On April 28, the 2023 China Online Literature Influence List was announced in Shanghai, which was released by the Internet Literature Center of the Chinese Writers Association and is one of the most authoritative lists in the mainland online literature industry. Among them, the two signed works of Tomato Novel "I Learn to Kill God in a Mental Hospital" and "Backfire Rescue" are on the list of online novels, and the cat and Yi Qingfeng of Xu Erjia, the contracted authors of Tomato Novel, are on the list of newcomers.
Online literature has developed rapidly in recent years, and the number of audiences has grown rapidly. According to the "2023-2024 China Online Literature Reading Platform Value Research Report" recently released by the China Academy of Press and Publication, by the end of 2023, the online literature industry has ushered in a market of 300 billion yuan. The number of online literature authors in China reached 24.05 million, the number of online literature works reached 36.2 million, and the number of online literature users reached 537 million, a year-on-year increase of 9%. According to the 53rd Statistical Report on the Development of the Internet in China, the number of Internet users in China is 1.092 billion, and nearly half of the Internet users are the audience of online literature.
The ranks of online literary writers are constantly expanding, and the generational change is significant. According to the data of the "2023 Blue Book of Chinese Online Literature" (hereinafter referred to as the "Blue Book") released by the Internet Literature Center of the Chinese Writers Association on the 28th, in 2023, there will be nearly 2.5 million newly registered authors in the online literature industry, a year-on-year increase of 10%. Among them, 260,000 new authors signed contracts, a year-on-year increase of 17%. Among the newly signed authors, more than sixty percent are from free reading platforms such as Tomato Novels, and most of them are "Generation Z".
(Data source: "2023 Blue Book of Chinese Internet Literature")
The Blue Paper pointed out that new platforms and new mechanisms such as list reform have given new authors more opportunities. For example, the insecticide team's "Ten Days of End" is a phenomenal annual hit.
At the same time, in terms of industry form, the online literature platform has a multi-point layout and explores new product formats. In addition to long-form works, there are also more and more forms of stories such as short stories and audio books. According to the Blue Book, the revenue scale of 50 key online literature platforms in the country in 2023 will be about 34 billion, and digital reading platforms such as Tomato Novels will focus on operating original content and exploring high-quality paths, such as launching a joint essay collection with the National Library and launching word-of-mouth lists such as the "Peak List", which has improved the original content ecology.
(Data source: "2023 Blue Book of Chinese Internet Literature")
In this regard, Xie Sipeng, editor-in-chief of Tomato Novel, said: "Tomato Novel is an emerging online platform that is still in the development stage. As a platform, we will strive to promote the creation of high-quality products, strengthen the guidance of authors, and promote the integrated development of online literature and online audio-visual. ”