How To Create A Successful WEBTOON?
Do you want to put your comic on WEBTOON? This is how you can be successful.
Hello Lifeline Comics readers!
This week, we’re tackling a topic that we’ve wanted to dive into for quite a while now: How to create a successful Webcomic!
Almost three years into the run of our webcomic, “Slice of Life”, we’ve learned a lot of tricks for how to build an audience and generate revenue on Webtoon, Tapas, and other platforms. We’ve also worked closely with quite a few other webcomic creators on “Rainbow Canvas” and gained some of the benefits of their experience. And we’re excited to share some of those tips with you here!
We’ll also talk about our experiences at New York and Harlem Prides, share some really great news about our Convention Schedule, discuss Season Three of The Bear, and more!
Let’s get into it!
Get our Slice of Life X Beast & Snow Crossover Print!
Before we get into our main topic, a quick reminder that we have two Kickstarter campaigns live right now - one of which is for a collected edition of our own Webcomic!
Slice of Life: A Coming Out Story
“Collecting Chapters 27-35 of the Webcomic, this Coming Out Special sees closeted cheerleader Lucy finally learn to accept her sexuality and her romantic feelings for the anime character who came to life in her house!
The Beast & Snow #1-2 - A Mature Vampire/Werewolf Romance
“BEAUTY BECOMES THE BEAST! A Werewolf Belle is trapped in her castle with a Vampire Snow White. Will the two monsters fall in love in this steam 18+ romance?”
Supporting both campaigns gets you an awesome “Yuriko vs. Snow” Art Print by “Slice of Life” artist Valeria Peri!
How to Create Successful Webtoon
Phil: Webcomics have had a meteoric rise in popularity over the last decade - both in the United States and internationally - to the point where webcomic readership far exceeds print comic readership.
With so many potential readers on Webcomic platforms like Webtoon, Tapas, and the like, it’s easy to see why creators are eager to publish webcomics to find an exciting new audience. Heck, even big publishers like DC Comics are publishing webcomics on Webtoon!
We’re excited to dive in and share some essential tips for building a successful webcomic!
Why WEBTOON?
Kat: Webcomics were a big part of the underground/punk rock indie comic book movement in the late 1990’s and early 2000s. It was a way for readers to check out stories that weren’t just capes titles in a more accessible way than zines.
Fast forward 20 years later, webcomics have entered the mainstream with more readers going on platforms like WEBTOON than entering comic book stores. WEBTOON as a platform organically has a lot of users looking for specific stories, which could help you find a new group of fans at a faster pace than a smaller platform or a website you need to pull your own traffic towards.
So should you put your comic on WEBTOON instead of your own website or other competing platforms? The easy answer…why not do all three? Put it on your website for more control of your comic, put it on sites like Tapas to hit a more niche audience, but most importantly put your comic on WEBTOON for the reach.
Know the Audience - What Does Well on WEBTOON?
Kat: Does every comic work on WEBTOON? It doesn’t hurt to try, but there are genres and specific art styles that do better on the platform than others. Queer romances and more anime leaning art styles and genres tend to do the best on the platform.
But there is a whole lot of competition in those categories. So if you have a weird ghost story, you may actually be able to find your own little niche on the platform because there isn’t as much competition. It’s all about finding that sweet spot between popular, but not oversaturated.
Picking the Right Category
Kat: Comics on WEBTOON are separated by category. The most popular on the platform are Romance and Slice of Life. There’s a lot of competition, BUT you’ll also have a lot of readers potentially looking at those categories as they are browsing the site.
Our recommendation is to pick your main category in a less competitive section and use your second genre to fit one of the more popular categories.
Webcomic Formatting versus Sequentials
Phil: Unlike traditional comics which are created and read in sequential page format, most webcomics use a vertical scroll format with panels on top of each other which is designed to be read on mobile devices.
A lot of first-time creators are tempted to create and post their webcomics in traditional/sequential format. This makes it easier to create printed editions of their comics in the future (more on this in a bit).
But if you’re looking to find success in the Webcomic space (especially if you don’t already have an existing webcomic audience), we strongly recommend publishing in the vertical scroll format. It is the format most webcomic readers are used to, and thus will make it more likely that readers who click on your series will continue to read it in a landscape with thousands of other webcomics.
This is, of course, not a hard and fast rule. Plenty of webcomics do find success posting their pages as sequentials (including one of our favorites, “Kiss It Goodbye”).
But it’s best to look at these cases as exceptions to the rule, and we always recommend following the industry convention if you’re looking to maximize your chances of finding success.
The “best of both worlds” approach - and the one that we use for “Slice of Life” - is to create pages as traditional sequential comics and then convert these pages to the vertical scroll format. This allows you to have a print-ready version of your comic should you choose to publish print books at a later point, but also to publish your webcomic in the format most readers are used to.
Sequential “Slice of Life” Page
Webcomic Converted
The cons of this approach are double the work (i.e. Converting Sequential to Vertical Scroll; Lettering two versions of the comic). But trust us when we say that it is a lot more difficult to convert Vertical Scroll format to Sequential than it is to start from Sequential pages.
Pick the Right Thumbnail
Phil: As is the case with creating a successful Kickstarter, one of the most important elements in setting a webcomic up for success is choosing the right thumbnail. With thousands of other webcomics competing for readers’ attention, the thumbnail is your first round of offense in convincing a potential reader to click your series and check out your comic.
You want a thumbnail that showcases your art, communicates important elements about the series, and feels unique. We very recently changed our “Slice of Life” thumbnail to one that we’re super excited about!
As the webcomic enters a new era, we thought it was important to have our thumbnail reflect this change. But we also didn’t want to stray too far from our previous thumbnails.
A thumb is in many ways the identity of your comic. It’s the most recognizable element of a webcomic. So we always make a very conscious effort to maintain that consistency and identity, even when we change our thumbnail to show the evolution of our series over time.
You’ll notice that throughout the evolution of our thumbnail, we try to keep a lot of elements the same. The featured characters, their outfits, their positions, Yuriko’s sword, etc.
This has proven invaluable in ensuring that the series stays recognizable. Our goal is always that when someone passes “Slice of Life” on Webtoon or at a Convention, they’ll see whatever version of our thumb/cover we have present and immediately recognize the series.
Launch with Three Episodes and Stay CONSISTENT!
Phil: Two of the most important pieces of advice you can get about Webtoon and other webcomic platforms: they reward series that launch with three episodes and maintain a consistent post schedule.
There’s a reason that new Webtoon Originals (series produced and funded by Webtoon themselves) launch with a minimum of three episodes. It gives readers enough content to read, remember, and become invested in - and thus more likely to come back for your next post. The platform also prompts a reader who reads three episodes in a row to Subscribe to your series with a pop-up.
And once you start posting, be sure to continue to do so consistently. Whether that is weekly, biweekly, or monthly, do your best to maintain a consistent schedule. Our greatest growth periods in readership come when have a regular post schedule. And often you will see very persistent lulls when you falter in your schedule.
“Slice of Life” posts new episodes every Monday at 6pm. While this can be difficult to maintain, it’s very possible with proper planning.
Firstly, stockpile episodes. We didn’t officially launch “Slice of Life” until we had about fifteen episodes worth of content locked down and ready for posting. Having a backlog helped tremendously by giving us a buffer for unexpected delays in art and writing. It also meant we had a wealth of content for our Patreon (more on that later).
And secondly, don’t shy away from the occasional bonus episode to buy time. Particularly after a big moment/finale, it can be a big help to plan Q&A Episodes or Character Card bonus episodes. They’re easier to create and don’t require (much) new art. And they give a little bonus content to readers while they wait for the next regularly scheduled episode.
Engage with the Community
Phil: Congrats! Now that you’re posting your webcomic, you’re part of the webcomic community! So it’s in your best interest to act like it.
Respond to comments on your webcomic. Maybe even highlight certain comments in your comic or bonus episodes to make readers feel special. Read other webcomics and interact with fellow creators.
Something we like to do with “Slice of Life” is cameo swaps with other queer webcomics wherein the leads of other webcomics cameo in our series and “Slice of Life” leads Yuriko & Lucy cameo in the other comic.
We each include a small plug for the other webcomic at the bottom of the episode. It’s a great way to excite readers of both series and to encourage new readers to check out another similar webcomic!
We also recommend a webcomic in every installment of our Substack newsletter and have put together a whole anthology comprised of queer webcomics, “Rainbow Canvas”! In order to succeed in the webcomic space, it’s important to interact with your community!
Monetize (Ads, Patreon, Kickstarter, etc.)
Phil: Monetization of your Webcomic could probably be its own newsletter topic (and maybe someday it will be). But in the interest of brevity, we’ll suggest using all tools available to you to monetize your comic.
Webtoon, Tapas, and other webcomic platforms have programs for their creators to earn ad revenue for their posts. This includes simple content ads as well as “unlockable” ads (i.e. Watch a short Ad to read an episode early; use In-app currency to read an episode early).
We recommend opting into these programs as soon as you’re able to do so, as the monthly revenue earned from them really adds up over time.
Most webcomic creators also tend to leverage Patreon and similar platforms to offer additional content to readers for a price. This may include early access to upcoming episodes, bonus chapters and art, direct creator-fan interaction and more.
Patreon directly plugs into certain platforms (most prominently Webtoon), so it’s relatively easy to convert readers from free to paid by prompting them to check out your Patreon with the click of a button.
And finally, one of the best ways to monetize your webcomic is by producing a print edition and funding it on Kickstarter. Some of the most prominent webcomics (like “Let’s Play” and “Check, Please!”) have done this to massive success. And we ourselves crowdfund physical issues of “Slice of Life” very regularly (including right now).
We have multiple newsletter posts dedicated to how to build a successful Kickstarter, so we recommend checking those out for more detailed tips and tricks on crowdfunding! And we recommend this newsletter in particular for a more detailed look at leveraging multiple revenue streams.
In Conclusion
Phil: Webcomics are some of the most rewarding content a comic creator can put out into the world. The audience for webcomics is massive and communicative, with very active comment sections and feedback loops.
But the popularity of webcomics also means that there is so much competition. So it’s important to do everything you can to stand out. Know what is popular amongst webcomic readers, set yourself up for a successful launch and a consistent post schedule, adhere to the conventions of the medium, and have a plan for the ways that you’ll engage with the webcomic community and monetize your webcomic.
“Slice of Life” has become one of our most popular and most rewarding properties in very large part because it is a webcomic. And while we can’t tease too much right now, we can tell you that “Slice of Life” certainly won’t be our last webcomic!
What have we been up to?
Let’s talk about some of the stuff that’s kept us busy since our last post!
We Got Into NYCC!
Kat: We’re happy to officially announce that we’ll be tabling at our home show, New York Comic Con.
Reed Pop puts up the best artist alleys so we’re very excited to be part of their biggest show of the year. We have some BIG plans for the con (maybe even some exclusives 👀) that we’ll be keeping you updated on in the upcoming months.
Nightmare in Wonderland Fulfillment + Beast & Snow #2’s Launch
Kat: The EverAfterVerse is full-speed-ahead as we begin physical fulfillment for Nightmare in Wonderland #1, lettering for Witches of Oz #1, AND continue sagas with the second issue of The Beast & Snow on Kickstarter.
This week we focused on Slice of Life and WEBTOON as our main topic, but we’ll be taking a deeper dive into The Beast & Snow and NSFW comics in our next newsletter as we tackle a hot topic in indie comics that you won’t want to miss.
Princeton Pride
Kat: Princeton Pride has quickly become one of our favorite prides of the year. It has such a wonderful community, and the people who run the pride are so passionate about LGBTQ rights and their community. It was our first year tabling at the event, but we felt so welcomed, and can’t wait to make this a mainstay in our calendar.
It was also one of the HOTTEST events of the year. Even though we’ve been doing outdoor events for three years, we’re still learning the best ways to keep cool, especially on days that get higher than 95 degrees. (Answer: bring a cooler and drink from a pineapple 😂).
Phil: Shout out to my cousin, Alyssa, for jumping into help us out at Princeton Pride! We were shocked how quickly she picked up everything at her first event. She slung comics like she’s been doing it her whole life!
Harlem Pride
Phil: Speaking of beating the heat, we also got to sweat it up at Harlem Pride! This Pride came recommended by our good friend, T., who also joined us while we tabled at the event - armed with neck fans and frozen water bottles.
We had an absolute blast at the event and have to give a special shout-out to the organizer who was such a pleasure to talk to! The EverAfterVerse books, in particular, were best-sellers at Harlem Pride, with Nightmare in Wonderland just edging out The Beast & Snow as the winner of the event!
NYC Pride
Phil: New York Pride has been one of our biggest events for the last two years. The cost to table is high, but so is the foot traffic. And one of our biggest surprises and pleasures is that you see a great mix of new and returning facing. We talked to so many people who became fans of Lifeline Comics from buying a single comic at NY Pride and went on to check out more of our library on Kickstarter!
Unfortunately, a storm cut this year’s New York Pride Festival short. Those lost two hours were definitely missed and make a really big difference in a small business like ourselves being able to recoup costs on an expensive event like this.
Prides (usually) being outdoor events are a double-edged sword. They’re great because you get a lot of attendees. But they’re also unpredictable because you’re beholden to the weather. And these last few weeks have really hit that point home for us between our mix of unbearably hot events and rainstorms.
Still, we always have a great time and Prides and are looking forward to trying out even more next year!
Media
And let’s discuss some non-comics media!
The Bear Season 3
Kat: The Bear is my favorite TV show on right now! I love cooking shows and character driven narratives. So this is a match made in heaven for me. Season 3 gets into the weeds exploring the dynamic between “the front of house” and “back of the house”, using Richie and Carm’s strained relationship as a foil.
It’s the season’s strongest commentary on fine dining, BUT it is a slow burn. There’s a lot of focus on artsy storytelling (which I enjoy about the show), but because this season is more avant-garde a lot of the characters arcs don’t get fully fleshed out. We feel the tension between Syd & Carm and Richie & Carm, but there isn’t enough direct interaction between the pairings to call it an “arc”.
The Bear Season 3 isn’t perfect, but it’s still extremely entertaining, especially for film nerds. If you want more of my thoughts on this season. Check out my podcast The Legendary Ladies where we take an in depth dive.
Suicide Squad Isekai (Episode 1)
Phil: After being pretty underwhelmed by Batman Ninja a few years ago, I was hungry for a strong anime adaptation of a DC Comics property. And while Suicide Squad Isekai is definitely a lot better than Batman Ninja, I found the pilot episode to be pretty middle-of-the-road.
On the positive side, the animation and action in SSI is top-notch. The characters are all well-designed with incredibly fluid (and distinct) movements. You can see how much thought went into animating them in everything from their simple walking movements to the many complex and thrilling fight scenes in the premier.
On the negative side, the story and writing for the pilot is pretty thin. It is mostly repetitive dialogue about the excitement of "finding a new world” without any real and meaningful exploration or pontification on why everyone is so fixated on finding a new world - especially since they generically fantasy world they do find isn’t exactly a paradise.
Harley Quinn is the clear lead of the series and had a few stand-out moments (mostly action-based). But by 2024, we’ve seen so many great takes on Harley Quinn (including the eponymous Max animated series) that the SSI interpretation doesn’t really offer much to make their Harley stand out or shine.
I will probably give the anime a few more episodes to win me over, but the pilot by itself didn’t have me running back to the TV for more.
Comics
Let's discuss some comics we've enjoyed recently!
As always, we'll spotlight a Direct Market Indie Book, a DC or Marvel book, a Kickstarter book, and a Webcomic!
Indie Comic: Lilo & Stitch (Dynamite Comics)
Kat: I spoke about this in our last newsletter while highlighting Primer, but I give my highest praises to creators who tackle all ages titles, especially titles attached to an already existing IP. It’s a true balancing act to create a comic that’s enjoyable to not only kids, but adults as well. Lilo and Stitch strikes that balance all while creating a new adventure that doesn’t feel repetitive to the TV show or movies, but still feels true to those original iterations. Dynamite is on fire with these Disney books!
Marvel: Marauders
Kat: An oldie but a goodie. With the end of Krakoa, I wanted to spotlight my favorite series from the era - Marauders. My favorite type of Big Two title is one that feels familiar, but reinvents the characters you’ve spent countless hours reading for decades. Marauders finds that middle ground as Gerry Duggan puts fan favorite characters like Kitty Pryde and Emma Frost on a pirate ship.
The new setting helps bring fresh and different challenges that we’ve rarely seen from the X-Men. I especially enjoyed the bond that Emma Frost and Kitty Pryde strengthened, a relationship up to this point has been complicated…to say the least.
I also have to give a shout out to Russell Dauterman’s character designs - those finger tattoos have become a quick classic and will forever stay in my mind.
Kickstarter: WINGLESS: Born Different #1
“A young bird, born without wings, must navigate a world on the brink of destruction.”
Phil: Pitched as a story for fans of Stray Dogs and superhero comics, WINGLESS #1 is a 36-page comic about survival in the bird kingdom of Central (Park). We follow the ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE Astro - a bird born without wings - as his world is thrown into absolute chaos by the release of a mysterious serum from a pharmaceutical company.
Everybody loves a good underdog story, and you can’t get much more underdog than a bird without wings. The art on this book from Veronica Saraceno is beautiful and dynamic. And it’s easy to tell from the 8-page preview on the page that WINGLESS is quickly eager to introduce readers to a rich world filled with lots of colorful characters.
Series creator John Schnell III also writes on the Kickstarter page about how this is a personal story for him, informed by his own experience with disability. It’s a wonderfully personal write-up that made me all the more eager to check out the book.
WEBTOON: type-blind
“Ryan has a type, and it isn't Dave.”
Phil: A spin-off of popular BL series “stare down.” by soyciscoy (who we had the pleasure of working with on “Rainbow Canvas”, which included a new short comic from the world of the series). “type-blind” sees the awkward Ryan start collect with big aspirations for his love life and a very clear idea of what is not his “type”.
Enter Dave, who fits the category of “not Ryan’s type” perfectly. And unfortunately for Ryan, he just so happens to be a perfect match for Dave’s type of guy.
Just like “stare down.”, the spin-off series has a wonderful mix of comedy and earnestness. I quite enjoy soyciscoy’s narration style, as it lets you get into a character’s head very quickly and easily. It only takes a few episodes to have a very strong sense of who all of our leads are.
And while readers of “stare down.” have a lot to look forward to (with more than just Ryan as returning characters), “type-blind” is also refreshingly new-reader-friendly and an easy read for anyone looking to check out a new college-set BL slice of life comic.
In Closing
Thanks for reading! We hope you learned some valuable tips and tricks for launching a Webcomic!
Be sure to check out the Kickstarter for a collected edition of our own Webcomic - Slice of Life: A Coming Out Story! And if you’re into Mature Vampire/Werewolf Romances, also consider checking out The Beast & Snow #1-2!
Subscribe to our Substack Newsletter above to get immediate updates on our future projects!
Current Kickstarters:
Slice of Life: A Coming Out Story (Ends 7/25)
Beast & Snow #1-2 - Mature Vampire/Werewolf Romance (Ends 8/08)
Next Cons/Events: Florida Supercon (Miami, FL)