They Say No One Reads Anymore... But Movies, YouTube, and the Stock Market Are Creating Bestsellers

Movies, YouTube, and the Stock Market Shake Up Bookstores in the First Half of the Year:
A New Formula for Book Sales
"Project Hail Mary" Sees 923% Surge in Release Month
1,589 AI-Related Titles Published

The statement that books are being read again is only half true. More accurately, the way books are being sold is changing. What drove the bookstore market in the first half of this year was not new book marketing campaigns. Instead, external events such as movie releases, YouTube recommendations, stock market rallies, and the spread of artificial intelligence (AI) boosted book sales. Rather than discovering books inside bookstores, readers are now becoming interested in books through content platforms and social changes, and then seeking them out—this structure has become established.

Andy Weir's 2021 work "Project Hail Mary" is a prime example. This book, which ranked first on Yes24's comprehensive bestsellers list for the first half of the year, saw a sharp increase in sales following the film's release. Still cut from the movie "Project Hail Mary"

According to the "2025 National Reading Survey" recently published by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on June 2, the overall adult reading rate stood at just 38.5%. Although the reading population continues to decline, certain titles have recorded explosive sales. This is not because the competitiveness of the books themselves suddenly increased, but rather because new demand was created as books became linked with movies, YouTube, stock markets, and AI.

Best Sellers Created by Movies and YouTube

The top overall bestseller in the first half of this year was Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary, which was originally published in 2021. Following the release of its film adaptation, sales soared, propelling it back to bestseller status. Sales in the month of the movie's release jumped by 923.4% compared to the previous month, and it ranked first overall at Kyobo Bookstore for six consecutive weeks. This reaffirmed the "screenseller" effect, where a movie drives sales of the original novel.

YouTube has also emerged as a powerful sales channel. After being recommended by film critic Lee Dongjin, sales of Yui Suzuki's Goethe Said It All surged. Immediately after the recommendation, sales increased about 14.9 times compared to the previous week, and the upward trend continued with further recommendations at the end of the year.

A graphic summarizing the 2025 first half book market shaken by media, stock market, and AI, showing cases such as the sales of "Project Hail Mary" soaring over 800% due to a movie release, the investment book boom driven by the sharp rise in the KOSPI index, the popularity of AI utilization books following technological changes, and the increasing trend of direct purchases by teenagers.

In the past, readers' choices were influenced by newspaper reviews and publisher marketing. Now, video content and platform algorithms are playing a key role in rediscovering books. Publishers are also focusing more on creating points of rediscovery for books rather than simply promoting new releases.

Bookstores Shaken by the Stock Market and AI

In the fields of business, economics, and IT, market changes have become a direct driving force for sales. In the first half of this year, domestic sales of stock investment books increased by 277.8% compared to the same period last year. The rally in the KOSPI index and the influx of individual investors combined to drive up demand for investment-related books. For new investors entering the market, these books served as guides.

The KOSPI index started higher and surpassed the 8,700 mark for the first time in history on June 1, 2026. The status of the domestic stock market is displayed on the electronic board in the dealing room at the Hana Bank headquarters in Junggu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang

The market for AI-related books also continued to grow. In the first half of this year alone, 1,589 AI-related titles were published, and sales increased by 23.6% compared to the same period last year. After the initial craze for introductory books on ChatGPT subsided, practical guides focusing on specific tools such as Gemini, Claude, and Vibe Coding began to lead the market.

Interestingly, the spread of AI has also stimulated demand for humanities books. Titles such as Yuval Noah Harari's Nexus and Jang Kangmyung's The Future That Arrived First, which explore human thought and the future, are also gaining attention. There is growing demand both for learning how to use AI and for reflecting on the role of humans in the age of AI.

The publishing industry now believes that the conditions for bestsellers have changed. Rather than a brief spike in sales immediately after publication, the key is now the moment when a book is rediscovered amid movies, platforms, social issues, and technological changes. As one publishing industry insider put it, "A book's competitiveness is now determined not only by its content, but also by the connection points that allow it to meet readers again."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.