The most powerful keyword penetrating the recent publishing market is definitely ‘fandom reading.’ Now, readers are beginning to consume not only the content of the book, but also the author's narrative and the worldview itself. It is very symbolic that a novel based on a movie becomes a medium to continue the emotion on the screen, or that a classic introduced through a YouTube channel reverses the bestseller rankings again. In particular, content with a strong IP such as Pokémon or a new book by a popular author rising to the top immediately upon publication proves that reading is now a powerful means of expressing one's identity. Books have now become a tight ‘tiki-taka’ link between authors and readers, and between readers, breathing new vitality into the publishing market.

At the center of these changes is the ‘space experience’ provided by offline bookstores. The ‘Tiki Taka’ booth introduced by Kyobo Bookstore at the 2026 Seoul International Book Fair is a representative example of realizing the essence of reading, where books and people influence each other, through experiential content. Beyond simply displaying books, the process of sharing archives of bestsellers of each era and personalizing the reading experience through readers transcribing sentences themselves or through limited edition goods creates a deep sense of immersion for visitors. In particular, the phenomenon of young people in their 20s purchasing novels in person at bookstores instead of purchasing them online, and finding emotional satisfaction in them, suggests that offline stores have evolved beyond simply being a place to purchase products, into a mecca for ‘text hips’ where sophisticated cultural tastes can be confirmed.

Unique collaborations that blur the boundaries between publishing and other industries are also an important driving force in expanding the base of reading. The limited-season candy launched by Lotte Well Food with the sensibility of literary works is a very interesting attempt to combine literature with food and seep into everyday life. This strategy of applying the cover design of a poetry collection to the package and using poetry phrases based on seasonal fruits to stimulate consumers’ emotions is the result of clever use of the ‘text hip’ trend. Readers now combine the act of reading poetry collections and the act of enjoying snacks filled with the emotion of the poetry into one taste, and are incorporating books as part of their daily lifestyle.

Efforts by companies to spread the reading culture are also being made in various ways. The ‘Foreigner Handwriting Contest’ held every year by Kyobo Book Center provides in-depth cultural experiences to foreigners living in Korea through Hangul, Korean literature, and K-pop lyrics. This goes beyond a simple event and serves as a cultural bridge that embodies the sentences in the book and increases affection for the Korean language through the analog act of handwriting. The high participation rate in the contest, which has been running for several years, and the increase in the number of participants' Korean learning period clearly demonstrate how deeply book-centered cultural campaigns have penetrated the public's daily life. Ultimately, these campaigns play a pivotal role in establishing reading as a sustainable cultural habit rather than a one-time consumption.