GUEST BLOG from a CELL PHONE NOVELIST

CELL PHONE NOVELS: The Japanese Literary Revolution Turn American by Matthew Reeves, the 17 year old author of "That Which Divides Us All" on TextNovel.

Matt's story is entered in the TextNovel Contest (which has recently risen in much popularity among numerous websites and blogs since Dorchester Publications partnered with them) and is currently the 2nd most popular story in the contest (out of over 1,000 stories) and recently, just announced today, a semi-finalist. The story has also been awarded as an "Editors Pick".

 

By now, there’s a good chance that if you have been reading Publisher’s Weekly on a regular basis, or have been searching around for some new writing contests, that you’ve heard of the newest novel craze to come to America’s shores. What is it? Keitai Shousetsu (or for those that can’t speak Japanese, ‘Cell Phone Novels’).

Surprised? Worried? Shocked? Excited? Many people go through these same emotions when they hear that phrase above. And this isn’t some far fetched idea either, the only reason it has come to America is because of its success with readers overseas. You can probably guess what country it started within considering how I introduced it, yes, that’s right, it came from Japan. Doesn’t everything these days?

For a new literature craze, it certainly uses a ‘novel’ idea for its structure. Entering the Japanese Literary scene in the beginning of the twenty first century, the first cell phone novel was written by a man in Tokyo going by the pen name “Yoshi”. His novel, titled ‘Deep Love’, gained enough internet attention and praise that a publisher took interest and got the rights to publish it in print, going on to sell over 2.6 million copies. It was later adapted into a movie, television series, and a manga. The new literature craze only sped forward even faster after this with word of mouth spreading fast from person to person about this new form of storytelling, spreading quickly even amongst the youth of China and South Korea.

Today, the cell phone novel industry in Japan is quite large and widespread. Many of the bestselling novels on the charts there are from this new emerging industry, with its primary reading audience and writing base being that of a female origin. In 2007, 98 cell phone novels were published in print (along with several thousand that were published online). For now the format is most attractive to young high school audiences, with published writers being of a college age.

But how large is the audience truly for some of these novels BEFORE their published in print? ‘Love Sky’, a novel written by an author going by as ‘Mika’, received approximately 12 million views while online and after being put into print, was adapted into a movie. Numerous websites have been created for the sole purpose of bringing new cellular novelists together to be discovered, some of the biggest of these sites receiving billions of hits each month by eager readers accessing the sites either through their cell phones directly or by computer.

Recently, this new literature revolution has been brought to the shores of the U.S. thanks to one man. Stan Soper, seeing the potential in the new emerging genre of fiction, launched his own cell phone novel website called ‘TextNovel’, the first of its kind to hit the English world.

"It appeared to me," said Mr. Soper over a Google chat conversation, "That there was a huge unmet desire among people to share stories, and that people in Japan had found a way to do it using new technology. I didn't necessarily think that people would use phones in the US as much as computers, but I could see that these cell phone websites in Japan were basically social networks built around the concept of sharing fiction, and that got me excited.  The concept isn’t really about whether you use a cell phone or a computer – it’s about live fiction, written and published in real time on a serial basis, and getting immediate feedback from readers.”

In Japan, the popular websites regularly offer new writing contests to find the best cell phone novels and stimulate new growth for the industry, sometimes offering money prizes as high as $100,000 along with a publication deal. And just like in Japan, the new English based site www.TextNovel.com is also running several contests, but for smaller amounts ranging from $1000 - $2000.

This is where I come in. I myself am a Cell Phone Novelist, one of the first in North America. I discovered this new form of fiction like most, by complete accident. But in no time at all, I’ve learned to quite love it.

My novel, “That Which Divides Us All”, following two young character’s search for the truth and their chance encounter, is currently the second most popular story on the English based site, generating many positive reviews and having been selected as an Editors Pick as well as recently being announced as a Semi-Finalist in this years contest. Written in entries pertaining to 700-1000 words each on random days written on my computer, the entries are long enough to feel fulfilling, yet not too long that it becomes a task to read through (or for that matter, write). I’m also seventeen years old, still in high school, a living example that the attractiveness of this format to youth is not simply isolated to the nation of Japan alone.

The novel above mine in popularity, “Secondhand Memories”, also an Editors Pick and Semi-Finalist, is written by a nineteen year old going by the pen name of ‘Taka’. His story, unlike many, is written in much the same way that the Japanese do, on his cell phone, in small blurbs of text equaling to 50-100 words, and sometimes having three entries a day published on the site. This type of diversity is apparent in many new emerging stories on the site as we soon see that different English speaking authors have diverse and unique ideas on how they wish their stories to be written and read.

"It's exciting to be able to pioneer cell phone novels in North America,” says Taka in a short discussion over Google chat, “I was the first to write a novel on textnovel.com in the Japanese short chapter format, and at first, I was dubious as to whether anyone would be interested. But in fact, apparently, this type of writing touches the hearts of a wide range of readers, of all ages and nationalities. The phenomenon from Japan has brought to light a new generation of readers and aspiring writers of young ages, some who have never been interested in a book. In partnership with new cell phone technology, youth are able to make their marks to revolutionize the publishing world."

I would have to agree, being a pioneer in a new form of literature is an exciting prospect indeed. Part of the excitement is that there is no way of knowing what to expect --- its all new, strange, and truly wonderful.

But to believe that this new craze is dominated by the youth would be false. Many of the other popular novels on the newly launched English site currently are written by people in age groups ranging from thirty to fifty. The first winner of the 2008 ‘TextNovel’ Contest, Saoirse Redgrave, author of “13 to Life” (coming to bookstores in 2010 by way of St. Martin’s Press), is thirty-six years old.

Recently, a second contest was introduced on the site as well, thanks to a sponsorship by Dorchester Publishing, titled “The Next Best-Celler Contest”. Offering writers the chance of winning a publication deal for the best written romance, the contest has attracted even more fresh interest, with site membership doubling in the 6 weeks since the contest began.

What truly makes Cell Phone Novels so attractive is that they allow for easy reading, and easy writing. They give the amateur writer a chance to make his mark, even if he’s never written a thing in his life before. But it also gives writers who have written before, the chance to try their hand at something new.

It’s all about the challenge, and that’s what makes it such a fun project. Every developing story on the site is unique and different; a strange new tale that at times breaks the mold of conventional telling. And in my case, a tale well received enough to become the second most popular story in a little over a month’s time.

Something though that I think should be addressed, is that Cell Phone Novels should not be confused with the popular trend of texting. You won’t see novels written as, “& then he turnd rite at the rode.” Cell Phone Novels on average so far contain normal standard writing language, as would be found in any published work of fiction. At least, I can certainly vouch that mine and the other top five rated novels on the site are not written in such a texting style. So for any out there that are afraid of venturing out into this new world because of fears of horribly gone wrong grammar, spelling errors, and bad POV, I can only say one thing. Yes, you will find some stories like that, but you will also find many gems, and you’ll feel its all worth it once you do.

So where does the future lie in America for this new emerging and fast growing form of literature? As more and more people begin to realize the potential found in this new format, the closer it will come to possibly becoming a full blown nationwide trend. Could ‘TextNovel’ become the next Twitter of sorts? No one can tell for sure yet, but if Mr. Kutcher decides to become a member, it might be a good sign.

Comments

[Matthew Reeves]

Thank you so much for allowing me the chance to write this article for your blog. ^_^

[danny bloom]

Danny BloomSo tell me, MJ, did you screen that novel or did you "read" it? There's a difference, you know. http://zippy1300.blogspot.com
2 seconds ago · DeleteDanny BloomMJ, that guest blog is pure BS. I lived in Japan for 5 years. The people there are brainwashed by their govt education media to follow the crowd, that cellphone novel is pure Japanese trendiness that is completely meaningless. The Japanese people do not even know or admit that THEY attacked Pearl Harbor, or fought a war of agresssion against CHina... Read More. Their textbooks and govt propaganda, one party has ruled the semip-police state for 50 years, teach them a very narrow view of history and this cellphone novel stuff is pure Japanese idiocy. Nobody there even knows how to think independently or to question authority. Wake up, o ye in the West, Japan is not Paradise Groovy Cool Tech Utopia. The people there are among the unhappiest on Earth. Stop this Turning Japanese nonsense.

[Saoirse Redgrave]

MJ,

Thanks for hosting Matt as a guest blogger. He's a great guy and he's working hard to build a great fanbase and story.

Matt--hmm. From the 36 year-old (arrgh ;-) winner of last year's contest...What does one say when her age is outed on a blog? Ahem. ;-)

Thanks for mentioning my YA novel, 13 to Life: A Werewolf's Tale. Book one (and potentially book 2) will be released next year through St. Martin's Press.

I, for one, think the growing trend of textnovels will open new doors for new writers with fresh new ideas. It's an intriguing way for editors to also quickly scout things that might otherwise wind up lingering in a slush pile. Textnovels give us another means of freedom of expression and a quick way to share information and story concepts.

Thanks again, MJ, for covering this!
~Saoirse Redgrave
13 to Life: A Werewolf's Tale
A Tale of Teenage Love, Loss and--oh, yeah--Werewolves.
http://13tolife.us

[Cellular Mobile Philippine Phone Sun]

Great article its good to know that theres a cell phone novelist,keep posting!

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[Mp4 Players]

Sounds good...and why not when there is almost a craze about cell phones and otehr electronic gadgets it makes sense to go for the best seller.

[adrian]

Very luck to see this text, I am in favor of the author's views. I will continue to monitor the site, hoping to learn something more, wanted to know more friends.

[Flower Essences]

Oh this is great. I never knew I can do this by my cellphone.

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[Marc Kincade]

Cell phone technology has exploded in the past several years.Exciting changes ocurring regularly.I appreciate sites like yours that keep those of us who are interested,very well informed. Thanks and keep up the good work. Marc Kincade

[Nigel Thomas]

There's so much you can do with your cell phone these days, the technology is exploding, and only getting better too. Thanks for the updates and information. I'm a regular lurker here and will keep coming back for sure.
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[Alec A. Jacobs]

Cell phone fiction? Still, after reading the post, I wonder if this kind of thing has huge potential. But 12 million views of one book is a pretty good sign. Having the chapter come out in serial fashion is something that surely has the potential to attract a fast and loyal following, if marketed correctly. Thanks for the interesting article.

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