Webnovel, a global-facing project founded by China Literature (China Literature Limited 0772.HK), launched the 2022 Webnovel Spirity Awards (WSA) on April 29th . In addition to English works, the writing competition also accepts entries in Indonesian and Thai for the first time. Winners will be given a chance to have their works adapted into TV or film by WeTV, the global video streaming platform launched by Tencent Video.
Leading on from last year, English will remain the main category with nine themes for entrants to choose from, including werewolf, CEO or billionaire, and fantasy. Additionally, English writers with ideas for other subjects are also encouraged to submit them. As the majority of online literature readership in Indonesia are female, the Indonesian category primarily attracts themes of drama and romance, including contract marriage, CEO or billionaire, revenge, and high school. In Thai, subjects that appear more popular include boy's love, drama, as well as global hits such as fantasy and system. The writing competitions in English and Indonesian have started, and that in Thai is expected to begin in mid-May.
Each entry will be reviewed by loyal readers on Webnovel, a group of professional editors, and the co-producers of WSA. Entrants should keep in mind that the quality of the content is key, but that the business value of each story is also important. In addition to the possibility of TV or film adaptation, winners will receive a cash prize of up to $10,000.
Webnovel first launched WSA in 2019 with the aim of helping rising writers around the world reach their dreams, with a one million dollar prize pool for every annual event. In 2021, WSA received nearly 80,000 entries from fledging young writers around the world. KazzenIX, the winner of the 2021 WSA gold prize, was a kindergarten teacher in the Philippines who has been publishing stories on Webnovel since 2018. Her gold prize winning work, Spellbound, a fantasy story, received outstanding praise once published.
Through supporting events such as WSA, Webnovel serves as an invaluable beginning point for online literature writers across the globe, helping them find their readership and a future as professional content creators. As of the end of 2021, Webnovel has nurtured over 200,000 writers from over 200 countries.