ARMY budol alert: BTS to publish book 'Beyond The Story' on July 9
ARMY Day is about to be extra special for BTS fans this year, as the K-pop powerhouse is set to release their own book on that same day.
Titled Beyond the Story: 10-Year Record of BTS, the book contains 544 pages that chronicle the journey of the phenomenal seven-piece boy group through music and feature 40 never-before-seen photos of the band.
It is written by journalist Myeongseok Kang and the members of the group—RM, Jin, Suga, J-hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook. It is translated into English by Anton Hur, Clare Richard, and Slin Jung.
The release date of this collector's item is surely one that ARMYs would not forget, as it is slated for July 9, the day BTS' worldwide fandom was founded. It also comes almost a month after the music icon's tenth anniversary on June 13.
Beyond the Story: 10-Year Record of BTS will come in e-book and printed formats. One million of its printed copy will be rolled out on the first run in South Korea and the United States. BTS' record label, Big Hit Music, will publish the book in South Korea and New York-based publisher Flatiron in the U.S.
Beyond The Story was officially announced by Flatiron on May 12 but even before that, it was already making a buzz online because of another music icon's fandom—those of Taylor Swift.
According to The New York Times, Flatiron previously announced that an anonymous celebrity will be releasing a book, simply dubbed "4C Untitled Flatiron Nonfiction Summer 2023," on June 13.
Swifties then began speculating that the unnamed celebrity author is Taylor Swift, as the American singer has been referring to number 13 as her lucky number and kept using it as an Easter egg in some of her announcements. Even the final date of the book's release, July 9, is said to have a relation with Taylor as she mentioned it when she announced the release of her re-recorded album Speak Now.
All these placed the then-untitled book on the best-selling list of Amazon and Barnes & Noble even before Flatiron confirmed who the author is.
After the publisher announced that the mystery author happens to be BTS, the book continued to make rounds online, making it to Twitter's top trending lists for the day.
BTS has been dominating the global music industry with their nine albums, six EPs, and over 40 sold-out concerts since their debut. On June 2022, the group announced that they are taking a hiatus from group projects to focus on solo activities.