A still from The Journey of Flower Photo: CFP

The popularity of several TV dramas has been inspiring people to read more books, according to a 2015 book sales chart recently published by Amazon.cn. Amazon.cn data shows that a number of books which have been adapted into popular TV or films have seen increased sales.

Looking at sales of the original works before and after their adaptations debuted, The Ordinary World by Lu Yao saw sales increase by 500 percent, sales of The Journey of Flower by Fresh Guoguo rose by 900 percent, while Hai Yan's Nirvana in Fire sold 33 times as many books after its eponymous TV series hit the airwaves.

Adaptations of literary works, especially online literature, have been on the rise in recent years as studios are looking for the next huge IP they can turn into a franchise. 

Speaking to the Economic Daily, Tianxia Bachang, author of the popular online novel Ghost Blows Out the Light, pointed out that competing over the adaptation rights for books by TV and film studios was a major trend in 2015.

"TV and film works, as well as online games, became tied together with literary works," Tianxia Bachang said, adding that authors' income from book sales was not as important as it once was.

"Ten years ago, a book would be considered a bestseller only if it sold more than 1 million copies, but today 200,000 copies is considered as selling super well," he explained.

"Book prices haven't changed much from 10 years ago, so if someone were to ask for the kind of remuneration that was standard in the past, not many publishing houses would sign him. The money from TV and film adaptations more or less makes up for lost income though."

Zhang Yong, the author of war time spy novel Diezhan Shanghaitan, confirmed this.

According to Zhang, very few people bought his novel when it was published in 2012. However, after The Disguiser TV series hit the airwaves last year, his publishing house had to print an additional run due to the increased number of sales. 

The adaptation gained attention online as netizens set about discussing which was better - the book or the show. Some discussions increased the hot attention on both the drama and the book.

"I was a fan of Eryuehe's books Emperor Kangxi and Emperor Yongzheng. My blood still stirs whenever their series are shown on TV. This inspired me work in this industry. Books and shows hold equal charm for me," Zhang said. 

According to a survey carried out by Amazon.cn, 51 percent of those surveyed said they spend more than an hour reading social media every day, while 36 percent said they read print or e-books for more than an hour a day.

In a time when reading blogs and social media posts have become the norm in China, TV and film adaptations have done a lot to inspire readers to delve into longer novels.

"TV dramas and films are stirring people's enthusiasm for reading. This is an encouraging phenomenon because it brings people back to deeper reading," said Shi Jianjun, vice president for Amazon.cn. 

Economic Daily - Global Times