Online literature in China is set to become bigger as more readers take notice and works get film adaptations. (Photo : Reuters)
The Web writing industry is thriving in China. It is now a billion-dollar industry and is expected to grow even bigger in the future as more enthusiastic readers and organizations take notice of the budding industry.
In 2014, Giant Interactive took notice of "Choose a Day," a very popular Chinese online novel, and adapted this into a Web game. Giant Interactive is a major Chinese developer and operator of online video games and to be noticed by it is a big feat.
"Choose a Day" was so popular that digital giant Tencent even transformed it into an animated film. As its popularity increased even more, peripheral products were also manufactured.
"Choose a Day" is only one example of how the online literature industry is booming. It is hardly an isolated case, as there are countless others. Another prime example would be "Empresses in the Palace," which is a very popular TV series today.
However, a background research would reveal that it also originated from an Internet novel of the same name. The TV series' popularity transcends China. It also became popular in Hong Kong and Japan. It is also going to debut in the U.S. later this year on the HBO cable network, making it the first-ever Chinese TV series to make it on a major TV channel in the western region.
China's Internet literature market originated from Jinjiang Literature City, which is a paid-for literature website starting from a small Bulletin Board System (BBS). It has changed a lot since then, generating around 60 million visits daily.
It is thought that the market's success lies with the increasing number of e-reading citizens. The site is also different from others, because readers can search for books that would satisfy their palate and may even have an impact on a specific writer's writing direction just by paying for it to be changed with just one click.
