Fantasy Novel Series Earns Largest Export Contract for Korean Books

This photo provided by The Golden Bough shows Lee Yeong-do’s four-part Korean fantasy series “The Bird That Drinks Tears.”

SEOUL, Jan. 2 (Korea Bizwire) — “The Bird That Drinks Tears,” a fantasy novel series by Lee Yeong-do, has set a new record for foreign exports of Korean books, its publisher said Monday.

The four-part series has recently been sold to a European publisher at about 300 million won (US$235,997) in advance royalty payment for the right to publish it, Minumsa said, without specifying the European publisher.

“Advance royalty payment” is a royalty paid in advance to writers when signing a publishing contract. The 300 million won is the highest amount for any Korean book exported to a single country.

The previous record was set when Kim Soo-hyun’s essay “Comfortably Without Trying Too Hard” was exported to Japan at about 200 million won in 2020.

Lee has already received more than 600 million won in advance royalty payment for the overseas rights to publish the book from publishers in 12 countries, including the United States, Britain, Germany, Poland, Italy, the Netherlands and Ukraine, according to the publisher.

The book’s translations were already published in Russia and Taiwan, and its English translation will be published by HarperCollins Publishers, one of the world’s leading English-language publishers.

First published in South Korea by The Golden Bough, an associate company of Minumsa, in 2003, “The Bird That Drinks Tears” depicts a universe with dominantly Korean fantasy elements, such as “goblin,” the Korean wrestling of “ssireum,” folk game of “yutnori” and floor heating system of “ondol.”

In South Korea, the novel has sold over 600,000 copies.

(Yonhap)