Countless videos featuring the tale of a mysterious "Ethan Stone," narrated over stolen footage of cooking, crafting, or gaming, have gained traction on TikTok.
These videos, dubbed with AI-generated voices, all recount parts of the same bizarre story about "my husband Ethan Stone," seemingly plucked straight from a serialized novel.
“My husband Ethan Stone has genetically enhanced abilities,” begins the videos, “Because I saved his life once, he became obsessed with me, chasing me relentlessly for three years. In his quest to have me, he even drove his car into my childhood boyfriend, Mark Dawson, crippling him for life.”
@luckyxf6 #novelmaster #54335 #reddit my husband ethan stone has genetically enhanced abilities #53988redditstoryparttwoethanstone #53988novelending #53988story #53988novelmaster #54185reddit #54185story #54185part2 #54185novelmaster ♬ original sound - luckyxf6
The Ethan Stone phenomenon, however, is more than just a quirky TikTok trend.
An investigation by the Daily Dot reveals that these videos are part of a broader content-farming operation orchestrated by Chinese novel apps aiming to break into the Western market.
In a WeChat post in Chinese, Chengzi Jianghu, a business and entrepreneurship blog, called on contributors to create promotional content for apps like GoodNovel, Novel Master, Hinovel, WebNovel, and others, using the software “Maodian Story Hub.”
The post touts possible earnings of up to 6,000 RMB (approximately $850) a day with just an iPhone and a VPN.
Detailed guidelines from another WeChat post explain the process: creators steal engaging visuals from platforms like Douyin (China's TikTok), download them, and add AI-generated voiceovers and subtitles.
These videos include a five-digit number referencing chapters or storylines, attracting viewers to download the apps to read the rest of the story.
The creators earn commissions based on the traffic and conversions their videos generate.
The formula of these videos is distinct and effective: pairing relaxing visuals—such as handcrafting, cooking, or video game streams—with dramatic and convoluted stories full of shocking twists.
The content farming formula on TikTok is also commonly seen in Reddit stories, where users lift long tales from Reddit and pair them with engaging visuals. Most of the stories are split into multiple parts—a style the novel posts are ripping off of—forcing users to seek out conclusions and boost engagement on a page.
Accounts like @ia.reddit, @storyredditf, @shortstory.central, and @redditstoryshare88 have gotten millions of views on their most popular videos.
The story of Ethan Stone was originally used in an ad for Master Novel, a reading app launched by Sugai Pte. Ltd, a Singaporean company.
Master Novel, like similar apps including Goodnovel and Novel Short, publishes novels that users can unlock by chapters. To continue reading, users need to purchase “coins,” an in-app token. The amount needed to unlock new chapters increase as the reader nears the end of a story.
The content farming seems to be working.
A search for “Ethan Stone” or “Master Novel” on TikTok returns dozens of videos with hundreds of thousands of likes.
Other intros, also designed to hook readers, went viral as well.
Lines like “My son is a child genius” or “Nina Harlow doesn’t seem too good at math,” racked up views, instantly drawing people into these labyrinth of serialized dramas.
@meowmeow5528 Nina Harlow doesn’t seem very good at math. When we split a buy-one-get-one-free milk tea, she said the “free” one was hers, and I had to pay for mine. #fypシ #storytime #story #storytelling #novelrecommendations #booktoread #fyp #66862 #NovelMaster ♬ original sound - MeowMeow Storytime
Other tropes for the novel apps include cheating scandals, surprise pregnancies, and car accidents, all designed to maximize engagement.
Each of the short videos leaves viewers on a cliffhanger, prompting users to down the app and pay to read more.
TikTok users are frustratingly hooked. “It said the full story is in the caption but we NEED a part 2,” commented user @lanadeceasedspam, echoing a common response to the clips.
But even if you paid to get a part two, you might not be that satisfied.
Many users complain about the low writing quality and steep pricing of the apps.
“Those apps feel very scammy and the quality of writing/editing is definitely something you could find for free on Wattpad”, said a Reddit user in a thread discussing the app Goodnovel. The user also complained that the price to unlock further chapters keeps rising so that finishing an entire novel could cost up to $82.
TikTok did not reply to an email inquiry from the Daily Dot asking if the content farming practice violates its platform policy.
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