Reading novels online
In America, the web is doing awesome things for people with hidden talent. People can become professional broadcasters, musicians, and even professional bloggers. Few writers, however, have made their bones by starting on the web. In the U.S., for the most part, literary careers still usually come about through traditional channels–agents, traditional publishers, etc.
According to CNN, such is not the case in China. In China, authors are posting their novels online and are striking it big. So many novels are going online that publishers have begun to scour websites looking for talent. When you think about how many people there are in China and how many stories they are telling, it’s pretty amazing to think of the sheer volume of work that publishers must be reading and evaluating. It’s great because it enables “ordinary people,” as described by publisher Hou Xiaoqiang, to make it big. It turns the hierarchy upside down.
I like what Hou says about lit:
“Literature is the starting point of all means of entertainment,” Hou told CNN. “It can provide numerous blueprints for games, music, movies and dramas. A lack of good stories is the main reason of the underdevelopment of entertainment [in China].”
In terms of American writers moving to the web….well, I don’t think it’s going to happen. Americans spend lots of time online, but I think we aren’t as close to our personal devices as the Chinese are. Texting, for example, caught on more slowly, and it’s still not at the same level as it is in China or Japan. Americans prefer some things a certain way. The web will help more people get published through self-publishing, but as for publishing full novels online and making it big through some kind of fortuitous discovery, I think our preference for paper is going to keep us a bit more traditional.
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