Self-publishing: A return to roots in the face of gatekeeping
Published: 11 Nov. 2025, 07:00
Updated: 11 Nov. 2025, 13:41
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- LEE JIAN
- [email protected]
Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI
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Before Gutenberg’s press, every book was self-published. Half a millennium later, that idea has come full circle — this time powered by AI, print-on-demand and social media.
The third best-selling poetry book in the first half of 2025, according to local retailer Kyobo Book Centre, was “Tomato Cup Ramyeon,” a self-published summer romance anthology by 19-year-old Cha Jeong-eun.
![Cover of "Tomato Cup Ramyeon" a self-publushed anthology by 19-year-old author Cha Jeong-eun [SCREEN CAPTURE]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/11/11/9ff6ed47-c540-4a90-a9f0-69290dda7f4e.jpg)
Cover of "Tomato Cup Ramyeon" a self-publushed anthology by 19-year-old author Cha Jeong-eun [SCREEN CAPTURE]
Cha published her book through POD, or print-on-demand, service. Its business model prints books only after an order is placed instead of producing batches in advance. Unlike traditional publishing, which requires authors to secure a contract, work with editors to alter the writing, print hundreds of copies upfront and rely on a publisher for distribution, POD services eliminate inventory risk and give authors full control over the book's content.
“Near the end of my teenage years, I simply wanted to turn the writing that had been part of me for half my life into a single book. Since I wanted the whole book and process to be personal, I chose to self-publish,” said Cha.
Sixteen-year-old Baek Eun-byeol, already a bestselling author of four books, also used a POD service to publish her 2024 work "Growing Pains."
It is no longer surprising that self-published authors can find mainstream success. Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass” (1855), Beatrix Potter’s "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" (1901), E.L. James’s "Fifty Shades of Grey" (2011) and Baek Se-hee’s "I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki" (2018) all began as self-published works.
Today, more writers are turning to POD. The model has drastically reduced costs and lowered the barriers for anyone with a manuscript. On most platforms offering POD, publishing a hard-copy book is free — authors only have to cover the printing cost, which can start with just a single copy.
According to Kyobo Book Centre, the number of its POD users has consistently surged in Korea. In 2021, 620 authors used its self-publishing service. Between January and October this year, that figure jumped to 2,985 and is expected to surpass 3,500 by year’s end. Bookk, another POD service, is expected to reach a cumulative print count of 50,000 titles from its founding in 2014 to 2025. It also reports an average annual revenue growth rate of over 25 percent, and roughly 3,000 new authors joining in the past six months alone, per the platform.
These POD services — paired with AI and social media — are expanding accessibility to one of the most traditionally inaccessible fields: print publishing. The prestige once tied to being a “published author” — chosen and validated by another — is fading, broadening the title to include everyone from YouTubers to teenagers.
“It may look like a minor, fleeting trend, but this rising number of self-publishers is symbolically significant within the broader context of the publishing industry,” book critic Kim Seong-shin said. “The conceptual boundaries of what we call publishing need timely expansion — and self-publishing is one clear sign of that change.”
A new chapter in an old industry
Self-publishing remained possible but prohibitively expensive until the 1990s and early 2000s, when POD technology transformed the model. By allowing authors to print books only after an order was placed, POD eliminated the need for costly upfront runs. The rise of e-books and digital readers further expanded access, freeing writers from the so-called “vanity presses” that once charged steep fees for editing, printing and promotion. Now, once a book is finished, it can be listed digitally on major domestic retailers as well as the platforms’ own online store.
For Cha, the biggest appeal of POD was being able to create a book exactly the way she wanted “from start to finish.” “Plus, it’s free and can even be distributed in bookstores,” she added. “Since the platform handles tedious processes like ISBN registration, all the writer needs is the manuscript and the cover, which really takes a lot of pressure off.”
An ISBN, or International Standard Book Number, is a unique ID number for publications that allows publishers, booksellers, and libraries to efficiently track, manage sales and manage inventory.
![Youtuber Lee Heon-woo, speaks on his YouTube channel about his self-published book [SCREEN CAPTURE]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/11/11/bb9effb0-6e7f-4892-a608-84a332839462.jpg)
Youtuber Lee Heon-woo, speaks on his YouTube channel about his self-published book [SCREEN CAPTURE]
YouTuber Lee Heon-woo, 36, is also a self-published author who used Kyobo’s POD service.
“I originally wrote the book for my subscribers,” said Lee, who runs an economics channel with some 79,000 subscribers under the handle Ppause. “At first, I only released it as an e-book, but there turned out to be demand for a print version.”
Like with many other authors, self-publishing was a more convenient option for Lee. “I never intended to make money from it,” he said. “Printing physical copies through a traditional publisher didn’t make sense, since they usually require a minimum quantity. I just wanted to organize my video content into writing — it made sense to have it in a written format too. And because I didn’t need to promote it to strangers or sell it widely, it felt like the right publishing option for me.”
Since then, Lee has printed and sold over 500 hard copies of his nonfiction "2025: It’s Not Too Late To Prepare for It."
Artificial intelligence is also reshaping the process. Recent advances have made editing, proofreading and book design far easier for first-time authors.
“In the past, most writers used free cover templates provided by platforms,” said Han Gun-hee, CEO of Bbook. “Now, more authors create their own designs from scratch. AI has really created an environment where creators can take full control of the entire publishing process themselves.”
Teen authors: Gen Alpha’s literary revolution
![Sixteen-year-old author Baek Eun-byeol, right, became an honor society member after donating 100 million won to the Community Chest of Korea, according to the charity on July 18. [COMMUNITY CHEST OF KOREA]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/11/11/2fe516d5-951c-4ad2-a53f-31a37afa47db.jpg)
Sixteen-year-old author Baek Eun-byeol, right, became an honor society member after donating 100 million won to the Community Chest of Korea, according to the charity on July 18. [COMMUNITY CHEST OF KOREA]
The accessibility of POD services has also triggered a larger number of teenage self-publishers, who have more than tripled since 2021 on Bookk. In the first half of this year, for the first time, teens surpassed authors in their 20s, becoming the largest age group on the platform.
Kyobo’s POD service shows a similar trend: just one teenage author in 2021, compared to 42 between January and October this year. A Kyobo spokesperson noted, “We’re seeing the core demographic move from those in their 40s and 50s to the 30s, and increasingly, to teens.”
Book critic Kim sees the age shift as part of a larger transformation. “From one-person publishers to independent imprints — and more recently, to side-job and hobby publishing — the evolution of the publishing industry is toward microscale,” Kim said. “The rise of teen authors self-publishing for their own teen fanbases fits right into that trajectory. They’ve chosen self-publishing as the most precise way to respond to the increasingly delicate tastes of their readers.”
“In that sense,” Kim continued, “it’s a kind of co-evolution between Gen Alpha authors and their readers.”
BY LEE JIAN [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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