Short messages that are popular on social media such as Facebook or Instagram are now being published as a book. (image: Kobiz Media/ Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, June 13 (Korea Bizwire) – Short messages that are popular on social media such as Facebook or Instagram are now being published as a book.
Aurum, part of the Munhakdongne Publishing Group, recently published a book called “A Storytelling Woman” written by Cho Yumi.
Cho has gained fame by posting short, poetic messages on Facebook about love, break-ups, and relationships in general that many people can relate to. Many Facebook users started to share her posts, and her page attracted over one million followers in just two years.
Popular messages such as “It’s actually nobody’s fault”, “We were just not meant for each other”, “But that hurts me even more”, and “You were my everything, but I was only part of your life” rang a bell for many readers experiencing heartbreak.
The publishing company started accepting online reservations through its online store one day before the publication date, and the book has quickly moved to the top of the charts at bookstores.
The author of the book “Just Don’t Break Down”, Cho Seongyong (@heungeul), also gained fandom through the hashtags “encouraging messages” and “relatable messages”. His fifth book, “Just Don’t Break Down”, is a compilation of his poetry, short essays, and photographs that gives comforting messages to people who are emotionally wrecked from their everyday lives.
In “I’ll Be Kind without Your Permission”, Cho says:
If nobody understands you
I will remember all the hardships you’ve gone through
I’ll be kind to you without your permission
He also touches on the daily hardships facing Koreans in “Living in This Country”:
To see the dream
I have to give up myself
Living in this country
Is sometimes too difficult
Cho’s four previous books were also popular among readers, and he currently has 248,000 followers on Instagram.
Those in publishing circles say that these authors who first gained popularity online are also popular offline because they already have fervent followers. “There is no question about social media stars sweeping the publishing market,” said an industry expert.
“More books like these will be published, because many younger readers who avidly use social media prefer shorter essays, and tend to buy books containing messages and photographs they like,” he added.
By Nonnie Kim (nkim@koreabizwire.com)
