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backwoodnav
May '23

Is it just me? I find that posting on LINE webtoon or Voyce.me has been much more fruitful and I have built a decent following for my comic. On Tapas, it's tough to grow and get noticed. Do you guys feel the same way? One of the quickest ways I see to grow on this forum is the 'sub for sub' method but I don't like doing that. I feel like if people sub to you just because you sub to them, it's shallow in the sense that is no actual love for your comic or the story you're trying to tell.

For those of you that have been successful, how did you find readers?

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    May '23

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darthmongoose
May '23

I've actually found it the opposite way around. Webtoon is infuriating for me because growth seems to be entirely based on luck, while on Tapas my comic's growth has always been steady, even without ever using sub-for-sub.

On Tapas, there's basically a simple checklist for growth, and if you tick all the boxes, you're practically guaranteed a staff pick and to gain an audience.

  • Well-drawn cover with one or more faces on it that reads well at a small size, gets across what the story is about, and has the logo in a nice, readable, but professional looking font.
  • A story that gets going quickly and whatever the genre is focused on a strong cast of characters.
  • Consistent internal art that's close to or at professional quality.
  • Art style, characters and story that will ideally appeal to a mostly female audience aged roughly 20 years and based in the US.
  • Regular update schedule.
BoomerZ
May '23

Tapas has a different audience than Webtoons for sure. My comics is better received on webtoon, while tapas is very slow getting a following. Tapas seems to be overflowing with BL. Webtoons not so much. The art styles seem to vary too. Tapas has lots of guys with long necks and skinny fingers, while Webtoons seems to be a little more diverse is style. So if your style doesn't match that art style (which mine doesn't), you might find it hard for a large following on Tapas.

moontokkym
May '23

I echo what @darthmongoose said, I've had a way easier time growing on Tapas than on Webtoon, most of my webtoon following comes from my french friends I've been talking about my comic with for years going to read the french version on the only platform I have that really supports multiple languages well. Meanwhile Tapas has been a few friends and almost exclusively natural growth through algorithm and on-site promotion which really surprised me.

I even came to the forums for the first time because I was getting recommended multiple times over on the community tab without my knowledge and was wondering where all the new subscribers were coming from for what I assumed was a comic too small for anyone to care. I've had no such opportunity with webtoon, not that I expected it, and I've generally heard similar stuff about it being quite closed to newcomers unless you're really lucky or you already have a platform elsewhere that you can send subscribers in from.

ohno-mydear
May '23

Not adding anything, but thanks to everyone for sharing their experiences! Sub for sub, like backwoodnav says, doesn't always feel authentic (though sometimes of course it is), so I appreciate reading the ways people have built their followings on Tapas.

VersusVII
May '23

I prefer Tapas, the notification system works better and I can reply to comments in short time. On Webtoon I need to check each chapter for comments and I don't even know if they will read the reply anyway.
Also, I grew more here on Tapas than Webtoon: the page format is really rare there and black and white isn't so porpular. The only way to grow there was probably sub4sub from facebook groups.

BlairFujin
May '23

For checking out comments on webtoon there's a browser extension called comment wizard that pulls all the new comments from your episodes into a single page
But it is ridiculous that such a basic functionality needs to be handled by an user-made plugin...

backwoodnav
May '23
darthmongoose

Thank you, this was very helpful!

And I just remember my cover is dogshit because I only have the title on it SMH. Gotta update that for sure xD.

river121693
May '23
3

I find that the biggest growth is when I get promoted by either site. The caveat is that your art and story has to be at a certain quality. I find audienc by being active on either of these platforms social media and activities and posting regularly on their discords, reddit, forums etc. that way, the staff will more likely to come across your work. It be that you're just more active in the Webtoon community than Tapas?

That said, I noticed that I got way more subs when promoted on webtoon (~450) than tapas (~250), probably because Webtoon has a bigger audience. berate obfuscation by Tapas.

Tapa's notification, user account, and stat system makes it a whole lot easier to engage with your following compare to webtoon though. For example, if someone sub to my comic, I can easily go on their page to see what other comics theyre subbed to and learn what kind of audience I have.

XiuLyn_12
May '23

If I had to compare my subs in Tapas and Webtoons, obviously I have more subs in Webtoons. But the engagement in Webtoon is so low that I am more satisfied with the comic I published in Tapas. I can communicate with many other artists and authors here too!

Tapas feels more welcoming. In Webtoon, you really depend on luck, I suppose... :sweat_smile:

thepenmonster
May '23

Assuming all goes according to plan... and when do plans ever get derailed by life?... I'm going to start posting on Tapas first this September. Just because I find the creator options a bit better. While I'm running that I'll reformat for other platforms like Global, Canvas, and Duckand see where my bites come from. From there I'll see if I can continue and turn my little vanity comic into a paying gig with Patreon and the like.

I fully expect things to be slow. But if no one is interested at all? Well, I can't help that6.

VersusVII
May '23
BlairFujin

I didn't know there was a browser extension, such a thing should be a base feature in a comic platform (with the possibility to schedule the next update that is missing in other platforms I'm trying).

Webtoon it's so popular but it's not made to keep a talk with the audience.