(GUO YIFU)

"I feel tremendously satisfied when I throw myself into the online literature world. And as far as I'm aware this is no longer a small world gathering small numbers, but a huge one, attracting hundreds of millions of writers and readers," he said.

For love or money?

Wang is right. Online literature is big business. Data from Shanda Literature, which controls over 90 percent of China's online reading market and rakes in an estimated 100 million yuan ($15 million) annually, shows the company has more than 930,000 writers on its books, all writing original stories.

The country's online readers stood at 188 million as of the end of June 2010, according to the latest report released by China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), which calls online literature the fourth most-popular type of online entertainment after music, games and videos (see charts).

Dong Liang, 27, a fan of reading online, said compared with traditional books, online literature provides easy access to millions of choices.

"You can find any categories you like in seconds. You just pay 2 or 3 yuan ($0.3-0.45) to read 50,000 characters a day," he said, adding that the online interaction with the authors and those who share the same tastes is an added benefit.

Consumer demand means fierce competition for online writers. According to Wang Wei, who signed up in 2006 with www.qidian.com, one of the largest online literature websites in China, readers are spoiled for choice on the Internet, and stories need to be original, suspense filled and well paced.

Wang said his writing focuses on fantasy and the supernatural, which are not only his favorite material, but also popular with readers.

Over the past four years Wang has spent two hours every night updating his stories and discussing ideas with his more than 2,000 online reader fan base. There is no time off. During weekends and holidays he may stay online a few extra hours perfecting his writing.

Yu Xinyong, former online writer for three years, said income is directly linked to the number of subscribers. Although only few websites insist on daily input from their writers, a lot of authors push themselves hard to update quickly to win as many new readers as possible.

Wang told ChinAfrica that at qidian.com, it is common to see a full-time writer who works eight hours uploading 6,000 characters a day. "At this rate if the writer has 4,000 subscribers, which is quite normal, they can easily earn more than 10,000 yuan ($1,500) a month," he added. Earnings are usually calculated on small payments subscribers make for each 1,000 characters read. The website and author share in 50 percent of this revenue.

But Wang said the vast majority of writers are part-timers who don't earn big sums and write more for the love of it. Their biggest headache is how to protect others plagiarizing their work.

Plagiarism rife

Pikaqiu, the pseudonym of a senior editor with qidian.com, said it is common for popular novels to be copied and uploaded on free websites 10 minutes after being published on the Internet. Many writers even find their works "published" as printed books and sold on the street.

JAS, a Zhejiang (southeast China)-based online writer, told China Daily that one of her stories was adapted into a film, but the director removed her name from the credits when it was shown at an international film festival. JAS was not fully compensated until two years later.

"We hate the piracy. But most of the time we just don't have the time or the money to follow up these cases. There are too many," said Wang Wei.

Some experts believe that emerging online literature has outpaced relevant legislation and regulation.

"Given that current laws including the Copyright Law mainly provide stipulations instead of specific rules, the protection of online literature is hard," an official from the Copyright Protection Center of China (CPCC) who wished to remain anonymous told ChinAfrica. While authors automatically have copyright of their work, there are only a handful who have formally registered their copyright at CPCC, the official added.

Changes are afoot. On September 15, 2010, the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) issued new industry guidelines, of which a great part is dedicated to countermeasures against Internet piracy.

The guidelines called to formulate special regulations on Internet publications, revise relevant laws and establish a system to standardize industry processes.