Thoughts on the new Webtoon Contest?

[beta1042]

However, what the contest is doing (I hope they meant to do this) is getting everyone rabid for a carrot. So ALL WEB COMICS CONGREGATE ON WEBTOONS. They will become a central library of almost everything out there that is kind of current or even archival. Very smart. And then they will transition into ad revenue to keep people there.

Yes this is the point. This is the only reason anyone holds a contests- right? I mean ingeneral for all practices.

Also if they get the next "Unordinary" (using this as an example since they were popular comic that came out of the last contest) that's just an extra bonus.

I also feel like they want to feature some of their favorite authors but for one reason or another they can't feature the comic that they have already published so they're doing this to see what else those authors can produce. They want those favorite authors to make something that is more mainstream and geared toward popularity and success- rather than say having them tell whatever story they feel like telling. I get that these are still their stories, but chances are the authors are modifying their stories to make them more win-able.

[AllisonGal]

This attitude will ruin anyone courageous enough to try to accomplish anything. Be bold, try, fail, and succeed. But don't blame others or discourage people because you feel like trolling.

What attitude? when I say that webtoon is not being fair to all authors, especially in a time of contest? just because someone is saying webtoon is not fair doesn't mean that person is trolling. It's not my fault if people like you are way too sensitive and take everything personal even when the point lies elsewhere. It's not me who is discouraging authors to stop being bold, fail, and succeed, it's webtoon's behavior. And a lot of my friends have already abandoned participating in the contest not because of people like me but because of webtoon's unfair behavior. I have nothing against any authors, only webtoon's unfairness. If you think webtoon's innocent then you can, it'll be great if you respect other people's different opinion as well instead of trying to make them the big bad guy.

[seru]

Webtoons posted an info video about the contest:

[ethereis]

ummm can i ask a question? in the video eunice says that "if you're attending the party(ny comic con) it means that you''ll become a featured creator" does that mean if you are say unable to attend it you are disqualified from the contest even if you're chosen as finalist? the way i read the rules isn't like that and this is very concerning for people abroad/non us participant.

[eyewater]

please delete—————————

[ethereis]

yes that is exactly the way i read the fine print, but when i watch the video suddenly im not so sure anymore. im glad that it's not only me who reached the same conclusion! thank you btw

[mybe1oved]

[mybe1oved]

These aren't necessarily my views on it, but it is something to think about. I do like tapas and webtoons.

[yonseo]

This is interesting,
collaborations on tapas is a common thing but now that webtoons has a contest with money as a prize there seems to be a lot more people looking for an artist to collaborate and join this contest. You may spend a lot of time and effort on a collaborative series that may not win.

For a writer it's better to collaborate with an artist on a series now that you can enter for prize money rather than just collaborate because you have genuine interest in creating a successful story on any platform or self-publish.

It starts to make sense why wetoons allows series to re-upload and enter the contest because those people already worked hard on their series, they built a following. All the work was done prior to the contest.

This is why as an artist and a web developer I decided to focus on making a creator owned platform.
On the business side of things it makes sense to have work for hire or creator owned, partial ownership, etc.
These are our options, were not confined to one. We get to pick and choose. If the company doesn't make money then how can they keep paying the artist? what about web developers? advertising? In that sense you become a worker ant, that ant pile didn't get big because of one ant. Why else would they have volunteer positions?

Ton Roosendaal in an interview with BlenderGuru mentions how developers are at the end of the chain for big companies when it comes to pay. Don't quote me on that, google the video.

I think everyone has a different perspective on things especially if you're an independent artist vs someone who works behind a desk at a big company with the cold ac blowing in your face wondering "When is that page gonna be done?".

It's kind of like "Big companies are evil but if you are successful and you become a big company then you're evil too, or if you quit your big name company job and decide to do a kickstarter to start your own thing your evil too". That's my impression of artists who complain. He does make a lot of valid points but it comes with the territory of being an artist.

What I see in comics now is that more and more people are becoming independent and webtoons is making kpop stars out of webcomic artists.

[shaundmcmillan]

My use of the word, "trolling," was uncalled for. But I still do not recommend that anyone wait for a more fair opportunity to come along. The good thing about the contest is that it gives you hard deadlines, might get you a little more attention than usual since a lot of people are looking at Discover right now, and it gives you a chance to win a lottery that might be built on competence. If in the end you don't win but you manage to produce your own comic, well then that is quite the reward.

[baka_reader]

webtoons is making kpop stars out of webcomic artists.

Kpop is evil though

[Nika]

So, I'm not sure if I'm going to try my luck with this contest, but... What is Webtoon's stand on foul language, showing blood and generally dark themes in comics?

My comic is set in a pretty dark world and it is also reflected in how some characters act (curse a lot). Do I have to censor every single curse word? And what if I have too many (even censored), will they even consider my comic suitable for winning or would they discard it even if it's good?

And what about showing character's deaths? I have a few dramatic scenes prepared and there is some blood in them. Is it okay with Webtoon? I mean, what can I do, people bleed when they are stabbed!

[fleohr]

Have you read Bastard? I think it's a good example of how far you can go with your webtoon. You do can use curse words, but try not to add too much of it, the same with blood, you have to use them with moderation. And about death, it depends on how they die and how you show it

[Nika]

Thanks for the response! I have not read Bastard, but thanks to your suggestion I guess I will!

It's just that in my comic I think it'll be a bit harder to keep everything in check. It's mainly because I'm making a fantasy action comic, so there will be a lot of people fighting using various blades, huge axes, hammers, some may use fire spells or something like that.

So yeah, people in my comic can get hurt very easily and messy too. Fortunately, I'm not planning on making very brutal death scenes. I prefer giving my characters more graceful deaths. I guess the most brutal death scene will be getting burned, but I can easily cover the details with more fire, lol.

[fleohr]

Ohhh, I thought your comic was for the most gripping, sorry, my bad!

Hmm I haven't read too many fantasy/action comics, but I always had the feeling they are less heavy than horror and thriller. As for the being burned to death, if you don't show too much detail (like flesh showing up) will be fine

[yonseo]

Kpop may be evil but I still love kpop.

[AllisonGal]

I agree on this. as I said before, if most authors participate because they think they can win, it's ok to be optimistic but honestly it might not happen seeing how things are going at webtoon, but they could still be winners on views, getting more readers to check out their work and others things.

[PervertOldMan]

Kid, look at all those creators in this thread saying they are joining the contest, Without giving a truck to all the mocking comments saying they are being stupid for joining such a unfair and suspicious contest, that's how great creators became great, that's what you should do to become one of them, wasting your time arguing with people who always put themself in the loser position, blaming the world for their imagine failure will lead you to nowhere, those people have a lot of time in their hand so they go around complain about everything on the internet, they always have some smart reasons for not even try to do anything, and tell people that they are stupid for trying, that's just how they spend their everyday. So burning your time for them is literatury burning yourself, because you will never have as much free time as them, just look at those complaining people and their previous works, you will see that you see nothing.

[Jenny-Toons]

For me, it's less about complaining and being a "loser", and more about reminding people to be both optimistic and realistic.

Yes -- 80k is a lot of money. Yes, people have the chance to win. We can talk anout fairness, but most places can be unfair. It's all about applying yourself and showing yourself in a reasonable way. But again, you also have people who:

• Would quit their day job or neglect school for something like this.
• Would invest a lot of money hiring a team of artists and writers for this small chance. Some don't even pay their teams, all on the hope of winning.
• Don't read the contest's conditions and terms, and don't know what they're getting into.

We still have to consider these things. Again, this is a cool contest, and definitely ripe for exposure potential. Webtoons is a big company, and getting an audience is possible. Many of my friends joining just want the experience and exposure, and they read and re-read the terms and analyzed them.

They know how to handle this contest. Not everyone does. So we have to warn those people who could potentially do those three things to not do them.

A lot are young, inexperienced, and are still learning. Why make them learn from a potentially bad experience when we can just provide advice?

I don't care if the contest is "unfair" or not. I care about teaching people how to read the rules so they understand what they're getting into. I care about advising people not to mess with their income or schooling for a gamble. I care about encouraging people to network for network's sake and to find friends and help others.

Let's not pit against each other and call others "losers". I've seen some valid concerns here. Maybe some of it is cynical in tone, that I can admit. People should encourage a bit more to enter for the exposure and a chance to test yourself -- to see of you can do this comic business and keep doing it.

But even with that, I think providing advice is good to stop people from going to the extreme.

If someone is gonna join, they should do it more for the exposure and experience. The money is cool, but it might not happen. And that's ok. Just be sure to get something more out of what you're putting in.

[Emevsa]

Thank you for putting these concerns into perspective. I'll admit, despite reading all the rules and adjusting things to give us the best shot we can it still feels like a gamble and we're not even the ones who have given up jobs or school to do this. We're such a small fry comic that we don't expect much. In fact we feel so honored by the small fan base that we have. But this was an experience we could not say no to. We've risked pissing off our fan base, we've put in a lot of time and effort and for all that work we're still wondering what more we can do. As much as we would like an even playing field we recognise what we're up against. Whatever gains we make will be a win for us.