We have been covering the advent and rise of Japanese cellphone novels for a few years now, and now New York Times (NYSE: NYT) does a front page story in its Sunday edition. It goes into details of the cultural and social implications, and the factors that led to the genre’s popularity. An indication of their power grip in Japan: Of last year’s 10 best-selling novels in Japan, five were originally cellphone novels, mostly love stories written in the short sentences characteristic of text messaging, the story said. What is more, the top three spots were occupied by first-time cellphone novelists. The writers are not paid for their work online or on mobile..the payoff, if any, comes when the novels are reproduced and sold as traditional books.

The cellphone novel was born in 2000 in the country, but really took off in 2004, after operators started offering unlimited data plans….the largest provider, Docomo, began offering this service in mid-2004.