China Literature can be thought of as the Chinese version of Amazon KDP; it has millions of pieces of content uploaded to its site, in serial form, by authors. The site’s revenue is derived from intellectual property licensing (for film and TV production), the sale of physical books, and charging readers to access its online content library. In 2017, China Literature had its IPO, capitalizing on the immense popularity of serials in Asia; it immediately saw a 100 percent gain in value.
However, due to the effects of the pandemic on film and TV production. China Literature recently reported a major operating loss—its first in years. In a bright spot, the core business, online literature, continued to grow, with sales increasing 50 percent. However, some authors boycotted the platform to negotiate better contract terms. The company’s own release says, “The robustness of the China Literature platform depends on our talented writers and their creative drive. In the past, we failed to take full care of our writer’s feelings and support our writers adequately through our incentive program, and some of our writers expressed concern about previous versions of the writer’s contract. Writers are the cornerstone of the China Literature platform, and we need to do more to enhance their trust.” To get a better handle on the type of author making money from online literature in China, see this New York Times profile from 2016. Writers intrigued by China Literature’s business model can review its English-language site, Webnovel.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
