LOS ANGELES, Jan 20, 2008 / FW/ — While Amazon Kindle
The story, ‘Japan’s best sellers go cellular’, noted that in the country of the rising sun, “Of last year’s 10 best-selling novels, five were originally cellphone novels, mostly love stories written in the short sentences characteristic of text messaging but containing little of the plotting or character development found in traditional novels.”
The author, Norimitsu Onishi, then said, “What is more, the top three spots were occupied by first-time cellphone novelists, touching off debates in the news media and blogosphere.”
Here in the U.S., though cellphone novels have not reached even the writing underground, texting had become so popular that wireless companies advertise that they offer unlimited text messaging as part of their services.
For sometime now, texting had been a concern by parents and educators because children of school age fail to learn good grammar and spelling, with texting being mentioned as the culprit.
On the other hand, cell phones have also given birth to a new kind of retailing – ‘m-commerce’. Though it is still in infancy, major retailers like Macy’s and Nordstrom have already included it in their IT development.
During the recently concluded Consumer Electronics Show (CES), in Las Vegas, cell phones has been hailed as Web 3.0, as more and more people use their mobile phones other than making phone calls. In fact, there is now ‘phonecasting,’ which is the cell phone equivalent for podcasting.
The same way that the internet had opened up online journalism and allowed novelists to publish their work online, cell phones have given birth to a new literary genre.
[MARIKIT YAMATO]
Hi, thanks for the coverage on cell phone novels! In 2008, cell phone novels did hit the North American shores.
I am a university student and actually the first true cell phone novelist in North America, going by the pen name of Takatsu. Over the course of 2 years, my novel, Secondhand Memories has gained fame with readers all over the world and has become the first and most popular cell phone novel in North America. In 2009 it won numerous awards and is heading towards publication when it is complete. Just recently it was featured in an English textbook in Japan and will be used as part of an exercise for students in Japan.
Textnovel.com is the first site in North America that has been designed with the concept of cell phone novels in mind back in 2008. We have been working to bring this phenomenon to North America for a while now. I am extremely excited about this movement and believe it can revolutionize the writing and publishing world. It truly is a remarkable new concept and in my opinion it may transcend current forms of literature. Please read the link provided below for more information!
For more information about what cell phone novels truly are and where they came from as well as what is the truth behind its movement into North America please see this link: http://www.textnovel.com/story/The-Cell-Phone-Novel-Manual:-About-Cell-Phone-Novels,-What-They-Are-and-more/5579/1
Thanks
-Takatsu