Dream job

The rapid expansion of online literature has empowered writers from across the globe, and the web novelist position has emerged as a new profession. A large number of writers see this occupation as their "dream job", which allows them to gain considerable revenue, improve their living, make friends from different cultures, and even change their lives while fulfilling their writing dreams at the same time.

JessicaKaye911, a 45-year-old Pakistani web novelist, excitedly finished her first solo trip to China in December, participating in the third Shanghai International Online Literature Week held in the city. After beginning to write web novels in May, her romance work Mr President: You Are the Daddy of My Triplets, claimed gold at the WSA in 2024, which attracted a record of about 140,000 entries competing for the prizes.

Being a math lecturer, JessicaKaye911 enjoys unleashing her wild imagination via writing web novels. In her stories, she puts a core emphasis on creating "empowered" and resilient female leads, instead of soft and weak "crybabies" as depicted in many movies or dramas.

"I like thinking about different plots, and it is amazing for me to be able to type them down. My husband has become my biggest fan, and might have changed himself a little as well — as he reads about the story and the female leads. There is no doubt this is the dream job and dream life for me," she said.

Barisbi Alborov, a 35-year-old Russian writer under the online pen name Guiltythree, received the award of High Potential Overseas IP for Shadow Slave during the week. Formerly a game writer and one of the most popular writers on WebNovel, he valued the "creative independence" as a web novelist, and the friendships he nurtured with readers from all over the world.

"This is my dream job, definitely. As a novelist, I am in full control of my story. I am my own boss, and no one is telling me what I must write. My success or failure only depends on me, which is a great privilege in the creative professional field. Another harvest I've reaped is the community that was built around my story with thousands of people basically from every country imaginable. Some of them have become my friends, and amazing things are being created by the collective and creative power of these people. That has enriched my life very much," he said.

US web novelist Lenaleia, a 39-year-old mom, has been a bookworm and writing since she was young. Her unfinished werewolf fantasy romance Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted has drawn massive readers since it launched in April. She shared during the week that she always feels surprised to receive diverse messages from fans, and enjoys making friends in the unique "community of writers from across the world" that the platformgerminates.

"It (writing web novels) has brought me freedom. I've been married for 13 years and I have six children to tend to. My husband for that entire time has been the person supporting our huge family and he has worked very, very hard. But now I am also able to support our family and let him be home with his children more. It's changed our entire lives," she said.

She added that being a web novelist can be an "option" for mothers in particular with children like her in many countries."Many of us are home with children and we want to help bring in money in this day and age. I've been telling people I make money from home (by writing web novels) and you can do it too. And a lot of them are very, very interested. For many women, it is also life-changing even in smaller amounts of money, because it's an option when no other options exist," she said.

Currently, female writers account for 64 percent of the total in overseas web novel creation. The US, the Philippines, India, Indonesia and Nigeria stand as nations producing the most web novelists, and Gen Z writers make up nearly 70 percent of all the writers, said Yuewen Group.

"Everything is becoming better. It (writing web novels) doesn't feel like working. I was always told growing up that if you do what you love, it won't ever feel like work and that is absolutely true. Like now that I'm doing what I love, it doesn't feel like work at all," she added.