If China's film market is a flame burning bright, the country's online literature is increasingly its fuel.

The world's second-largest film market, with a box office haul of $6.8 billion in 2015, is churning out top-grossing movies inspired by popular novels published online.

As the self-publishing phenomenon has shaken up the literary scene in the West, writers in China have increasingly eschewed conventional publishing models and found readers on the internet. Online-only publishers have sprung up, and their releases are proving hugely popular.