The Economist is running a story on the rise of a new type of mobile phone novel in Japan:
“With sales of books in decline, a new market has come as a godsend
to Japan’s publishing companies. Sales of mobile-phone novels—books
that you download and read, usually in installments, on the screen of
your keitai, or mobile phone—have jumped from nothing five years ago
to over ¥10 billion ($82m) a year today and are still growing fast.”
The article makes a point that we’ve previously remarked on regarding YouTube, the fact that the medium changes the preferred format. Existing novels didn’t work. A new type of novel was developed that suited the medium and the audience. However, bestsellers from the keitai have begun to bleed back into traditional media, with one author landing a traditional book and movie deal.