Book Fair, is done by comic book writer, Yoon Tae-Ho.  He seems to be a fantastic writer, and has received top honors in Korea Content Awards.  One of his comics has even been made into a movie, Moss (directed by Kang Woo-Suk).  Check out the trailer below:

I will definitely be checking this out, among the other works he has done.

I didn’t realize webtoons were such a big thing in South Korea’s publishing world.  I haven’t read much comics.  I only read a few mangas and some American graphic novels but from what I’ve learned from Korean media, they know how to make a good story, no matter what outlet it may come from.

If you have any recommendations of South Korean authors, comic writers, or publisher, let me know and I’ll make sure to research more about them.

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