I went from Community to Premium, Ask Me a Question

[GiveMeThatBread]

Hi there!

This is GiveMeThatBread.

I started writing in Community in 2020 during the COVID lockdowns.

As of 2025, I now have four Premium novels—won two Tapas contests (TLOT and AF) and my Community novel (The Vampire's Last Omega) turned Premium in 2024.

Do you have any questions about how I started from nothing as GiveMeThatBread (which wasn't even my original author name lol) to a Premium author as a part-time job?

[jwabeasley]

What do you think you've done that most Tapas novelists don't do?

[Aeneas1]

Does that mean the Tapas company will pay you?

[GiveMeThatBread]

I think nowadays... researching what is popular to that platform.

There are a lot of competing ones—Wattpad, Webnovel, Ritoria, Royal Road, KDP, etc. Each one is unique (and The Beginning After the End came from Royal Road originally!) with its own tropes and fanfics. Thankfully, what I liked was already tailored to Tapas, but if I had been into (for example) non-fiction Civil War heroes, Tapas may not have been the best audience for that. It's important to realize what audience best suites which platform and if your story can thrive with the average audience.

Tapas's average reader base 65% female between 17-25 years old.

I researched A LOT when starting out.

[GiveMeThatBread]

That totally depends on the readers, not Tapas.

If my stories resonate with people and they become a lovely, loyal sub, and my readerbase grows, they usually follow me to my newer works. They are the ones who unlock and donate ink, not Tapas.

Tapas acts as an advocate. They and I promote in our own ways (they with gift passes and me with Instagram posts) while the readers take the time to spend their hard earned money to read.

[jwabeasley]

Thanks for the answer! It definitely raises my eyebrows when I see a grungy action sci-fi use this site as its primary.

Prior to getting picked up by Tapas, what was your advertising like?

[GiveMeThatBread]

I'll admit for the first few years, I didn't really market myself. I did have an instagram but it had 60 followers at the time and posts were pretty sporadic.

About a year before being picked up, I started being more serious about it—using instagram ads, replying with links on reddit if someone asked for a recommendation, and sharing my stories on my K-pop account which reaches a lot more people. My author account has almost 1k now.

Instagram is definitely my personal favorite because I share fan art, nice comments, and the marketing ads reach a lot of people because of the tags. X is kinda a hit or miss (can get 100 views while another got 56k).

The hard part of advertising is that methods to do this change a lot. Something that worked for an author in 2021 to get 1M views on Tiktok wouldn't work today.

[GiveMeThatBread]

I also want to add to this one—networking.

Some jobs in publishing even want to see a decent, current network.

I worked hard to network with "big" creators as I was growing (and I'm still growing!), respectful their work, ask questions, and take it to heart. A lot of people burned bridges with prolific creators (from disrespect, calling them names, etc) who have connections which they could've possibly hooked you up with! It's a valuable resource that isn't considered when starting out because people are so focused on gaining their own stats first.

[stiatent]

@GiveMeThatBread Congrats on winning the two contests and going Premium
Nice to meet you and very kind of you to allow us to ask questions

The Lockdowns was also what inspired me to start posting webcomics, prior to that I was more interested in videogame development so I still feel fairly new to series publishing online.

(saw in a previous comment you mentioned 'researching what's popular on platform')
Out of curiosity seeing your current series is Omega in title, was your 1st series also romance or omegaverse genre too? And if not was there a significant difference because of focusing on those specific genres?
Had always considered doing a short BL spin off series based on my current webcomic (BL exists in current comic, gay author : so BL was always on the bucket list, also only recently learning about omega verse XD).

That was nice insight too on the social medias. Much like you said you were 'in 1st few years', that's me lol, only recently been trying to improve my knowledge using social media. yep Insta is also my favorite of the bunch.
Are any of the Reddit pages you use webcomic oriented too? And what are some great reddit group recommendations if you don't mind? I tried a few times to post on reddit and never got much engagement, could be the groups I've posted to also
And you're right advertising style that worked a previous year wouldn't work today.

Keep up the hard work and wishing you continued success

[GiveMeThatBread]

All of my series are romance in a way! That's just what I like (I can't imagine NOT including some sort of romance). As for omegaverse, that particular novel was my second one. My first novel is BL/fantasy which has around 2.7k subs right now?

I'd keep in mind that you don't have to write a genre for the sake of it being popular. There have been works from people writing BL or omegaverse, without doing proper research on the genre, and it shows a lack of passion. I adore omegaverse and I've been reading it for 10 years, so I highly recommend checking some works out and how versatile it can be! There's definitely a market for it but nowadays, we gotta write a unique story with how saturated it is becoming.

I don't know much about webcomic communities since I'm an author, but I'm sure you can check out r/webtoon or r/webcomic, though they might have rules about self promotion. Facebook will also have webcomic groups. I think what works best is finding a community specifically for that genre you write. For example, I occasionally post in r/MMromance or r/omegaverse, rather than r/books

[JoshRaed]

What got you to finally get there?

[GiveMeThatBread]

I'd say determination to make it. I wanted it. Badly. I did my best to write a story that not only I wanted to read but what might do good on Tapas. I spend endless nights staying awake until 2-3 AM getting chapters done. Networking was a big thing.

Also, investing in artwork.

[skullforceagents]

How are you feeling about it? Surprised? Proud? I hope a little bit of both

[GiveMeThatBread]

It was definitely in disbelief at first after writing on Tapas for years, then being given the opportunity. Now, I'm SO HAPPY to have loyal readers who like my stories and want to support

[GiveMeThatBread]

bumping for more questions.

[Phoenix_fly]

If I update my novel on other sites like Royal Road, will that prevent it from becoming premium?

[GiveMeThatBread]

It would not!
In fact, some Premium authors were recruited elsewhere. I think Turtleme came from RR originally before being scouted.

I had my one novel on tapas and wattpad when I was offered Premium (though I removed it from Wattpad after).

But if offered Premium, you'd have the option to be non-exclusive, meaning you can post it elsewhere...but the other platform has to be behind a paywall, too. It can't be free on RR but pay to read on Tapas. You'd have to be Premium on RR, too.

[Phoenix_fly]

So, Publishing my novel on other platforms doesn't necessarily diminish its chances of achieving premium status. ((However, I acknowledge that the likelihood is minimal—akin to a mathematical limit approaching zero, rendering it virtually negligible))

[Phoenix_fly]

So, is it a good idea to update my novel on Wattpad and Royal Road as well? And just out of curiosity, was your novel previously under contract with Wattpad before it became a premium series on Tapas?

[GiveMeThatBread]

I think that's totally up to you! Like Tapas, RR and Wattpad have genres that work better than others. Action fantasy is like king on RR while romance and fanfics are most popular on wattpad (and we both know what readers flock to on tapas lol).

I only posted on wattpad to gain more of a following, but keeping up with both can be stressful.

I added my novel to wattpad a year after Tapas and it was not premium. It was offered to join their Creator program (or whatever its called) after I got 1M views there, but I didn't like the conditions. But I'm glad I turned it down because Tapas has been treating me well in the Premium program.