Network literature: A show field of wealth and ideals

Click Broken billion, tens of millions of years, playing rewards million, such an exciting number is still not the first time in the online literature circle. In more than 10 years, network literature from BBS, literature forum, literature sharing Station simple form, step by step grow into a big market with 274 million users, achievement a batch of fame and fortune professional writer, also achieved the starting point such commercial website. In more than 10 years, some people take advantage of the coming, some frustrated and go, some cock silk reverse attack, some people scattered all the house.

Business of the trend of interest and literary idealism in this blend, and with the Internet, especially the development of mobile Internet continues to extend and expand. But the traditional Chinese culture of the scholar-commerce is also broken, the business and literature burst out the different spark on such a platform, also attracted not small criticism. Today, we can not say whether the highly commercialized network literature is a kind of literature to adapt to the trend of the times, or a total failure of idealism after the decadence, but on business, network literature has already become the Chinese Internet economic puzzle piece of important imposition.

In the commercial importance of the growing network of literature is also attracting more and more players into the Bureau, a year since Tencent, Baidu two giants have dabbled in this, but also let the original one big grand literature feel unprecedented pressure.

Starting point--the place where the grand literary dream begins

10 years of rough dream wake up, shopping malls floating and rain playing ping, from the beginning of the May 2003 Chinese network, to last March Wu Wenhui with the founding team, the beginning of ten years witnessed the commercialization of Chinese network literature from scratch. And as the vanguard of this process, starting point has also been a huge return, market coverage and visibility first, to cultivate three less tang, I eat tomatoes, such as a large God-level author, to one's own strength prop up the half of the grand literature of this evaluation for the starting point is not too. But precisely because of this, makes the starting point in the grand literature status appears quite embarrassed, this also for Wu Wenhui's final run to bury the foreshadowing.

Pushing back 10 years, the starting point was formally transformed from an original literary association into a commercial website, but in an era when the Internet was not universal, commercialization was not easy.

Before this, the Internet is more just a communication platform for literary works, whether it is seen as a pioneer of network literature "the first intimate contact", or later more people are familiar with the "search for the Qin", are still taking the traditional paper publishing or serial routes.

While others are trying to take the road to pay-for-reading, the lack of a sustainable profit model and rampant piracy have all ended in failure. Most of the online literature is still rely on the network to gain visibility, and then seek the opportunity to publish the entity, including today has faded the writer's identity of the network literature troika-Li Yu Huan (LU), Ning Mammon and Seung.

And the starting point in the creation of the introduction of the VIP pay reading mode has become the turning point of all, thousand words 2 cents low price, prompting more readers to start to try to pay genuine reading, today, this price is still online literature market standard pricing. However, the establishment of this model means that the network literature in the genuine and piracy between the establishment of a pay wall, making it in the business model with the network news, network video These services to separate, but also let piracy became countless network literati heart the biggest sore spot.

With the establishment of the royal literature in 04, the beginning of a wholly-owned Chinese network, the starting point in the commercialization of the road running all the way, the entire network of literature market scale has also been bigger. During this period, although there are 17K, vertical and horizontal Chinese network such competitors appear, but whether it is Chinese online, or perfect time and space such a behind-the-scenes gold Lord, in the strength obviously can not compete with the grand. And the starting point in the development process of the gradual establishment of the platform barrier, but also to allow competitors to be difficult to break, the barriers in this process is built higher.

In a sense, network literature is the best example of Matthew Effect, the more works, the more paid readers, and therefore the number of authors is increasing, thus further promote the book stacks. To enrich the stacks with good works is not a simple matter for the challenger. Buying a new product at a high price is almost the only option, but well-known writers are thousands of words, and even the purchase price of thousand yuan, make the capital become a challenge to the grand literature must go through a threshold, but obviously this is not a person can not cross the threshold, such as Tencent, and Baidu, for example.

"More than 1.6 million writers, each month's genuine independent users close to 100 million, hundreds of millions of times a day of interaction," Shanda Literature CEO Hou has disclosed such data, and look at the published data is not difficult to find, only the beginning of the Chinese web site of the library has 1.11 million works, every day more than 10,000 novels in the update. Such a solo grand literature, after the competitors are far behind, but also in 12 ushered in the golden age of its development.

In the 2012, with the rapid development of mobile Internet, mobile reading became a hot topic, while the establishment of China Mobile reading base Let the heat become real gold and silver, the whole market rapidly expanded to a number of 1 billion-meter scale. The enhancement of readers ' genuine awareness, the convenience of network payment and the accumulation of outstanding works, these favorable factors finally broke out under the promotion of mobile Internet. A large number of authors to become millions of years, or even tens of thousands of star writers, a large number of focus on network literature, CP Company (content provider) has sprung up, more and more people began to rely on network literature this platform, the pursuit of their own literary dream, Rich Dream, And as the industry leader of the grand literature has become the largest in addition to China Mobile, the biggest winner, revenue broken billion, the financing value of 800 million U.S. dollars, the IPO seems to be within reach.

But business is always the case, network literature is still a business, the beginning of the founding team and the owner of the grand literature of the contradictions between the beginning of the growing process of accumulation. The failure of the grand literature to sprint to the U.S. IPO has further intensified the conflict. Cake is more and more big, but it is not easy to divide the cake, not to mention to a group of love literature, the ideal businessman to divide the cake.

Here, perhaps, nothing can be bypassed. Another professional manager full of idealistic spirit--hou, former CEO of Shanda Literature.

Tencent-The clarion call for the Giants

"Remember when Chen held the first board of directors asked me where to take the company, I said I hope it is a great company." It will be an annual income of 5 billion, 10 billion of the company. It will certainly deeply affect the spiritual life of the Chinese people. Leaving does not mean farewell, even to better meet. Look forward to our reunion. Grand literature is sure to win. ”

December 12, 2013, after nearly a year of turmoil, Hou finally chose to leave the grand literature, and in his resignation letter left such a word.

Once single-handedly planning and Sina blog to play a role in Sina trump card products, five years ago to join the grand, in Chen View, Sina has been engaged in culture, content business Hou is undoubtedly the best leader of the grand literature. But in the end it is Hou Xiao Qiang's cultural feelings let him choose to leave, because the grass-roots of network literature apparently and the Wenqing CEO out of tune.

In the Hou, the grand literature has acquired a large number of literary sites, even publishing houses, but the revenue capacity of these sites is not satisfactory, the starting point is still the most important source of revenue for Shanda literature. There are several allegedly, Shanda literature 2012 revenue 1.08 billion yuan, the starting point contributed 360 million yuan. But in contrast, the beginning of the whole grand literature in the structure of the status has not been correspondingly improved, therefore, as one of the founders of the Wu Wenhui hope that MBO (managers to buy) the way to regain control of the starting point is not difficult to understand, side is a huge cultural industry blueprint, one side is grassroots network literature, the road is different, Nature does not seek.

And at this time, the outside of the thrust to let everything become a good thing.

After some twists and turns, the net name "Heart of Darkness" Wu Wenhui with more than the beginning of the pioneering elder and senior editor, joined Tencent's creation of the Chinese network, and its take away there are many influential "great God" writers.

"Just like raising a child, parents think of the angle, is to want him to get better education and environment, rather than his own interests." "Wu Wenhui said so at the beginning of a decade-old literary takeover, and now it looks like the Wu Wenhui team is still doing it for a better environment." Compared to in the online games market has become or grand, just into the "hundreds of billions of dollars club" Tencent is clearly able to provide him with more resources, and many of these are precisely the grand can not give.

Tencent Network Literature business director Zhang Yong before the traces of the sun Tencent will give the creation of resources: User flow, cloud services, architecture and data, and micro-trust platform, Q-Money payment system in the future is likely to open to the creation of the Chinese network. and the user flow import and payment system is obviously a big headache before the event. Grand once tried to integrate the game, video, network literature users, but the results and success, its accumulation of user resources in the online game is difficult to successfully import the grand literature, and piracy rampant and Baidu in this issue open a blind eye attitude, but also let many readers read the beginning of the Chinese network of pirated novels, But do not know the grand or starting point, not to mention paying to read.

And Tencent in the user resources of the import is obviously no one can enemy, the desktop in the lower right corner of the small play window, called China's best advertising position, none. After the founding of the creation of the world, Tencent is also really trying to import traffic for the new website, even through their own game business diversion, creation of the Chinese web click on the list and Tencent's LOL (League of Heroes), CF (through the FireWire) and other online games related works.

With the rapid popularization of micro-letter and micro-letter payment, the combination of network literature and micro-letter has become the focus of people's hot discussion, and it has also made people confident of Tencent's prospects in the online literature market.

Perhaps for Tencent, the network literature market income can only be bucket, but network literature as the online games, film and television upstream industry, its importance in the business layout is Tencent value. And as the PC end of the user single page stay time after network Video network literature, the mobile end of the user stickiness may be greater, which allows Tencent for its core business-social networking to dig a deeper ditch, to block Ali menacing contacts.

But as Mankiw explained in the principles of economics, market entrants can gain a certain amount of excess profit in monopolistic competition, but with full competition, they will attract more competitors.

So Baidu also came.

Baidu--The future X Factor

For the net literati, Baidu is a let them love and hate the company, Baidu brought them great influence, also let them lose a lot of genuine subscription revenue. A rough estimate is that China's genuine online literature readers do not exceed one-tenth of the total number of people, which means that a better crackdown on piracy may bring several times its own increase in the market, and Baidu is clearly an important part of the process.

Baidu stepped on the tail of 2013 years to complete the perfect time and space under the Chinese-language network acquisition, full access to the network literature market, the future is likely to put it into its front billing business group. As a traditional TOB enterprise, Baidu has been developing its TOC (consumer-oriented) business for more than 2013 years. But the network literature high user stickiness and the broad mobile internet foreground is obviously the Baidu hopes to obtain, but the Baidu's entry Bureau also lets the people to the network literature future development pattern to have more anticipation.

After all, with the development of network literature vermicelli economy, paid reading is no longer the only income point of network literature. Last year, it was in the Chinese network, a succession of two to the author "to join" the millions of readers, and Wu Wenhui in the starting point of the "play Reward model" has become the network of literature fans the best point of change in the economy. (The so-called reward, is the reader to buy gold coins or Gong, directly to his favorite author, and this money by the site and the author of a different proportion of the split.) ）

And with the concept of the Internet economy, Baidu is not good at paying for reading a full opportunity to use Internet thinking to transform online literature, and this is the best way to avoid each other in Baidu internal. After all, and regardless of Baidu Bar and Baidu search for pirated novels to bring how much welfare, not long ago Baidu in order to promote the mobile phone Baidu client and the introduction of a key off-line novel function, undoubtedly become a hotbed of the spread of pirated novels, so that UC and other companies also quickly follow up, One time mobile end of the piracy problem once again become a network literature has to face a difficult problem.

Summary

In China's thousands of-year cultural history, literature, which was not intended to be used for profit, is becoming a cultural product a little bit, but such a change is followed by the Internet's deconstruction of literature itself. Fast-food production mode, the same plot settings, and even some of the overflow of bad content, which makes network literature at the beginning of its emergence has been criticized.

After ten years of commercialization, the competition in the network literature market has become fiercer after the successive entry of Tencent and Baidu. And as the market more and more, the commercial flavor of the increasingly strong, so that online literature itself is also facing more changes and challenges.

Perhaps more worthy of us, and those involved in the company to think about is, what kind of attitude should we look at the Internet literature itself, is an entertainment product, or a cultural product, or something else? This determines the direction of the future development of an industry, or a cultural phenomenon.

But what every participant should not forget, however, is that such a fiercely commercialized industry is geared towards more than 200 million ordinary people, many of whom may still be teenagers without some sense of judgment. The pursuit of wealth is the essence of business, but idealism should be the root of online literature.