Count distinct titles and lead with specialist adult nonfiction when selling books for AI training
A US distributor buying Korean used books in bulk in 2026 (suspected of supplying AI training) told the JoongAng Ilbo it buys one copy of each title, that the number of titles matters more than the number of books, that it wants academic and specialist nonfiction (science, history, humanities, business, economics, art and design), that fiction is a low priority, and that it does not buy comics, religious books, children's books, study guides or magazines. Mentat, which licenses about 34,000 Korean titles to global AI companies, says STEM and specialist knowledge lead current training demand and that slow-selling specialist and backlist titles can be what AI buyers need.
Dated 20 Oct 2026Source checked 20 Oct 2026Quote found on its page again 21 Oct 2026Basis: indicative
““We buy one copy of each title,” the buyer wrote. “The number of titles matters more than the total number of books.””
It is shown on its own, not counted into a figure.
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