EXO’s coloring book to be published on Feb. 17

“To buy or not to buy the EXO coloring book.”

EXO, a Korean-Chinese boy band, will release its coloring book. Interpark Books, a subsidiary of Interpark, an e-commerce company, said recently that it would publish a coloring book titled “EXO: A DAY IN EXOPLANET” with SM Entertainment, which manages the band. Although other bands published photobooks, self-help books and essays before, EXO is the first band that released its coloring book.

The book which will be published on Feb. 17 has a concept of “a day of EXO” depicting the life of the band members at their lodgings and recording studio. A total of 2,861 books have been pre-sold from Friday afternoon to Monday through the Interpark website and mobile app. As of Tuesday, it topped this week’s best seller, surpassing Venerable Hye-min’s “Love for Those That Are Not Perfect” and “Courage to Be Disliked.”

Some say, however, it is less than expected given EXO’s other records in music or concert ticket sales. Big Bang, a boy band, sold over 550,000 copies of its self-help book, “Shout Yourself to the World” in 2008. A source from Interpark said, “The sales volume is not large given that we tuned the server for a possible surge in booking. This is probably because of the lunar New Year holidays.”

The coloring book is a buzzword online. While EXO fans said, “I’ll change my hobby to color books,” and “It’s a pity that the book was not published earlier because I had nothing to do during the lunar New Year holidays,” others said, “It is expensive. It costs 15,000 won (12.5 US dollars) for a 40-page book.” What draws most attention among fans is a special gift provided for only those who make reservations. Three different cards of EXO members are offered on a random basis, and some fans even talk about trading cards with others who have cards of their favorite member.

Interpark said, “As offline sales in Korea and online sales in China will begin on Feb. 17, we expect a Korean Wave in publishing.”

구가인기자 comedy9@donga.com