Mo Yan may have won the respect of the global literary community by winning the 2012 Nobel Prize for Literature. But this does not translate into first-place sales.

Last year, two of Mo's best-selling books ranked 11th and 16th in national sales, according to the 2012 Literature report from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Topping sales was the Tiny Times by Guo Jingming, a convicted plagiarist and handsome teen idol famous for his florid works of young adult fiction. The year also saw a rise in the popularity of novels about the corruption- and intrigue-drenched lives of government officials.