The 2007 Wealthy Writers List was jointly released by Chengdu Business Daily and its partner website on November 6. Young writer Guo Jingming, born in the 1980s, has secured a place at the top with an income of 11 million yuan (US$1,475,381).

Academic authors Yu Dan and Yi Zhongtian came in second and the third respectively, and some Web writers are also among the list, according to China News Service.

It took more than 40 days to work out the list with the makers visiting almost a hundred book stores as well as book wholesale bosses, publishers, writers, Web copywriters, and some printing plants managers in anonymity.

Writers born in the 1980s grow up

Publishing books is a kind of luxury for many writers as a result of name recognition or other popularity factors. However, recently publishers have been chasing after writers for books, particularly those born in the 1980s.

"The works of writers born in the new generation are popular not necessarily because their books are well written, but because they write about the lives of teenagers, which are not familiar for writers of other ages," said He Sanpo, a well-known literature critic.

Web writers gain both fame and wealth

The rise of Web copywriters in recent years has also caught much public attention. Many Web copywriters set their goals as writing books, winning distinction, and earning money.

"Thousands of average people will become copy writers through the Internet, which has provided an open and wide platform for Chinese literature to integrate into the world,"said Chen Tianqiao, literature fan and president of Shanda Interactive Entertainment Limited.

(China.org.cn by Yang Xi, November 7, 2007)