Presales of books, a system which has been adopted as a marketing tactic by publishing companies, is becoming a trend in the publishing industry. (Image : Yonhap)
SEOUL, Feb.10 (Korea Bizwire) – Presales of books, a system which has been adopted as a marketing tactic by publishing companies, is becoming a trend in the publishing industry.
The method, which is increasingly popular, promotes new books about to be released, and at the same time draws the attention of readers, often resulting in an increase in sales.
According to Yes24, an online portal for cultural events, records and books, 9,135 books were presold in 2015 before they were released in stores.
Compared to the number of presales in 2011 (3,218 books), there has been a 183 percent increase.
The number of presales in 2012 was 3,275 books, which was similar to sales in 2011, but presales are increasingly rapidly with 4,684 books sold in 2013, 6,445 in 2014 and 9,135 in 2015.
The increase in the number of books that are presold has also lead to an increase in the total sales for the books that are presold.
Compared to the previous year, the increase rate was 1.8 percent in 2012, 43 percent in 2013, 37.6 percent in 2014 and 41.7 percent in 2015.
Some of the presold books written by popular writers became bestsellers as the presale of the books drew the public’s attention.
‘Love for the un-perfect’, written by Buddhist monk Ven. Haemin, ranked second on the bestseller list for the last week of January.
Poems by the late poet Yoon Dong-joo also entered the bestseller rankings when they were presold.
Industry analysts say that this phenomenon has settled as a trend, as publishing companies are using it as a marketing means, and many books written by popular writers are presold.
Officials from Yes24 comment that publishing companies presell their books to evoke anticipation for new releases. They add that various benefits provided to the readers who buy books before the release is another attraction that attracts consumers to purchase presold books.
By M.H.Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
