Five of last year's top ten fiction bestsellers in Japan started out as works for mobile phones, and in the U.K., The Independent newspaper takes a look at keitai novels. One author used his earnings to reach out to readers in an unusual way:
He wrote his book on his mobile phone at night before going to sleep. It was first published online, with download figures so high that Ryu was approached by a conventional publisher within 48 hours.
More than three million people have now read the book on their phone, and last year Real readers organised a march through the Tokyo streets to raise awareness of the dangers of drugs.
Ryu used the profits from the novel to buy a bar, where people not only come for a drink, but also to visit the author to talk about their experiences with drugs or for ad-hoc counselling. "It's only been so effective because people would read it on their mobiles, so it was accessible to people who may be into drugs," he says.