Online writers village unveils five-year plan to boost genre
The China Internet Writers Village in Binjiang District is the nation's only community aimed at boosting the development of online literature. Around 275 noted writers have signed contracts to set up studios in the village thus far.
The village recently unveiled its five-year plan (2023-27) to commercialize more Internet literature and expand the overseas market.
"The village will help writers cater to different market segments, since the customer positioning and target segments for different works can vary substantially," said Guan Pingchao, vice chief of the village. "Official organizations are going to support writers building a bridge between domestic and foreign markets."
The plan forecasts writer numbers to reach 600 with royalty income of 500 million yuan (US$70.3 million) by 2027. Some 500 Internet novels would be published in other countries with hopes of reaching revenue of 5 billion yuan overseas.
The plan aims to expand the talent pool for the village. It will host at least 10 training sessions to cultivate 100 young writers every year. In recent years, the university students' writing competition has been hosted here, which has been an effective means to select gifted writers and inject new energy into the village.
The competition, also named the Budding Project, is one of "four calling cards" of the village, along with the China Internet Literature Week, the Intellectual Property Express and the Villagers' Conference.
A forum on the social and market value of adapting online literature into film and television and its international success was held to mark six years from the establishment of the China Internet Writers Village in Hangzhou's Binjiang District.
The Intellectual Property Express is a face-to-face meeting between writers and cultural companies that aims to cut red tape. It has been considered an effective way to stimulate commercial collaborations.
The Villagers' Conference is for writers to discuss new trends, industrial standards and make decisions.
Another highlight of the plan is capitalizing the cutting-edge digital technologies in Binjiang District to build a big data platform, which provides services for readers, companies and writers, with the aim of improving management. It also protects intellectual properties in tandem with the local legislative department.
Binjiang does have a number of digital enterprises in the video game, animation, filmmaking and virtual reality industries. These companies require a large number of literature resources. Many of them are looking for prospects for collaboration in the village. As the plan details, local departments will invite at least 100 companies to join the village within five years.
Ever since its establishment in 2017, the village has explored the market and built three main parts of an Internet literature industry, namely serving writers, commercializing and protecting intellectual property.
"Thus far, we have already hosted 22 sessions of Intellectual Property Express meetings. About 75 projects were signed for a total investment of 1.34 billion yuan," said Zhang Wei, chief of the village.
Zhang wrote novels under the pen name Tangjia Sanshao with millions of followers on the Internet. His bestsellers include "Child of Light," which follows the story of a teenager fulfilling his destiny as a legendary magician who uses the magic of light to end discrimination and wars.
Several Internet writers, including renowned names such as Guan Pingchao, were present for book signings during the forum.
For years, Zhang has continued to top the online list with earnings from his fantasy novels, the largest genre among online writers. According to a media report, the writer collected over 122 million yuan from intellectual properties in 2019.
He was designated as the chief of the village in 2017. Since then, Zhang has kept inviting noted writers to set up studios here. After six years of development, the village has developed into an agglomeration for Internet literature, with 56 works made into TV series and transformed into video games in partnership with cultural and creative companies.
The village is also home to top female writers including Liu Lianzi, Cang Yue and Feiwo Sicun, and a third of the village's writers are women.
The Hangzhou Women's Federation established a sub-federation in the village in 2019, which is expected to fill the gap between the Internet and the real world in protecting women and providing women writers with more services, from intellectual property protection to marriage counseling.
