Thoughts on the new Webtoon Contest?

[Iaikaa]

I really think part of the reason the most gripping category gets less views than any of the others is that none of the genres inside the category are immediately visible on the discovery page and you need to click to open more categories. I got way more views for my earlier webtoon that is in the fantasy genre than I'm getting for my contest entry and it is one of those visible in the top bar of discovery.

[jarzebiny]

Agreed, I find that the way things are organized on there to kinda discourage actual "discovery". Maybe if they tailored recommendations to your personal viewing habits (kinda how Amazon suggests products to you that you might like), or featured things with less than 500 subs (the recommended titles vary but are 40k, 10k, 3k). Maybe they do this already on other pages, I don't know. I'm totally new to Webtoon and Tapas, still need to explore a bit.

I uploaded my own comic the other day and it's gotten a bit of attention, though. It's a start! I don't expect it to blow anyone away because it takes a bit of time to build up the characters/conflicts. It's not for everyone.

Linking below if anyone is curious!

Jarzebiny

[Zushi]

yeah! My friend has this really cool historical thriller based on the black death so I decided to team up with her and draw.

Lily Amongst The Thorns - Prologue: The End is Near

It's definitely not easy to get an audience in the most gripping category since the readership drawn to those genres are so much smaller than compared to romance or fantasy. I was able to get a decent amount of subs due to promoting it on my other comic, but without that I'd doubt I'll be able to get the 1k I have at the moment.
I'll probably change the thumbnail though to make it more "appealing"

[fleohr]

Maybe if they tailored recommendations to your personal viewing habits (kinda how Amazon suggests products to you that you might like)

They recommend a couple of titles on the main page (on the app), but most of them are featured comics, and very popular comics from discovery (+50k subs)

I loved your art style, it reminds of those illustrations from those design magazines

[fleohr]

Guess the only way is to get promoted by webtoon then, quite sad tbh, but I'll still try it out (I already tried other genres and all my ideas were too boring)

[jarzebiny]

Thank you! I checked yours out as well (and subbed!) and now I need to know why poor Nicholas is having these freeeeaky dreams! Haha.

[ethereis]

it's rly hard to have any hopes in the most feels as newcomer hahaha i thought maybe i'll just sit this one out and see entries as a reader. i mean, it's rly obvious it doesn't matter anymore. good luck for every other categories contestants, i hope you all will fare more fairly and have better chances.

[fleohr]

Ohh that's not my entry for the contest haha, but thank you (I also subbed to your comic earlier)!

[eyewater]

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[ethereis]

i actually am rooting for a titie that's very good but doesn't get any attention, i hope it will in the future. i mean as a reader i think there are titles with the same quality as the the top contender imho but i really think doesn't have any chance if popularity plays a big part in judging. i mean, yeah, that's the reality. atleast they are still entering and maybe will get lots of experience from it. goodluck for your comic :")

[Carossmo]

I'm thinking of joining the contest... (I literally found out just today about this) but I'm still considering how others have their comics also in Tapas but changed the title when uploading to the contest hmm... While I saw others that retained the title anyway

[AdrenalineShots]

This is the single greatest post this year

[AllisonGal]

Many authors have sacrificed their summer for this contest. My friends don't even go out and work on their webtoon the whole day like zombies. After they saw the way Webtoon's cheated, their motivation died. Most gave up while some r about to give up. It's good to be positive but honestly in the most feels, winners are already decided. The most chance to go for might be the most gripping although there's a comic there that Webtoon has been crazed over (a reupload) so maybe there's not chance too, lol...

[Carossmo]

What does happen to the entry after the contest ends? (this I mean not being able to win haha) Does it stay as a regular comic or does it disappear?

[Meraky]

It stays as a regular comic.

[jarzebiny]

Guys. Guys. GUYS! Don't let it get you down. There's a very slim chance that ANY of us will even get close to winning...But think about how much potential for exposure (no matter how limited) there is with a contest. That's a good way to jump start your fanbase, at least!

And please for the love of God don't waste your whole summers on this. I don't know how old most of you are but I'm 29 and I have a feeling I might be older than most of you so I can say this ahaha ughhhh

I know it's many people's passions but...Go out and live, draw something different, watch your favorite show, disconnect, etc. That's usually what inspires me most and gets the creative juices flowing. When you like doing something, people will see that, and it will reflect in your work. If you're just slaving away and you're miserable, your work suffers, your schedule suffers, you're stressed, suddenly you're throwing things and the dog is looking at you funny. No one is happy lol.

[seru]

That $80,000 grandprize is making a lot of people delusional.

Like I said before, make sure you do it with the right reasons not just for the money.

[eyewater]

please delete—————————

[Meraky]

You can get featured after the contest is over. Don't let the contest and the ranking stop you from doing what you enjoy.

[lettusbear]

We started writing our comic using the contest as a way to set milestones and deadlines to motivate ourselves, rather than as an end goal. While it would be nice to win, it's obviously going to be difficult if you're a new creator and 40% of the criteria is 'audience engagement'.

For us, it's more important to get into a good workflow and start producing quality work that will open opportunities beyond hoping for a lucky break in a popularity contest. It is discouraging seeing the top submissions with thousands more views but having the right mindset helps to keep everything in perspective.