The growing demand is also seeing mobile phone novel writing competitions attempting to draw writers to the genre. Shengda is currently holding a contest for original mobile phone works with the winner receiving up to 70,000 yuan (US$10,250).

"We are seeking real mobile novelists," Qi said. He explained that the novel should not be less than 100,000 characters and the story must be fast paced. Qi advised that team work is useful when creating a mobile phone novel and that it is a good idea to involve the reader.

Shengda recently published I Have Read Your Mail on its wap site, a love story with fantasy elements created by three women writers. Readers can choose from three different story lines, each representing the leading character's three kinds of life.

The novel is interactive, with readers able to write reviews, send mail and ask the authors directly to develop the story in a particular way, all from their mobile phones.

Kong.net, a mobile portal site in China, also held a mobile phone new literature contest recently. Participants were able to submit works in a variety of styles including short stories, web novels, text-message style (where every chapter is less than 70 characters) and picture-based works.

"The market is new and we have just started," explained Shang Wen, chief editor at Kong.net.

"I think the power and future is immeasurable," said writer Liu Zhenyun, in an interview with Kong.net earlier this year.

Japan has seen a boom in mobile phone novels since Deep Love hit mobile phone screens in 2003. The novel was then published as an actual book, with 2.6 million copies sold. It spun o. into a TV series, manga and a movie.

The future for mobile phone novels looks promising, according to industry insiders. A report by China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), released on October 27, revealed that there were 181 million mobile phone internet users in China. The number increased by over 25 million in two months, according to the report.