How WEBTOON Is Empowering Creators To Tell Original Stories Online

WEBTOON is a Korean comic publishing platform established in 2004 by Naver Corporation. The company has gained international popularity in recent years and they now have approximately 85.6 million monthly active users. During an interview with Forbes magazine, Ken Kim, President of WEBTOON Americas stated, “WEBTOON creators are some of the most talented, creative, and captivating in the history of comics.” It is a space where content creators can enjoy the freedom of sharing their work globally while being paid for their efforts. The comic market is growing in leaps and bounds, in the United States alone, the industry is worth more than $2.1 billion and the opportunities for people to showcase their talent and boost their earning potential are increasing. Here are five ways WEBTOON is empowering creators to tell original stories.

1) A Large Fan Base of Comic Readers Exists Already

Most comic creators are never going to get the exposure they desire because it’s so difficult to get your foot in the door, and unless you manage to strike a deal with a major brand, quitting your day job isn’t an option. Despite the amount of talent out there, a very small number of people make it in the industry because no one knows they exist. Apart from showcasing your work on social media and developing your own brand, getting noticed is very difficult. A platform like WEBTOON has millions of subscribers and creators simply upload their work and it’s put in front of interested viewers. Therefore, creators are given the opportunity to cut out the middle man (publishing companies), build a large fan base and gain the exposure they deserve.

An interesting case study is the Batman: Wayne Family Adventures series, penned by CRC Payne, that is based on an existing IP and currently 76 million views. It is an Eisner-nominated series and the first title launched in the WEBTOON/DC partnership. This is the creator’s very first comic and Payne is one of the few women that have written a major Batman title.

Goldie Chan: What do you enjoy about writing webcomics?

CRC Payne: First and foremost, I love working with our creative team. Everyone is so passionate about this work and I feel so lucky that I get to collaborate with them! Creating a Batman webcomic with people and for people who love the whole Batfamily is a genuine dream come true.

From a writing perspective, I really enjoy writing for the vertical format. It gives us a lot of freedom to play around with the visuals and the ability to surprise readers, especially for comedic episodes.

Chan: What is your advice for new creators?

Payne: The biggest thing is to share stories that you are passionate about! Your readers will absolutely be able to feel your excitement, care, and attention through each panel.

On a more personal level — there's a famous saying I think about a lot when I'm writing: "perfect is the enemy of good." We all want to create that perfect episode, that perfect storyline. Sometimes, that desire leads us to throw out a story that is perfectly good because it's not perfectly perfect. There's always going to be that impulse to scrap your work because you think you can make it better. Learning when to listen to that voice and learning when to stop is really important and difficult. I struggle with it sometimes. Don't let it stop you from publishing anything at all. Writing is a skill like any other. It gets better with practice. Allow yourself to practice. Allow yourself to make mistakes. Allow yourself room to grow. We are almost always our own harshest critics.

Chan: What would you like to see more of in the webcomics industry?

Payne: I can only speak to my personal opinion, but I love finding stories that acknowledge and deal with real issues. Doesn't matter if the genre is fantasy or sci-fi or something else totally out of this world! At the end of the day, we tell stories to relate to one another, to see and be seen. I think a lot of people are still waiting to be seen, in big and small ways.

Chan: What is one of your favorite storylines in your webcomic?

Payne: Tough question! One my favorite things is actually the through-line for the entirety of season 1 of Wayne Family Adventures. Now, that might sound strange coming from the writer of a slice-of-life, largely episodic webcomic. But when we started working on season 1 and we were tossing around ideas, we kept coming back to the question, "Well, what makes them different than other teams of superheroes out there? What actually makes them a family?"

And that central theme was part of every single episode. Whether it was Damian and Tim getting into a prank war or Bruce accidentally traumatizing his children by flirting with Selina or Babs being there to believe in Cass the moment she needed it most. We worked really hard to show in the silly moments and the serious ones that despite everything, the strongest bond for the Batfamily was not tragedy, but love.

2) WEBTOON CANVAS is an Ad-Revenue Sharing Program

A revenue sharing program allows individuals to make money by click or impressions from digital advertisements. WEBTOON sells space on the platform to companies wanting to advertise their services. Each creator will have adverts on their page and if viewers click through, they get paid. The more subscribers a creator has, the higher their earning potential.

An example of a webcomic that has found its home on WEBTOON CANVAS is SubZero, created by Junepurrr with 344M views. The creator is a former accountant who left her full-time job to pursue comics. She is now a six-figure earner on the platform and loves sharing her insight with up-and-coming creators.

Goldie Chan: How did you discover webcomics?

Junepurrr: I have been reading webcomics for over 10 years now but these were very different from the webtoons I now create. The majority of true webcomics I remember were passion projects created by one-two individual creators that would publish one color page per week. As the years passed, I saw many creators stopped updating their stories due to financial difficulties and not being able to afford the time of working on a comic.

It wasn’t until I reached college that I came across WEBTOON by chance (a comic called Siren’s Lament by Instantmiso), and my passion and fond memories of comics were reignited. The scroll layout of WEBTOON comics was very different than what I knew, but there was also music, animations and a community brimming with excitement around these comics. In addition, I learned that WEBTOON was paying the artists who created these stories. As someone desperate to get out of the Accounting profession, I saw WEBOON as a chance to pursue my passion for comics and art.

Chan: When did you first notice your webcomic was gaining traction or popularity?

Junepurrr: Instantly. As someone who has been posting art and failed comic projects on different social media for years, I can say that WEBTOON was the first taste of internet fame I felt. When I initially posted the first draft of SubZero to WEBTOON CANVAS, I remember counting views and likes on different social accounts to see which got the most traction. WEBTOON had the highest stats by far. A few months into publishing, I heard WEBTOON had a system that would even pay non-contracted creators based on view count. I thought it was too good to be true but I entered into the program and started making about $1,000 a month just for publishing my comic. (As a college student this already blew me away.)

When I received the contract offer from WEBTOON, SubZero had amassed 360K subscribers in 1 year. I was very happy to know that so many of these passionate readers stuck around in the five months while I was editing and re-drawing my episodes in order to launch the comic as a WEBTOON Original. To this day when I meet fans face to face, some of them still remember the first draft of SubZero I posted in 2017. If that’s not passion, I don’t know what is.

Chan: What is your advice for new creators?

Junepurrr:

1) Make it simple! Making a full-blown comic is a bit like being the director on a movie set, except you’re also doing the jobs of the screenwriters, actors, prop designers, costume department, special effects, budgeting, etc. You have to know a little bit about a lot of things (drawing, writing and software) so I encourage new creators to only give extra care to a defining, unique element (in my case, dragons) and keep the rest somewhat familiar. Stories tend to overcomplicate themselves as you write, so even a simple enemies-to-lovers story like SubZero can become filled with fantastical Dragon elements and outside plotlines. I suggest trying to summarize your story in one sentence (i.e. The rulers of two enemy Dragon clans are forced into a political marriage.) If you struggle with this, your story may be too complicated.

2) Know your ending! As someone with 10 failed comic projects under my belt, this has to be my downfall for most of it. Often a cool concept or scene is not enough to flesh out an entire world or story. There’s nothing worse than starting a comic strong only to lose direction in the middle of it. The genre often helps with this, but if you have a moral or something the audience can take away from your vision, you’re on the right track.

3) Finished is better than perfect! In the 5 years I’ve been publishing, I’ve learned that only about 10% of my initial grand vision makes it into the scene. Fortunately, readers are not aware of that vision to compare to the final product. I could spend months painting beautiful landscapes or ensuring the lighting is perfectly correct, and I would never publish anything. If you’re like me and have multiple stories you’d like to tell, you have to know when to quit nitpicking. My advice is that when readers connect to a story they love and enjoy for years to come, they won’t remember all the little mistakes you made along the way.

Chan: What are your favorite webcomics right now (outside of your own)?

Junepurrr:

• Siren’s Lament - One of the best gateway webcomics of all time if you ask me. This comic is part of what inspired me to start working on my own comic!
• UnOrdinary - One of the original action Webtoons! Great fight scenes and fun character chemistry.
• World Eater Yulian - I’m keeping my eyes out for this wuxia-inspired webcomic. It’s currently being reworked to return as a WEBTOON Original and I can’t wait for its official launch!
• Empyrea - Such beautiful, detailed world-building. I’m eagerly awaiting its return after a long hiatus.
• Lackadaisy - One of the original webcomics I’ve followed for over 10 years now! It publishes on WEBTOON CANVAS and there is a movie in the works, plus it’s about cats!
• My Dear Cold Blooded King - Another source of inspiration and very fun, charismatic characters!

3) Paid Content Revenue

Paid Content revenue involves paying content creators a percentage of the revenue from Daily Pass and Fast Pass purchases. WEBTOON’s innovative freemium model means that readers can wait to read most content for free after a period of time, or purchase earlier access with one of the paid content options. With a monthly readership of 85.6 million people, WEBTOON is a favorite for this generation of comic lovers which makes it possible to make an exceptionally good living on the platform. The top-earning creator made over $9 million in 2021, and many creators are making six figures per year.

4) The Growth of Snack-Size Storytelling

Content snacking is the new normal and the way we consume information has changed. Today, people have limited attention spans and are no longer engaging on a deeper level as they scroll, they’re looking for a quick burst of entertainment so they can move onto the next. One way in which Korea embraced this global trend was through WEBTOON. One of the major benefits of snack culture for content creators is that it’s a powerful way to keep their audience engaged. The average watch time for a film is approximately 131 minutes which means creators have the ability to divide one story into thirteen episodes. By tapping into the content snacking culture, providers become more appealing to their audience.

A fun webcomic on the WEBTOON platform that is easy-to-digest is My Giant Nerd Boyfriend by Fishball with 757M views about the creator’s everyday life with her large-in-real-life boyfriend.

Goldie Chan: Why did you decide to write about your life?

Fishball: It is something that came naturally to me, since I have a habit of writing journals and drawing little scenes that go with them. Why not turn them into comic strips?

Chan: What do you love the most about webcomics?

Fishball: I love how flexible it is, given that print has a limit on pages while webcomics could be at whatever length you need it to be. Nowadays they can even be paired with animations and music right in the panels that you read, which I find really neat!

Chan: What advice would you give new creators?

Fishball: Just keep drawing, and be open to suggestions. Also, remember to make time for rest!

Chan: What are you looking forward to with your webcomic?

Fishball: Hoping to reach more people with my stories, and maybe even tell different kinds of stories someday!

5) WEBTOON’s IP & Creator Ecosystem Helps Creators Earn Money Across Formats

Many artists and creators sacrifice creative control of their work the moment they sign on the dotted line. When someone relinquishes the rights to their work, whoever owns it earns more money from it than the creator. The publishing company often pays the creator a lump sum followed by royalty payments per item sold. But since they no longer own the rights to their work, they can’t profit from it outside of the publishing company. For example, let’s say someone writes a comic book and signs a publishing deal. They’re satisfied with the upfront and royalty payments, but they’re later told that Marvel wants to make a film out of their book. Since they no longer own the rights to it, the publishing company sells the story to Marvel and the creator doesn’t receive any profits or royalties. You won’t have this problem with WEBTOONYou won’t have this problem with WEBTOON because the company’s contracts, rev share models, and IP & Creator Ecosystem are designed to help creators make money across formats. WEBTOON creators maintain ownership of their work: WEBTOON invests in the creator's vision and work, then works to create opportunities for creators to monetize in every format, whether it’s online, in print, on TV or film, or even in gaming.

A final example of a great webcomic on WEBTOON is Love Me to Death created by the husband and wife team of Toonimated. Questions are answered in tandem by both.

Goldie Chan: How has your culture inspired your webcomics?

Toonimated: The idea for Love Me to Death came about a bit unexpectedly. We had been racking our brains for weeks, trying to come up with a concept for a new romance story. Then, one night while giving our son a bath, my husband made an offhanded remark about how it was a shame I couldn't create a romance based on "Frankenstein," given it's my favorite book.

Initially, I brushed off the idea, thinking it could never work. But as we wrapped up bath time and got our little one ready for bed, inspiration struck. I began to believe that it actually could work - so we started to brainstorm.

We decided to take a fantasy approach to the classic tale rather than leaning into sci-fi elements because we thought it would lend itself more naturally to the romance genre. We also chose to set the story in a fictional Mexican city because we felt of Mexico's unique cultural reverence of death would help add depth and color to the story without making things too morose. As Julian is Mexican and we've lived in this beautiful country for a few years now, it felt like the perfect opportunity to honor this vibrant culture while telling an engaging and romantic story that will resonate with readers around the world.

Chan: How do you manage the partnership of working with each other?

Toonimated: Julian and I make a great team because we have overlapping skills, but we complement each other's strengths and weaknesses. He's more intuitive and spontaneous in his creativity and can draw faster than anyone I know, while I'm more of the methodical planner type. We wear different hats depending on what the project requires, but right now, I'm writing the script for Love Me to Death and Julian is doing the storyboarding. We also have amazing assistants who help us with line art and color, but I'm a bit of a perfectionist so I put the finishing touches on everything before it goes live.

Chan: What are your favorite webcomics right now?

Toonimated: Oh, that's such a hard question. I feel like we don't have as much time as we'd like to keep up with all of the amazing webcomics that are coming out. That said, a few Webtoon series that have really hooked us and we think deserve more recognition are "Hominids" by Jordan Kotzebue, "Time and Time Again" by Deo I., "Vibe Check!" by Ucheomaaa, "Nonesuch" by The Bitsy Artist, "The Croaking" by echorise, and "Novae" by KaixJu.

Chan: What advice would you give new creators?

Toonimated: When it comes to creating webcomics, it's crucial to maintain consistency in the quality of your work, the number of panels in each episode, and your posting schedule. You should start by determining how often you want to post - ideally on the same day every week, for simplicity's sake - and develop a style that is sustainable for you to produce within that timeframe.

It's a good idea to have a backlog of episodes ready before launching your comic. This way, if you need to take a break for any reason, you can do so without leaving your readers hanging. Regaining readership after a hiatus can be quite challenging.

While creating webcomics requires hard work and dedication, if you're passionate about it, you can be successful!

Comic creators create because they’re passionate about making stories come alive. Creators are making six figures and more on this platform which means it's more than possible to make a living doing the thing that you love the most, including creating comics on the web.