Will Cell Phone Novels Come Stateside?

Jan. 23, 2008 — -- Imagine if the next great piece of literature was written, and read, in IM speak -- on a cell phone, complete with abbreviations and emoticons. "OMG. He wuz ROFL l8r."

For some writers in Japan, that seemingly farfetched writing style has become a reality. Popular, serial short novels tapped out on cell phones as text messages have made the jump from merely electronic entertainment for scores of Japanese commuters to best-selling books. One of these, "Love Sky," has even been made into a movie.

But will Americans ever see shorthand cell phone scribblings on the shelves of Barnes & Noble? Although the trends of tech-savvy Japan often hop across the ocean to descend upon the West, experts debate whether the novelty of cell phone novels will make the cut.

Novel-reading on cell phones gained traction in Japan a few years ago as classic novels made their way to the small cell phone screen. Web sites there now allow people to upload their own versions of self-authored serialized stories to blogs that can be easily read on Japanese cell phones. The stories are often written by amateur writers and typically feature predictable and melodramatic story lines.

More popular stories are made into real novels. Five of 2007's 10 best-selling novels in Japan originally began as cell phone novels, according to The New York Times.

According to Rie Tange, a Japanese woman whose employer recently transferred her to New York, cell phone novels are uniquely popular in Japan because of one thing: a nasty commute via public transportation for many tech-savvy citizens.

"The reason why cell phone novels are popular is because most of people use public transportation to school or office in Japan," Tange told ABCNEWS.com in an e-mail from Japan where she had returned for a short visit. "Most of my co-workers spend at least 30 minutes to come to our office. The train in a morning is so packed. It is impossible to open a book."

Tange, however, is not a fan of the cell phone soap operas, at least in their electronic form.