Behind annual Chinese Writers Rich List

Zheng Yuanjie, China's "king of fairy tales," topped the recently released 2012 Chinese Writers Rich List with an annual income of 26 million yuan in royalties. Nobel literature laureate Mo Yan jumped to second place with 21.5 million yuan in royalties thanks to his Nobel win. The high-profile Writers Rich List has aroused widespread discussion in China once again. Certain people have called for stopping ranking writers according to their income, and doubted the authenticity of the list.

Literary creations cannot be measured by money

The list's compiler said that the purpose of making the Writers Rich List by estimating their royalties is to record the changes in the wealth of Chinese writers, reflect people's reading trends, promote the idea that being a writer is respectable and profitable, and increase people's interest in reading.

Zhang Yiyi, a writer born in the 1980s, said that the complier should stop making such a list because it is absurd and stupid to rank writers according to their income, which is no different from ranking entrepreneurs according to their literary creations. The list has led to a limited and incorrect understanding of domestic writers.

Publishing industry insiders said that the annual Writers Rich List can just entertain the public. Only writers themselves and related publishers know their royalties, and probably only 20 percent of the statistics used to compile the list is accurate.

A reader named Wu Yinghai said that all writers on the list earn a living by selling books, which means their incomes are above board, so why can't they be ranked? Moreover, behind these listed writers there are huge group of readers as support.

Professor Zhang Yiwu from Peking University said there is no need to halt the Writers Rich List. The use of such rankings as a reference may not be accurate, and of course the value of the writers' creation cannot be measured in monetary terms. But the list of richest writers reflects the market trends of the literary and reflects the popularity of a writer in the book market, which certainly have some significance for understanding market dynamics.

Zhang said that the list has reflected the adjustment and change in the structure of the literary market. The number of traditional writers who have influence on the market is less than 10, indicating a shrinking pure literature market. The inclusion of Guo Jingming and under his banner Di'an, Luoluo, and other youth literary writers in the list indicates that the network literature and youth literature have each taken equal portion of the literature world as traditional literature.

Market-oriented Internet writers

The Writers Rich List launched the ranking of Internet writers for the first time. According to the total income from royalties and related authorization generated by the works of these Internet writers during the five years period from 2007 to 2012, Tangjiasanshao tops the list with 33 million yuan income in five years. The oldest writer on the list is 40 years old, and the youngest only 23 years old.

Zhang Yiwu said that the Internet writers are totally market-oriented and rely solely on writing to earn money, which is harder than the situation of traditional writers who also receive wages from the Writer Association besides the reliance on writing for sustenance.

It was also pointed out that the direct link between the economic interests of writers and the preferences of readers as well as the frequent interactions between writers and readers make the works of the Internet writers closer to readers on the one hand; but on the other hand, if the writer is not firm enough, he would be led by the nose by the preference of the readers and the works would lose personality. Besides, the choice of subject matter is unvaried. The representative works of the Internet writers on the list are either about fantasy or about Chrono-Cross. There is not a single piece of work concerning reality.

The pride in producing good works cannot be traded with fame or wealth

Founder of the Chinese "Writers Rich List" said, "The gap between rich and poor Chinese writers groups is shocking. The annual incomes of some writers are far above 10 million yuan while others work hard throughout a year only to earn less than 100,000 yuan. Still other writers have total deposit of less than 50 thousand yuan."

The Writer Rich List caused concerns about the state of survival of the writers. In the era of market economy, writers face a wide range of impact and temptations. The writer must make constant effort to exclude the interferences and get down creating quality works. As Mo Yan said, what is the power of writing? Neither fame nor wealth is principal, but the writer's enthusiasm towards his novel. The pride in spending one's whole life to compose a novel to one's own satisfaction cannot be traded with fame or wealth.

Only the production of good works truly reflects the writer's value.