Are online novels insignificant? Five years ago people may have thought that, but now, there's not a single person who can honestly say that's the case. Online literature has played a huge role as a source for movies and TV shows recently. The Journey of Flower, The Lost Tomb and the widely praised Nirvana in Fire all began as online novels.
In March, China Reading Limited united with qidian.com, chuangshi.qq.com and other online literature sites to become the largest connected group of such sites in China, controlling a 90 percent market share. According to a statement by China Reading Limited CEO Wu Wenhui in August, in total the group has 4 million registered authors and 290 million registered readers - a new high in the industry.
Online drama The Lost Tomb, adapted from Nanpai Sanshu's Grave Robbers' Chronicles, was an overwhelming success for the author. Yet, four months later he decided to return to qidian.com, where he first posted his Grave Robbers' Chronicles, to start a new series. Starting from October 24, he has been posting a new chapter everyday much like many other ordinary writers do.
Other writers who had left online literature platforms behind have also started coming back. No longer regarded as some low-end part-time job, online writing in China is seen as a promising field that is open to everybody and still a blue sea for investors.
A good start
What makes the Chinese online literature industry so different?
"No other country has such a robust industry for online literature like we do," author Tangjia Sanshao (Zhang Wei) said when he was listed as the country's richest online writer by the China Rich Writers List last December.
"In China, online literature is likely to create a new model for writing."
This so-called new writing model got its start with Wu and his team on qidian.com in 2003. Back then users could subscribe to a particular author's work, purchasing chapters at 0.02 yuan per 1,000 characters. As a reference, if the Chinese translation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (about 516,000 Chinese characters from the original 197,651 English word work) was published on qidian.com in 2003, readers could buy the entire book for 10.32 yuan ($1.61).
This may not sound like much, but it was a start. Eventually, online literature sites began encouraging authors in different ways. For example, sites' VIP members could buy monthly passes or even send virtual gifts to their favorite authors, while some sites paid extra bonuses to authors that uploaded new material everyday for an entire month straight.
The subscription model is still the main source of income for most online authors. However, now these sites have propagated to different online terminals such as smart tablets and mobile phones, which has considerably increased the audience base for online novels.
"In the early days, only several hundred people would subscribe to a novel online, so authors didn't earn much. Even a good writer could only make about several thousand yuan a month, so you only saw a few professional writers. But now these platforms bring in several hundred thousand subscribers and good authors can earn huge salaries," Yang Chen, the general manager of China Reading Limited, told the Global Times.
Growing a following
Fang Shadan, known online by her pen name Yufang, started publishing her work online in 2010.
"My first book earned 600 yuan during its first month on the shelf. At the time I was very surprised by this. Soon after that, my monthly contribution fee reached 3,000 - 4,000 yuan. I felt very happy to be earning some pocket money with my hobby."
Fang told the Global Times that the main part of her writing income comes from reader subscriptions.
Now living in Jieyang, Guangdong Province, the 29-year-old author writes about 6,000 characters a day, and earns about 30,000 yuan a month.
"Accumulating a following is very important. How to write a plot that makes the story tense and attracts readers is also important."
Fang spends about 10 hours a day writing or studying the works of others.
Mainly writing period romances, Fang feels her stories would make good movie or TV adaptations. Having published some of her stories through some traditional print publishing houses, Fang has been approached by studios about adapting her works.
"The large number of adaptations out there now fills me with hope," Fang said.
Not for everybody
However, among the sea of online authors, high-earning authors like Fang are a minority. According to Yang, only 10 percent of online authors on a site actually have a contract with said site.
According to Yang, a site usually only considers signing authors that have already produced 30,000 - 50,000 characters worth of content. Once signed, the author's works can be moved to a section of the site for recommended works, which will help ensure that they are seen.
"For income from subscriptions, the highest can reach more than 100,000 or even 200,000 yuan a month, while the lowest is around 1,500 yuan," Yang said, explaining that websites usually have a guarantee in place for signed authors that if they earn less than 1,500 yuan through subscriptions, the site will help pay the rest.
"For low-tier authors, hoping their work gets adapted into a game, movie or TV show is a distant hope. They are more focused on more immediate profits," Yang said, explaining that while many see online literature as a promising stepping stone into other industries, for most authors this is just a distant hope.
