I am a university student and actually the first true Japanese style cell phone novelist in North America, going by the pen name of Takatsu. Over the course of 2 years, my novel, Secondhand Memories ( http://www.textnovel.com/stories_list_detail.php?story_id=548 )has gained fame with readers all over the world and has become the first and most popular cell phone novel in North America. In 2009 it won numerous awards and is heading towards publication when it is complete. Just recently it was featured in an English textbook in Japan and will be used as part of an exercise for students in Japan.

Textnovel.com is the first site in North America that has been designed with the concept of cell phone novels in mind back in 2008. We have been working to bring this phenomenon to North America for a while now. I am extremely excited about this movement and believe it can revolutionize the writing and publishing world. It truly is a remarkable new concept and in my opinion it may transcend current forms of literature. Please read the link provided below for more information!

For more information about what cell phone novels truly are, what is the definition of cell phone novels and where they came from as well as what is the truth behind its movement into North America please see this link: http://www.textnovel.com/story/The-Cell-Phone-Novel-Manual:-About-Cell-Phone-Novels,-What-They-Are-and-more/5579/1

Thanks

-Takatsu

Cell phone novels are one more way for distinct voices to be heard among the masses in current publishing.

My YA paranormal novel 13 to Life: A Werewolf’s Tale won the first-ever cell phone novel contest in the western world and landed me a cash prize, agency representation and a multibook deal with traditional NYC publishers St. Martin’s Press.

I don’t fit the “traditional” image of a cell phone novelist. At age 36 I’m a stay-at-home mom, happily married and running a farmstead. But that’s the great thing about writing–we can draw on all sorts of things from our pasts (and those of friends/family) and build on it with our imagination, regardless of who or what we are now.

The original form of my novel’s still up at Textnovel.com but the first book in the series (launching in Spring 2010) is greatly different from what I posted (writing “by the seat of my pants” and incorporating public opinion) twice daily on the site within five short weeks.

I think cell phone novels have a great deal of potential. They can reach a broader, more diverse audience more quickly than some types of publishing. Will they replace paper and board books? Who knows? For now they are one more way to practice our freedom of expression–and that’s pretty much good enough for me.

Glad to see you covering this–thanks again!
~Saoirse Redgrave
Author of the 13 to Life series (coming in 2010 from SMP)
http://13tolife.us
http://www.Twitter.com/AuthorSaoirse_R

Great article! I saw some of these articles too and it inspired me to create a cell phone novel website for the U.S. market. Check out http://www.textnovel.com, which is still in beta mode, but working just great. You can write a novel on your cellphone and send it in via MMS text or email, and you can get updates by email or SMS text.

My blog about the development of the site is at http://www.textnovelblog.com.

Thanks again for a thoughtful and great article on this phenomenon.

Stan
Founder
Textnovel.com