Results of Web Novel Industry Status Survey Released
Only 1% of Authors Earn Over 100 Million KRW in Royalties
79% Have Experience with Paid Purchases
Last year, the domestic web novel market size reached 1.35 trillion KRW, and the top 1% of authors earned royalties amounting to 100 million KRW.
According to the "2024 Web Novel Industry Status Survey" released by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Publication Industry Promotion Agency, the average royalty per web novel work was highest in the range of "1 million KRW or more but less than 3 million KRW," accounting for 28.4%. Royalties exceeding 100 million KRW accounted for 1% of the total. This data was collected through an online survey targeting 152 web novel suppliers, 10 platforms, 800 creators, and 811 users.
Based on the sales of major platform companies, the estimated size of the web novel market in 2024 was approximately 1.35 trillion KRW, an increase of 311 billion KRW compared to 1.039 trillion KRW in 2022.
The proportion of web novels in the total sales of web novel CP companies and platforms was 45.3%, confirmed as an annual average of about 7.454 billion KRW. Among detailed sales related to web novels, publication sales accounted for the highest share at 55.1%.
In the survey of web novel users, 79.0% of all respondents reported having experience with paid web novel purchases, with an average payment amount per transaction of 8,032 KRW.
An official from the Promotion Agency stated, "Web novels have high potential as original IP that can be expanded into various secondary content such as webtoons, movies, and games," adding, "Accurate statistical data on the web novel industry is highly meaningful for systematically understanding the current status of the industry."
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