Episode 103: The Master of Experimentation
World Book Publishing Conference Room.
The editor-in-chief sat down with a pleased expression.
All the other team members also had confident and radiant faces.
‘It’s been a while since the meeting has been this lively.’
Kim Jinseok, who was Kang Lim’s editor, attended with a relaxed mind today.
The company atmosphere had been poor due to the continuous failures of recent planned works, so this was quite a relief.
The editor-in-chief looked around at the team members and said,
“Who do you think is the author with the highest cumulative sales over the last 20 years?”
The planning team leader answered the editor-in-chief’s question.
“First is J.K. Rowling, who wrote Harry Potter, second is Haruki Murakami with 1Q84, and third is Bernard Werber with Ants. These are people that everyone knows by name, even those who don’t read much.”
The editor-in-chief grinned and said,
“Well, that’s right. As you all know, the top-selling Harry Potter is essentially a children’s book. Just like how our young adult novels sell well. But! That’s not why we’re here today. There is also a picture book author who stands shoulder to shoulder with those writers!”
“Yes. There’s Anthony Browne. He has consistently been in the top 10 in cumulative sales as well.”
“Exactly! That’s it. I believe that Kang Lim can also achieve that. The demand for picture books is much higher than people think. They are also good for translating and exporting overseas.”
The editor-in-chief laughed heartily while distributing the meeting materials.
It was a real-time chart recording the sales trend of Kang Lim’s
The articles and comments on the main screen were all organized.
[Kang Lim, from album art to children’s books!]
└ Feels like a dream. Is this really 100% digital drawing?
└ For real, the place where the thousand-year-old fox grandpa lives is so mystical……
└ The shimmering seawater the turtle goes into is so beautiful ㅠㅠ.
[Join Kang Lim’s Special Adventure, Highlight Points?]
└ He writes well too. Shouldn’t one be good at only one thing… God is unfair.
└ ㅋㅋ Just when you think there can’t be any more surprises, something new pops upㅋㅋ.
└ This time, lingering in Korea with a children’s book ㅋㅋ.
[Kang Lim’s New Year’s Gift, A Warm Children’s Book for All.]
└ Saw the World Book Awards, and his father is also cool. Indeed, good character runs in the family.
└ The scene where he says he loves his wife is so sweet.
Kim Jinseok had been searching the internet all day yesterday.
Kang Lim, Special Adventure, and his father’s proxy award were trending in search rankings, and various cafes were buzzing with activity.
The reviews from parents who received the book in advance through pre-orders played a significant role in the promotion.
‘They say words travel a thousand miles without feet. The news spread quickly by word of mouth.’
Kim Jinseok’s hand, holding the meeting materials, trembled.
Kang Lim’s impact was much stronger than he thought.
Usually, an initial print run of 10,000 copies is considered a miracle, so printing 4,000 copies for a new author was a big gamble.
Even though it was a contest-winning work, they had never given such treatment before.
Kim Jinseok also thought it was a bit of an overreach.
‘But, it sold out completely on the first day of publication…….’
The meeting materials conveyed one thing.
Kang Lim was receiving much more public love than anticipated.
“In order to secure books by authors like Haruki Murakami, publishers offer advance payments in the billions of won. It’s beneficial even if they bring them in that way. But think about it the other way around. If foreign publishers offer high advances to import our author’s books, wouldn’t that be thrilling?”
Given the current publishing market, it was an absurd idea, but it somehow felt plausible.
The records they were seeing seemed like a lie.
Kim Jinseok thought they should immediately discuss Kang Lim’s new work.
An author with such purchasing power was sure to popularize high-cost tactile books.
Sitting at the very end, he raised his hand and spoke.
“I received a call from Kang Lim yesterday! He said he wants to publish his next work. It’s a tactile educational children’s book. I mentioned that it might be difficult to release an audiobook as well, but wouldn’t it be okay? Given his popularity.”
At that moment, everyone at the round table in the conference room stared at Kim Jinseok.
As many people’s gazes pierced him like arrows, his body naturally shrank.
People looked as if they had lost something significant.
Among them, the editor-in-chief’s face turned pale.
He asked in disbelief,
“What, what did you say? So you rejected it?”
“No, rather than rejecting… we failed with our recent project
The editor-in-chief shouted loudly.
“You should have said we’d do it unconditionally! Call him right now!”
Kang Lim was looking for a publisher to distribute his new children’s book.
First, he opened his internet browser and searched for the children’s books published by the target publishers.
While industry reputation was important, he wanted to find a place that favored a similar sensibility to his work.
‘If a publisher focuses solely on commercial value, they might reject the tactile book, thinking it’s not profitable…….’
After compiling a list of publishers, he went to check his email.
However, there were unread emails piling up. And they were from the publishers he had just shortlisted.
He checked his phone notifications and saw the same thing… unread messages were piling up here too.
‘Ah, I had it on silent mode again, so I didn’t know. No need to search; is it thanks to
Kang Lim began to check the emails one by one.
[Hello, Kang Lim. This is the iBook planning team.
As you might have expected, we contacted you after reading
After reading your work, which has excellent creativity, artistry, and emotional impact, we couldn’t resist wanting to work with you!
How about proceeding with your next work with our company?
We maintain friendly relationships with multiple platforms and provide excellent editing and proofreading services.
Additionally, we have consistent exports through overseas distributors and support OSMU.
Since your characters are vivid, we also think it could be adapted into an omnibus format for animation or children’s musicals…….]
[Hello! Kang Lim, this is Premium Art Book.
The naturally flowing composition, meticulous settings, charming characters, and beautiful illustrations… this is the first time I’ve seen such a perfect work.
We felt how much effort you put into writing
If you proceed with your next work with our publishing house, we will spare no effort in providing full support.
We will also raise the royalty contract rate to 13%!
Our company has started with works like the global children’s book author Aldert Sener’s
[Although our Se-yeon Publishing is smaller and has less history compared to other publishers, we are a rapidly growing company. If you proceed with your next work with us, we will reflect all your requirements…….]
[Your book, which reminds us of what is precious, is a delight for both children and adults. You are not just creating a children’s book but capturing a child’s life and the world they must live in…….]
Kang Lim rubbed his eyes as he read the various messages.
There were so many excessive compliments that it was hard to tell if they genuinely liked the book or if they were just eager to secure a contract.
‘Wow… I’ve never received such treatment before. I wish art galleries were like this.’
Among the overflowing love calls, Premium Art Book was the most appealing.
It was as large as World Book and was known for its experimental publications in various formats.
Additionally, the raised royalty rate was a bonus.
‘I should send my new work portfolio to them.’
At the moment of his decision,
the phone rang.
It was Kim Jinseok, his editor.
As he answered, a hurried voice came through.
[Author! I mentioned the tactile book during our meeting!]
“Yes, hello. I watched the award ceremony. Thank you.”
[Oh, yes. Congratulations. Your father was really impressive too! I guess your clean image comes from your father. So how about signing
What a sudden change of heart… they’ve changed their minds.
Kang Lim thought carefully before speaking.
“Uh… well, I’m really sorry, but many publishers have offered good contract terms. Some even said they would reflect my wishes completely……”
“Oh! We can accommodate the audiobook as well. May I ask what kind of terms you received?”
After discussing specific terms with Kim Jinseok, who was in a meeting, and exchanging a few back-and-forth comments…
He spoke with a joyful voice.
“Author, we can raise the royalty rate to 16%! And we will support various promotions by bundling your books into a series!”
Since the usual royalty rate was 9-10%, it was an exceptional offer.
After finishing the contract, Kang Lim entered his studio.
Experiment pieces hung by the window were gently fluttering.
They had dried perfectly and were in just the right state for examination.
‘If this research succeeds, I can create paintings to auction.’
What he wanted to finalize here was the creation of modern Korean paintings.
Although he had tried something new with
‘I also want to try proper colored painting. Although Seoljookdo mixed white ho-bun pigment with ink, to those unfamiliar with the materials, it just looks like an ink painting.’
However, traditional colored pigments like bunchae had the same weakness.
Since glue had to be made to mix the powder, it was difficult to maintain the correct concentration for the paint.
Creating large amounts of pigment was challenging, which limited large-scale works, marking the limitations of Korean painting.
This is also why Korean painting is gradually disappearing from the modern art market.
The unique aesthetics of gradually soaking or layering pigments.
While the time element is a strength of Korean painting, it also becomes a weakness.
‘If I could mix traditional pigments with Western paints… it would create a truly unique colored painting.’
Kang Lim placed the painting on the desk.
It depicted the food he ate with Shin Hansu. Although they didn’t finish it due to its odd taste.
The smoked pork with all the grease drained, and vegetables lightly mixed with mayonnaise……
The tender pork was colored with ground pigments, and the greasy food was colored with acrylic mixed with a slippery medium.
The plate in the background was layered with thick ho-bun, making it three-dimensional.
It looked as if the food was submerged within the plate.
‘As expected… mixing materials creates cracks.’
Kang Lim touched the painting.
Since the pigments were different in material, they were clashing with each other.
It seemed like using a medium with acrylic was not the solution.
‘However, without the medium, it’s hard to express the greasy feel of the food. And applying oil paint on hanji is out of the question.’
Kang Lim brought the next painting.
It was of the same dish, but this time he used oil pastels instead of acrylic and medium.
Oil pastels, unlike oil paints, have a lower viscosity and are not slippery.
‘This will work. It doesn’t peel off when applied directly to hanji.’
Kang Lim mentally organized his research notes.
[Western materials that can be applied to hanji: pure acrylic, oil pastels.
However, when overlaid on traditional pigments, there is a high risk of peeling.
To prevent mixing, they must be used selectively on hanji with varying degrees of sizing.]
Kang Lim brought the last experimental piece.
This time, he used only water-based paints.
By eliminating the oil, the hanji was less likely to reject it.
‘Wow… this is awesome! This can speed up my work.’
It was gouache purchased from Sennelier Art Store in Paris, France.
The shop where Picasso and Van Gogh were regulars.
Could it be a gift from a historic gallery?
The gouache blended seamlessly with the hanji without cracking.
Moreover, its color brightened after drying, resembling traditional pigments.
Even when used together, the tones remained consistent.
‘This is much better than watercolor! The matte texture is similar to traditional bunchae!’
Having gained confidence, Kang Lim brought a large drawing board.
It was time to paint the discrimination he experienced that day.
