On top of the two income options, if the author's work becomes a hit on the website's popularity chart, he or she is awarded a bonus. If an author writes 3,000 words every day and has a steady group of subscribers, earnings totaling 10,000 yuan ($1,449) each month become realistic.

"Some of the novels are such a hit that they can have more than 20,000 subscribers. If they update 10,000 words each day, plus all kinds of bonuses, they can make a monthly income of almost 100,000 yuan ($14,490)," said Ren.

The great profit potential of Internet-novel production is luring an increasing number of people, especially the young, to the industry. The number of authors at qidian.com alone jumped by 100,000 in 2007.

But even in the online writing business, only a very few of the authors make their fortunes. Ren said less than 10 percent of the novels attract readers' monthly subscriptions and most of the authors make between 2,000 yuan and 3,000 yuan ($293-$439) a month on average.

Shanda Literature rakes in an estimated revenue of 100 million yuan ($15 million) per year. It boasts a total readership of 25 million and is growing at 10 million per year, the company said.

Labor work

"I write 3 million words in a year. It's not like the traditional literature writers. What I do is both brain and labor work," said Zhang Wei, who started his online writing career in 2004 and claims that his writing now nets him a yearly income exceeding 1 million yuan ($146,500).

"I write some 9,000 words each day; such productivity has its cost. High work intensity and little time to go outdoors have affected my health to some degree," Zhang said.

For a majority of Internet authors, online writing is nothing but a business. Zhang said he writes to make ends meet, not for some great literary pursuit. Money is also the driving force for Ren, who said every night he takes a one-hour nap after supper and then continues to write.

Most work released on qidian.com falls into the category of popular literature, such as fantasy, with the most popular one being The King of Guqin, martial arts and love stories. Ren does not consider what he writes to be literature. "Readers tend to have their fantasies realized when they read my novels. In other words, they fantasize that they are the main characters in the novels," said Ren.

"Reader preferences lead the writers, and this is the inevitable trend of commercial writing," said Hou of Shanda Literature.

In his first novel, Ren gave his leading male character a happy ending with his beloved woman, but it received staunch opposition from readers. As a result, in Ren's following novels, he had to set up two or three supporting female characters. "Personally I don't like such a one-man-with-many-women-romance story, but I had no choice. That is what the readers like."

Imagination is crucial for online writers, Zhang said. "I just get my inspiration when I read a novel or watch TV," he said. Zhang finished a 1.8-million-word novel based on inspiration from TV. "It's all imagination. There's no actual basis at all. I try to make the plots hold up scientifically, but in fact they don't. The logic is necessary."

The buzz created by online writing has also spurred on the publishing industry. Some of the popular online novels have been published and sold millions of copies. Ren has had all four of his online novels published. "Like in the traditional publishing business, the editors give their opinions on the content and direction of our writing. Their suggestions are very important, as they have read so many online works and no one knows what the readers need better than these veterans," said Ren.

By the end of 2008, qidian.com had published 30 million copies of more than 500 titles.

Qidian.com has also dealt with its authors' copyrighted works in ways besides publishing. Ghost Blows out the Light (Gui Chuideng), a popular novel by contracted website author Tianxia Bachang, has not only been released in print, but has also been adapted for caricature and computer games. Its film adaptation rights have been sold to Hong Kong director Johnnie To.

Song Qiang, assistant to the director of the general office of the Beijing-based People's Literature Publishing House, believes that online reading has not yet had a serious impact on traditional publishing. Song did take notice, though, of the national reading survey, which indicated that online reading is increasing while book reading is decreasing in China.

"People who are used to online reading and those used to book reading are basically two different groups, and they can promote each other," said Song. "Many people who enjoy reading a work on the Internet will later buy a hard copy for their collection, or as a gift for others."