Author caught stockpiling own book to boost bestseller ranking

An author who bought up 1,600 copies of his own book to push it up bookstore bestseller rankings, along with a publishing house employee who helped him, has been indicted.

According to Yonhap, the Uijeongbu District Prosecutors Office's Goyang branch said Wednesday it had indicted two men without detention on charges of violating the Publishing Culture Industry Promotion Act. The author, a man in his 40s identified only as A, and the publishing house's head, a man in his 50s identified only as B, were named in the indictment.

A and his associate allegedly plotted between March and July 2024 to boost sales of A's newly released book so it would enter and stay on a bookstore's bestseller list.

To that end, they were found to have visited branches of the bookstore chain across the country and bought up 1,631 copies of the book.

The Korean Publishing Culture Industry Promotion Institute filed a complaint with police over the matter, and a follow-up investigation by prosecutors uncovered the full scope of the scheme.

Investigators found that the pair carried out the scheme because they believed climbing the bestseller list through bulk purchases would have a greater advertising effect than spending on actual advertising.

During the period in question, the book sold a total of 11,135 copies, of which 1,631 — or 14 percent — were bought up by the pair themselves. As a result, the book's weekly bestseller ranking in its category rose from third or fourth place to second or third place.

A and B reportedly became acquainted through publishing other books in the past, and the book at the center of the stockpiling scheme was unrelated to B's publishing house.