Has any tapas or webtoon writer ever gotten a big break before with their novel?

[Silver7]

Like I know people like Cassandra Clare the author of The Mortal Instruments, had her big break on the internet but what about tapas and webtoons writers?

Oh and I'm not talking about any Japanese writer on tapas or webtoons because I know that their own people would be more likely to cater for them.

I'm talking about writer that are not Japanese.

[darthmongoose]

Depends what you mean by a "big break" really. Obviously, "The Beginning After the End" seems to be doing very well, and has been adapted from a novel into a comic. I imagine, based on the vague info I know about how much creators with certain sub counts pull in, that TBaTE makes a pretty solid income and has made writing the creator's full-time job. If the definition of a big break though is going into print or TV/movies, however, I'm less sure.

So far most of the series being considered for animated adaptations (or with a live action adaptation) have been comics. It can be hard to say "Tapas" specifically, since a lot of creators cross-post to other platforms. Heartstopper has a live action series, Animal Heads (which is a writer/artist team) became an Original and I believe has a series in the works, Magical Boy went into print with Scholastic and there was definitely talk of an animated series... There are a few others out there too. Most webcomic creators are both artist and writer on their series, so I guess that could count as "writers".

A lot of the novels that really blow up tend to be at least cross-posted to other, more novel-focused platforms. It's hard for a novel to really stand out on Tapas. Stuff like "Kiss it Better" is very popular (as are the sequels), and I could see it being the jumping point for a career for the creator though.

[moontokkym]

I don't know why you're talking about japanese people, webtoon is originally a naver product which is Korean, Line is a subsidiary of Naver, and Tapas is originally korean but based in the US so mostly stuff that is korean has had "Big breaks" with Netflix series and the like, but usually comics like Kingdom and True Beauty, with some american/british comics becoming international hits like Lore Olympus and the previously mentionned Heartstopper.

Like Darthmongoose said, Tapas isn't where novels are usually the most published, and they tend to be cross-published on more novel-oriented spaces, with most online massive hits coming from wattpad and fanfiction.net of all places (After, 50 Shades, The Kissing Booth...).

I know someone who was supposed to be published traditionnally through wattpad in the french space after winning a watty but it turned sour really fast because of how they treated her, she would be considered as "making it big" but it was a horrible experience for her. Again like Kate said it depends on what you consider "a big break", does it have to be a publishing deal? Or a film adaptation? Or a radio series? Does it only count if it goes international? Or is staying domestic ok? Do you have to enjoy it? Is it worth it if you don't? For me anyone who has enough following to self-publish their own series and make money off it is already up there with some pretty high opportunities, but is rarely framed as "making it big".

[cherrystark]

As others have said, you have to define "making it big". There are a lot of places one can get their work professionally published after being in an online space.

But since you referenced Cassandra Clare, she's a fan fiction writer at her core. She was a minor celebrity in the online HP fan fiction community. There are some good YouTube videos talking about her history but The Mortal Instruments we know today was Draco/Ginny fan fiction. Her fame in her community coupled with the fantasy boom in YA during the early 2010s helped cement her name. EL James is known for writing Twilight fan fiction. Anna Todd got famous for Harry Styles fan fiction during the height of the One Direction boom. Their success all followed a big cultural movement in western society.

While studios ARE looking online for their next multi-million dollar franchise, they don't control the narrative anymore. Before they could easily predict the next "winner" and control trends. With the advent of Tiktok, they really can't anymore. We're probably going to get a couple of Colleen Hoover movies for the girlies who never had their Wattpad era, but until Tiktok catches the serial fiction craze, I don't see any online series taking center stage.