Books have had a steady space within the internet ever since its inception. In recent years, the rise of Booktok has only exploded the Book industry and increased interest in reading in countries like the United States, which is currently under a literacy crisis amongst its younger generations. With how popular the online book space is, with the rise in popularity of casual book reading, thanks to social media sites like TikTok, one would think that Webnovels would have similar success. Unfortunately, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Webnovels are uniquely tied to the internet, being books that are strictly published only online, similar to webcomics. Webnovels came out of the early internet, where some would publish serial stories online through forums independently and on their own unique websites. As the years progress, hubs strictly around webnovels would form, where people could read and publish their own stories for others to enjoy. Unlike webcomics, webnovels have remained niche in the Western internet, regulated towards those who are deep in the established community.
In Asia, however, webnovels are not only popular but also mainstream. Asian webnovels are far more tied to the success of webcomics in that industry. Many popular Japanese, Korean, and Chinese dramas and animated shows were adaptations of webnovels. Some major examples are Solo Leveling, Heaven’s Official Blessing, and Sword Art Online, all of which got their start from independently published online stories.
That isn’t to say that there isn’t precedent for this in the West. Wattpad, a popular storytelling platform, had recently transitioned into a production studio for adaptations of its best online books to screen. The main problems for Western webnovels are that a large majority cater towards the Anime and manga community and the massive literacy crisis among younger generations. Additionally, independent writers have an easier time getting their stories out there and read in Eastern markets compared to the Western online book community.
