Where do you put Tapas on your road to success?

[Kaydreamer]

I have two branching goals I want to achieve:

1. Write, print and publish my own stories from my Dragonfeathers Project. (Blue Star Rebellion is part of this.)
2. Work withing the traditional publishing industry to illustrate YA graphic novels for other writers. (Illustrating in traditional publishing is good, stable money.)

Tapas and WEBTOON are instrumental for Goal 1. I'm not sure I'd hand over publishing rights for Dragonfeathers even if a traditional publisher were to offer. I want it, legally and artistically, to remain entirely mine. (I'd be horrified if it received a low-budget, botched Netflix adaptation I was powerless to stop, or something.) As such, I intend to continue publishing it online for the foreseeable future, and organising small print runs myself.

As for Goal 2, what I'm doing with Blue Star Rebellion right now is a test-run for myself in 'how-to-make-a-comic'. While I'm quite certain that graphic novel illustration is the career path which suits me best as an illustrator, I've never made a comic before. I need to actually prove I can do that before any publishing house will hire me, so Blue Star Rebellion is my chance to smooth some rough edges, pick up some solid skills in sequential illustration, and have a product which I can wave at the likes of Scholastic and say "Hey, I can do this for you, hire me please!"

(I should also add, in terms of being paid to illustrate other people's stories, I'd happily be hired as an illustrator by the old-school comic publishers like DC and Marvel as well. I've noticed they're starting to branch out a little, stylistically, especially with their YA offerings.)

[Rhonder]

I see Tapas as a largely influential middle point on my comic journey. I arrived here right at the perfect time when I really needed some advice, guidance, and know how to re-kindle my interest in making comics. Since then I've learned a lot and gained a lot of perspective.

But it's a middle point because there's a long ways to go yet. I've started to feel over the last year or so that I've kinda reached a point where I'm hitting a bit of a wall with how much more raw information I can garner from Tapas (and these forums, more specifically). I've been hanging around here since 2017-ish so I think I know all of the entry level general advice and tips, and I also feel like I have a good grasp on what a lot of the current more experienced creators have to offer by way of less general unique tips and tricks. I'm at the point where I'm ready to sit down and try to apply and hone a lot of what I now know and see if I can't launch forward.

Another thing that I've been trying lately is spending more time meeting people and establishing relationships on other platforms as well. For example, the last 6 months or so I've started live streaming art and my comic and connecting with a number of comic artists on that platform (who I may never have met otherwise). Interacting with people in a new way but also just with new people brings additional perspective, and that's something that I've appreciated as I've been grinding away at my new project

Regarding the questions posed at the end of the OP, I would say that so far Tapas has been the main hub of all of my comic-related milestones! My first finished comic began here, my first collab lives here, I made my first money on comics via Tapas' ink program (then coins), I've unlocked ad revenue here first, many of my first readers and friends in comics came from these forums specifically, and I've had 2 paid projects spring up through connections built here as well.

I love Tapas and don't foresee myself leaving anytime soon. But per the above comments I do hope to spread my wings, per se, and expand outwards to see what's possible on other platforms as well I wouldn't mind seeing my next project do better on webtoons, or see my twitch channel continue to grow, put more TLC into my social media accounts, & etc.

[thedude3445]

Yeah, I personally have quite specific milestones with income before I can consider my career a "success" just because I want to do this full-time for the rest of my working life. Tapas could very well provide that, but I have no idea! I'll keep all options open until I find what works best.

[Shanny8]

No offense to Tapas at all, but we really can't envision anyone on here treating Tapas as anything more than a stepping stone.

I agree with this. While I do like the atmosphere here and my readers/fans on Tapas, it seems like other than exposure, it doesnt do much of anything else for me. Not saying that Tapas has to be doing something for me, but it seems like a lot of the opportunities to expand & monetize beyond making the comic have gone away...and I'm not in a position to pack up and run to Tapas central to make their dreams my dreams.

I'm at the point where I do want to put my own site together coz eventually either Tapas is gonna go south after a period of time or I'm going to become bored with it and then it's time to move on...but for right now I'll deal with Tapas more than Webtoon.

[mcarrowolga]

To me, it's just stumbling in the dark. I have very few readers and grasp at straws when trying to get more. I thought that maybe mirroring my stories on Tapas would help but nope, it didn't. Tapas is all about promoting romance stories, so, naturally, it attracts a certain type of readers. Since romance is not my thing, it means that there are very few readers here that would like what I write.

I haven't experienced success yet. I hope to one day but I doubt that it will happen on Tapas.

[Puck]

I´m new to webcomics and haven´t published anything so tapas is just a place where I´m trying to get some information
and to talk to people. My long term goal is to publish my own printed comic book which I also want to publish
in some way on the internet, webtoons, tapas. So I don´t see it as any stepping stone

[uglygirlnextdoor]

e of the winners for the Writer's Camp (when that was still going on) and I became a Premium author. I've definitely learned during my time with Tapas and

Please share with us your magic.

[arxianfall]

Just a hosting site. I needed a place.

[darthmongoose]

I was hoping for Tapas to be my main "home" for my current comic project, and I still wish it could be, but unless they change direction a bit, it'll be impossible.
Changes to the algorithm and a huge marketing focus on licensed comics have made it way harder for a mid-sized comic or novel to grow. I used to see top bar promos of my friends' work and think "oh cool, we've been friends and peers for years on the UK comics and illustration scene, placed in the same competitions, that kinda thing, so if they're up there, I could be up there!" and now it's completely dominated by imported Isekai comics so I feel like I missed my chance by getting in on the platform too late.

Ultimately, platforms and publishers come and go, rise and fall. As a creator, I've outlived Hyper-Comix/Awesomenauts, Smackjeeves and Drunk Duck (I mean, "The Duck" is still there, it's just.... not really relevant any more), hell I even placed in the finals of Tokyopop's UK Rising Stars of Manga the year before they went down in flames. It's best not to get too attached or to think any one publisher is definitely your path to stardom. I've done work for Penguin-Randomhouse and it didn't result in me being permanently taken on as a superstar illustrator. It was one thing I've done in my career. Maybe I'll work with them again, maybe I won't.

Tapas is a publisher that I like and I want them to succeed. I think their contract has some of the best terms I've ever heard of, and I don't say that lightly; it really does blow most of the other publishers I've worked with out the water. I like that they do host and celebrate LGBTQIA+ content and try to boost PoC creators. I would love to build a nest here, I really would, and if these "Tapastry" changes pan out, maybe there's still a chance. If they keep down this road of importing shedloads of content and burying us under it though, with an algorithm based on recent likes that means the only way to be visible is to be promoted on the main page because that'll also put you at the top of all the other pages anyway so the translated content they're promoted is literally on top of all home-grown "community" creators... well, the platform stops doing what I need it to. I need hosting, yes, but the main advantage Tapas has over just building my own website is being on an app that gives notifications and being discoverable as part of a database of comics. Currently I have the hosting and I'm on an app, but the app uses the notifications to aggressively market other comics that make my work hard to discover, so... currently it has no particular advantage for me over Webtoons or similar.
Hopefully that'll change and they'll realise that flooding the site with content like this that's available elsewhere and makes the site both homogenous and less valuable to the very original creators they're looking to interest so they can get exciting new content to adapt for TV is only going to hurt them in the long term... Otherwise... well, it'll be just another "platform that I used to know," and I'll move on to whatever comes next.

[AWFrasier]

I'm also on Wattpad (I think we've run into each other on their old forums?) but Tapas was sort of becoming my priority until some recent changes. The fact that they've buried the one spotlight list for novels on the app kind of... Makes me less interested in the site overall. And the trending lists have been buried as well.

If promotion isn't actually doing anything like it did before they sunk the list (or hell, before they restricted novels to one list) then I don't see much reason to spend as much time here. I like it and have liked it in all the years I've been here. I'm not going anywhere. But Tapas isn't my main priority right now.

I don't know. Seems like they're deprioritising novels a tonne and I don't really know where that leaves me as a novellist ¯_(ツ)_/¯

[thedude3445]

I think your stuff is good! It's sad to see that it's not growing as fast as it should; your work is exactly the sorts of community stories I wish would be promoted a lot more on the frontpage and app, because it fits in well with the Tapas "demographic" while also being more in sci-fi/fantasy genres.

[Penni]

Do you mean the Writer's Camp? It's not currently going on so I'm afraid there's not much I can say on that.

But people are free to pitch Premium whenever they want/are ready to!

[mcarrowolga]

Thank you for your kind words

[pilot-obvious]

Tapas is the starting point for my webcomic, and it's been my primary source of growth along with Twitter. Right now, I consider it my main home for my series. I think my next step is to start cross posting on Webtoon and my own personal website. To be honest, I've never really thought of the possibilities beyond this, success wise. I recently started a Patreon where I have a couple of supporters, but I've never expected to make a living off of this or anything.

[domisotto]

My biggest external writing achievement was winning a Watty award (which admitted me into Stars on Wattpad).

My next achievement level would be to have a book that is accepted in a commercial on-line program, so I am trying on both Tapas and Wattpad to prove myself as a commercially viable writer. So far, it didn’t happen, but I keep writing in hopes of meeting the requirements the editors have for successful commercial fiction.

What makes me hope less for a success personally for me on Tapas is that while mature comics are acceptable for commercial program, the novels are not. I think PG13 products absolutely need representation, but more adult oriented stories have future as well.

Overall, I cannot say that there is an online site that is excellent. They all have drawbacks and upsides. I feel that Tapas is not quite set up for novels and writers, because of narrow genre preference, lower promotion for novels, editing interface and PG13 lean of the premium program

[Shredder]

I've moved to Tapas and started building up my base again from scratch from another site where a couple of my stories got fairly popular.

I will always say that publishing online like this is great practice and especially in this community. If your dream is to be a professional writer/comic maker publishing online is a good way to develop your style on what your readers like and don't like. Even if you do it for fun as a hobbyist.

Publishing on Tapas I would say usually the very start of any journey, finishing the story you're trying to tell is a whole other ordeal. You will give up on some stories, you will make grammar mistakes, everyone does. You'll learn your own way of doing quality checks, how to write a storyboard, character sheets, and tools that you can always use for the next story.

[loonacyllc]

Tapas is defnintley the start for me as far as doing graphic novel/ comic work. Ive never had a platform to be able to easily publish my stuff before so it makes it a good place to start to build a fanbase along with learning some things a long the way
I self-published my first dark fantasy novel in december of 2020, so I think that's going to be my eventual goal for my comic as well once I get more of it out there.

[scribesunlimited]

You've had a rough time, seems like.
Glad your health is looking better at least.
When it all comes down, that's more important than any creations.

[nathanKmcwilliams]

Tapas is just practice really. I'm not sure what I want to do with my comic in the long run. I know that it needs more work for sure to survive out there in the wild world of professional comics.

Got a few things I have to work out in the coming years, but I won't rush it and take it all in stride. When the right time to move on presents itself then I'll take it.

[scribesunlimited]

As far as the final endgame goes...

Hard to say. We're both up there in age, in fact we're probably among the oldest webcomic creators out here right now and wish we'd started this all about 20 years earlier.

Personally, creators should even HAVE an endgame. Stick with what you love and if it continues to make you happy through life, do it until you can't do it anymore. And when you can't do it anymore, show off your work to the other nursing home goers and smile and nod and say, "Yeah, I did that and I'm proud of it."

How LUCKY you are and will be to go through life knowing you found your calling, that it made you happy your whole life. You're better off than about 95% of the Earth's population. Be blessed.