Follow the Success of the Novels 'Areksa' and 'Samuel', AKAD Publisher Monetizes Canva Characters

Kapanlagi.com - Just launched in January 2021, AKAD publisher has immediately achieved a series of best-selling novels. Some of them that you may have heard or read are the novels Areksa (released on May 10, 2021) and Samuel (September 2, 2021).

Both novels above target the Gen-Z and millennial segments. These 2 novels are part of a tetralogy, where the other 2 titles, Eccedentesiast and Marveluna, will be released at the end of February and the end of June 2022, respectively.

The four novels of the tetralogy are written by Ita Kurniawati, a young writer born on December 10, 2003. Currently, the author, known by the pen name 'MartabakKolor' or 'ItaKrn', is still a high school student!

1. Synopsis of 'Areksa' and 'Samuel'

The novel Areksa tells the story of Areksa, a handsome, wise, tough, and intimidating guy. Besides being the head of the Student Council at Taruna Bakti High School, he is also the vice chairman of a motorcycle gang called Diamond Gang. This novel also tells the story of the romance between Areksa and Alona, which also causes their friendship to break apart.

Meanwhile, the novel Samuel tells the story of Samuel Erlangga, a firm and tough character, just like a lion when facing his rival. Unfortunately, this is in contrast to his true nature, which is spoiled at home when he has to meet his mother's Spiderman milk and bottle.

However, who would have thought that behind Samuel's toughness, he has a traumatic past that has haunted him for the past two years. The woman he loved died because of his own mistake. Since then, he no longer wants to have a serious romantic relationship with a woman.

Until finally, his parents informed him that he has been arranged to be married since he was young to the daughter of his father's friend, who turns out to be a spoiled and annoying woman. One thing that makes Samuel have to accept the arranged marriage when he graduates from college is that the woman becomes the target of murder by his father's rivals. Therefore, Samuel feels challenged to protect the woman, who is none other than Azura or Rapunzel.

2. Give Special Spotlight to Canva Character

'Diary of Canva' / Photo Credit: Personal Documentation

The novel Areksa and Samuel have been selling like hotcakes in the market. "When it was first launched, specifically during the Pre-Order period, the novel 'AREKSA' sold 6,000 copies. Up to now, the novel has sold more than 15,000 copies. As for the novel 'SAMUEL', the Pre-Order sales reached 20,000 copies. Up to now, the novel 'SAMUEL' has sold more than 27,000 copies," said Andri Agus Fabianto, the CEO of Akad Publisher.

Not satisfied with the successful sales of the novels, Akad Publisher decided to monetize other characters in the Areksa and Samuel novels, namely Canva.

"Initially, Canva was not intended to be a main character since the novel Areksa. But after the release of the novel Samuel, it turned out that Canva started to capture the readers' attention. In fact, its popularity has equaled that of the main character. Canva's loving, mature, and caring nature towards its friends has become the main strength of the character," added Andri.

3. Success of 'Diary of Canva'

The opportunity was not wasted by the publisher, Akad. Therefore, the character Canva was created to have a special product, namely Diary of Canva. The decision of the Akad publisher to monetize the Canva character proved successful. The evidence is that within a period of 2 hours of the Pre-Order period, Diary of Canva successfully sold 10 thousand copies.

This Canva character also has an Instagram account @canva.tamvan, where as a fictional character roleplayer account, Canva is recorded as the character with the most followers in Indonesia, reaching 250 thousand followers in just two months. In addition, the hashtag #CanvaTamvan was able to reach 101 million on the TikTok platform. Furthermore, Canva has also been trending as the fourth topic on Twitter and the first rank on Spotify.

"In addition to Canva, we have also monetized this novel by presenting the Photobook Samuel & Diamond Gang, which sold 10,000 copies. In fact, the novels Areksa and Samuel have been acquired by MD Entertainment to be adapted into digital series content on OTT (Over the Top)," concluded Andri.

(kpl/gtr)