If you're not dropping "mook" into daily conversation yet then you
will soon. A Japanese concoction that's merged magazine with book, the
mook is usually a small-format, specialist title that will obsess over
a single subject, trend or person for at least 150 pages. Western
publishers haven't quite come to grips with the concept, but in Japan
all the main publishing players crank out all manner of mooks. My
favourite is a black-and-white lifestyle study of Japanese footballer
Hidetoshi Nakata. The book offers style tips, daily diet tips,
exercise regimes and cute things to say in Italian and is crammed with
shots of the most handsome player in football.
Financial Times
10 September 2005
Extracts from other articles:
... Although there is a boom in sales of books by Kenzaburo Oe, who in
October became the second Japanese to win the Nobel Prize in
literature, most Japanese readers are increasingly drawn to shorter,
less serious and more salacious works.
.... Book publishers are also turning more to mooks, which are
expected to record about 300 billion yen in sales this year. These are
attractive to publishers because of the inclusion of advertising,
which is often offered on an exclusive basis, and cheaper printing
costs. These factors reduce the overall production expenses to a third
of the level of books. Popular topics include food and fashion,
medical care and wedding arrangements. ... |
