The tearing of ＂Youth Hairpin Travel＂ and the copyright storm on the platform are all related to TA.

Special feature of 1905 film network Recently, topics related to "network literature" have attracted much attention online and offline, and discussions have continued.

　

In the film and television drama projects that have been launched one after another and officially announced, there are not a few works adapted from online texts, from Hao Yi Hang, Long Song Hang to Qing Hairpin Hang, which is now making a lot of noise because of the dispute over the position, each of them has its own heat and has not been reflected first;Tang Jiasan, the author of "Great God", proposed that China’s online literature should be done."Influential China IP"At the same time, a group of authors are launching a "copyright defense war" on the platform in a collective way.

　

Differences and disputes, warming and development. When China’s online literature has been defined as one of the "four major cultural phenomena in the world", it is necessary for us to talk about this increasingly mainstream "cultural afterwave".

　

18 million people’s "competing in the same field"

A set of data was disclosed in the 2019 Report on the Development of Online Literature. At that time, the number of online literature creators in China had reached 17.55 million, with a total of 24.42 million works.According to the latest statistics of the industry giant Yuewen Group, in the first quarter of 2020 alone, there were 330,000 new net authors, an increase of 129% from the previous month, and the number of new works exceeded 520,000.

　

Undoubtedly, after nearly 20 years of development, online literature has formed a huge and dynamic content creation ecology, which has become an important engine of China’s cultural industry.

　

Among the authors we interviewed, Shanshui was the first one who came into contact with online literature. In 2001, when he was still in college, he began to understand this field for the first time by reading: "Compared with traditional literary works, it is closer to the tastes of ordinary readers. No matter the character setting or the storyline, it has the characteristics of popular reading. "

　

After accumulating a lot of reading, Shanshui signed a contract with qidian around 2006 and really became a net writer. This has almost become a "prescribed action" for all creators — — The authors, Hemerocallis Hemerocallis and koi fish Jr. (a pseudonym), are currently the contracted authors of Jinjiang Literature City Platform.At first, everyone was here to "catch up" with the works of the Great God in their hearts. Gradually, the strong interactivity and freedom of online literature stimulated their desire to share.

　

"At first, I hoped that what I wanted to express could be seen and loved by others. At present, my interest has been combined with reality and brought me income as a career." Koi fish Jr. said.

　

Although there may be differences in details, it is the mainstream business model adopted by every online literature platform to start business cooperation with creators through signing contracts. The author writes the outline and the opening submission to the platform editor, and after approval, he can sign a contract to update it on the website. After the publication of a new article, you can start the charging mode (also known as VIP entry) when you achieve the specified results. At this stage, every time readers read the content of a chapter, the author can get a certain subscription income. The more paying readers, the more substantial the income.

We have learned about the sharing method of some platforms. Jinjiang Literature City and the author split the accounts 50-50, and the websites under Reading Wen also choose to share the income of paid subscriptions with the author, but the specific breakdown is the net income after deducting costs (including but not limited to channels and operating expenses). In addition, authors who update daily or have outstanding achievements can get some extra rewards from the platform.

　

"Within three days after entering the VIP, there will be an opportunity to push the readers of the whole network, also called’ upper clip’. On the clip, the works will be sorted according to the income. " Koi fish Jr. introduced to us, "After that, we will expose and publicize the whole process according to the good or bad results, and go to various lists on the platform."

　

Day lily demon flower basically recognizes this operation mode of Jinjiang Literature City:"Every list is still fair. With exposure and traffic, readers will naturally come to see it, and the list with more people will be better."

For new authors, the platform plays a more prominent role."The core is that the platform can bring readers and traffic to the author, which can be said to be a foundation for online literature creation."Shanshui said, "If it is an excellent work, the editor will not be stingy with the resources of the website to promote your development. We have seen that many authors can’ seal a god’ and are inseparable from the resource help of the platform. "

　

The "2019 China Online Literature Writers’ Influence List" shows that the trend of younger online writers has become the norm. Among the new male frequency writers, the "post-90 s" authors account for over 45%; A large number of new people have also emerged in the female frequency network market.

　

The author’s rapid iteration and upper position are closely related to the traffic blessing of his head platform, and their works also bring a lot of benefits to the website. Yang Qianzi, a writer and screenwriter, said that in the author’s realization method, all kinds of copyright income account for the bulk, and drainage can help the author publicize and promote his works. At the same time, the platform is increasingly aware that good content is the king of sustainable development: "The platform now respects the author more than before. For key authors, the editor will participate in the planning and control of the content all the time, and finally promote the full copyright."

　

Therefore, although the copyright dispute once caused a storm in the online industry, the "fish-water symbiosis" relationship between the author and the platform will not change easily. For nearly 18 million creators, the platform directly links more than 455 million users of online literature. The huge market capacity is not only the fairest stage for core original content, but also represents the unlimited development potential of online literature in China.

From "Post Wave" to "New Culture Phenomenon"

As mentioned above, the number of online literature users in China currently exceeds 455 million, accounting for more than half of the netizens’ utilization rate. Time goes back a few years. At that time, we can still look at online literature from the perspective of exploring new things. Now, this industry can no longer be separated from mainstream culture. From the webpage to the mobile terminal, the "fluidity" of online literature has been continuously strengthened, and reading habits have also ushered in further popularization.

　

Practitioner Yu Yu has helped many authors to complete the commercial operation of their works. In her view, online literature has become a symbolic product of the Internet age. "It has enabled more and more people to join the team of instant reading. At the same time, the concept that everyone is both a winner and a creator also makes the brainstorming of original value come into being. "

　

At this point, the creators are more touched. Qiyuan is a newcomer who has just entered the business, and is currently affiliated with a studio. At first, exposure to online literature was the need of literary planning. "The biggest advantage of online literature is that it has a clear mind. Recently, the popular" Chen Qianqian in Rumors "was found refreshing by many viewers. In fact, such stalks are everywhere in online literature."

The ability of online literature to "break the circle" surprised Qi Yuan even more: "I found that middle-aged people can’t stop reading online. They have been exposed to serious literature since childhood. When they first discovered this kind of business literature, they couldn’t stop. " For this reason, Qiyuan is still very optimistic about the prospects of his industry:"After all, as a kind of entertainment, net text still has to face the sinking market."

　

As a practitioner who has been in the industry for a long time and benefited more from it, Shanshui has more confidence in the development prospects of online literature: "There is an unwritten saying in the industry that there are four major cultural phenomena in the world — — Korean dramas, Japanese movies, Hollywood movies and China’s online literature. I think online literature should develop into a very distinctive literary phenomenon in China. "

　

In Shanshui’s view, China’s online literature has formed the characteristics of high degree of marketization, diverse types, wide dissemination and commercialization in the past 20 years. Nowadays, this new cultural product has been accepted by more and more people:"We should not talk about whether it is becoming mainstream. To some extent, I think online literature is already a mainstream."

From the impetuous "post-wave" to the "new mainstream" now, the development has brought opportunities and new challenges to the creators of online literature.

　

Taking the growing demand for content in the film and television industry as an example, the author Hemerocallis believes that the craze of blindly chasing IP has receded, and now film and television companies pay more attention to fine products and popular online texts. "At the same time, the purchase of copyright by film and television parties has a great positive impact on the author’s reality. Selling a copyright can alleviate an author’s economic pressure.Without worries, they can escape from impetuous space and create better works. "

Yuyu also expects the attention of the film and television industry to release more positive signals to the industry: "Excellent online texts have been adapted into film and television works, and they have been affirmed by the market. There is no doubt about the recognition of the quality of the works. Film and television works are another very important way of communication and output besides the platform, which will make the author more confident in his works, and at the same time, the platform will strengthen communication with the author in order to ensure the quality of the works, forming a positive and benign cycle. "

　

The change brought by positive signals is reflected in the author koi fish Jr.: "It is a great temptation and yearning for the author that the works can be seen and recognized by more people. My current creation is very active, and I will try to be close to the theme suitable for selling copyright. "She revealed that professional dramas are relatively popular at present, and it is the easiest to sell copyright among modern romance types.

Written before the official "going out to sea"

According to the current industry scale and development momentum, the dream of online literature becoming "China IP with world influence" is not far away. But before the official "going out to sea", is there any shortcoming that this cultural ship needs to make up urgently?

　

Previously, the dispute caused by the old contract of the Reading Group was a violent outbreak of the pain points in the industry. In the eyes of many authors, it is an indisputable fact that the platform has more right to speak. In this game, the demands of most authors are still"the right to free creation and the protection of income and copyright". Shanshui believes that through this storm, the author put forward his own ideas, and the platform also revised the contract, which is developing in a good direction as a whole.

　

However, the writer Yang Qianzi also admitted that compared with the great authors with absolute traffic, the situation of newcomers is still relatively difficult: "I hope the platform can give them more opportunities for good content."

The trite phenomenon of piracy still gives Internet writers a headache today. George W. koi fish tells us that great writers will affect their income, and ordinary writers may even be stolen and take everything away:"If there is no piracy, the author’s income is 100%. Once there is a piracy, the income will be lost by at least half or more, because once the article is stolen, it may spread indefinitely."

　

In addition to simultaneous piracy during serialization, the finished works will also be packaged and sold. Because the users of pirated texts are relatively hidden and scattered, even if one is attacked, the other party can still continue to change accounts. "I hope to introduce relevant laws and policies as soon as possible to protect the rights and interests of authors."

There are also many creators who share their thoughts from the perspective of protecting the creative ecology.

　

After writing online articles for a period of time, Qiyuan found that many popular types of articles were seriously solidified. "For example, the recent common male-frequency redundant articles, the routines are generally the first chapter in which the hero stays in the heroine’s house and is ridiculed by the heroine’s family; In chapter two, the female host is ridiculed by the group because the male host is a’ waste’; In the third chapter, the hero will inherit the sky-high legacy and look down on his own people before starting to fight back. "

　

The same situation also occurs in a large number of works with themes such as rebirth: "The emergence of a lot of routines has led to a weak online market. And if you don’t follow the routine, it won’t work, otherwise some website editors won’t give you a pass. "

　

Yang Qianzi raised the same concern — — Many platforms control the content, which makes the theme and people set a lot of convergence, which is not conducive to the development of content diversity in the long run.

　

"The reason why online literature can attract a large number of readers is that the content is full of flowers. Readers and audiences need both’ big women’ and’ little women’." She said,"Creation itself should have its own merits, not all works refer to a template."