KT Millie is pushing to diversify audiobook content and overhaul its platform, stepping up efforts to expand its reading ecosystem.

KT Millie said on May 29 it is pursuing a diversification strategy that combines audiobook content with text-based reading experiences, based on cooperation with the publishing industry.

The company recently introduced an e-book version of author Kim Geum-hee’s audiobook “First Summer, Wanju,” which was released by publisher Muje. It reworks background sound and scenes in stage directions into text based on the audiobook, offering a text-specific reading experience.

The cooperation is also expanding into its reading podcast service. Following the e-book launch, actor Park Jung-min (박정민) and author Cheon Seon-ran (천선란), who wrote the original work for the webtoon “A Thousand Blues,” appeared in the “Rike Club” segment of KT Millie’s podcast “Reading Chemistry” on May 11.

It is also revamping services for children and teen readers. The company recently fully overhauled its existing Family Lounge service into a “Kids Audiobooks” page and strengthened age-based recommendation curation. It is providing features such as a children’s book check function and a collection view for Disney English audiobooks to support the formation of reading habits.

It plans to keep expanding its tailored book lineup for children and teens, including the “MapleStory” series and 45 titles in the “Youth World Literature Collection.”

“Audiobooks are becoming an important starting point that goes beyond content that people simply listen to and expands into a new reading experience,” Lee Seong-ho (이성호), head of the Reading Party division at KT Millie, said. “We will continue to organically connect content in various forms such as audiobooks, e-books and reading podcasts to steadily build a rich reading ecosystem where content, authors and readers come together,” he said.