In the Irish Independent: “Literary agent Edwina de Charnacé on why new books are collectible objects in Seoul”

‘Literary agent Edwina de Charnacé works for Mulcahy Sweeney Associates.

You can’t judge a book by its cover. Unless you live in South Korea, where the cover of a book has no indication of the plot. “Western books have a blurb,” says Edwina de Charnacé, literary agent. “Korean books don’t have that. There’s information printed on the cover.”

In Seoul, where she lives, new books are collectable objects. “Korean publishers will often publish the same book with five different covers, each with a limited print run. People will buy all five editions for aesthetic reasons and display them. A book is a beautiful object, as well as the vessel for a story.”

De Charnacé works for Mulcahy Sweeney Associates, possibly the only Irish-owned literary agency to have an agent in South Korea. “My mother is Korean and my father is French,” she says. “I was brought up in Hong Kong and Tokyo.”

She joined the London-based Mulcahy Sweeney Associates at the age of 23 and moved to Seoul last year. “I was doing more and more Korean book deals, and I felt a strong connection to the culture. I wanted to be here physically.”

Her job is to identify Korean books that appeal to readers in the UK and US and negotiate a contract with the publishers. “The West is really waking up to the richness and diversity of Korean literary history,” she says. “A lot of Korean authors are writing fantasy, but those genres matter less here.

“There are more genre mash-ups of fantasy with elements of a psychological thriller, horror or romance. Korean people are less interested in labels and more interested in good storytelling and beautiful packaging.”

This is a technologically advanced society, but people love to read physical books

Korean book collectors tend to be young and to identify as part of a community of readers. “This is a technologically advanced society, but people love to read physical books. Gen Z is fed up of using social media to define identity. They’re looking for different markers. A book cover is sending a message out into the world – this is who I am!”

In the West, the potential value of classic fantasy editions is well known. Earlier this month, a fully-signed first edition set of the The Lord of the Rings sold for £287,700 (€345,385) at Forum Auctions in the UK.

Covers are important in this world too. In June 2024, the cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone fetched US$1.9m (€1.8m) at Sotheby’s, New York. It’s thought to be the most valuable Harry Potter item ever sold at auction.

In Korea, the new wave of collecting is not yet linked to value. Books are less expensive in Korea than they are in Ireland and new editions are sold at a standard price. “I don’t think the people who collect books are planning to resell them,” de Charnacé says.

The Gen Z habit of investing in low-value collectibles is a well-documented reaction to the rising cost of living.

Previous generations saved their money for traditional goals – a car, a house, a wedding – but these now seem out of reach. Instead of saving for big unobtainable purchases, young people spend on small things that will make them happy.

‘Roadkill’ by Amil (translation by Archana Madhavan) publishes this May with Harvill Secker Vintage

There’s a strong appetite for Korean popular culture in the West. Famous examples include the 2012 PSY hit song Gangnam Style and the dystopian TV series Squid Game.

“I started selling Korean books in October 2023,” de Charnacé says. “Since then, I’ve done around 15 deals to the UK and the US.” All were fantasy novels. “In one, the UK publisher kept the Korean cover. The artist had previously made cover art for the Korean boyband BTS.”

In Korea, the fandoms around K-pop can spawn an entire universe with spin-offs in multiple genres. For example, Enhypen, a South Korean boyband with a vampire aesthetic, was formed from a 2020 reality TV show.

This gave rise to a webtoon, Dark Moon: The Blood Altar. A webtoon is a manhwa (graphic novel) released episodically in a format people can read on their phones. A web novel was released at the same time. Ize Press published an English print edition of Dark Moon: The Blood Altar in December 2023.

The trend for collecting new fantasy books is also filtering through to the West with subscription services like Fairyloot and Illumicrate.

If you sign up, you receive a monthly box containing a special edition of a new fantasy title, along with merch. You can choose the sub-genre, but they choose the title. The excitement of opening a box without knowing quite what it contains is part of the fun.

​See mmbcreative.com, illumicrate.com, fairyloot.com‘

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