Webtoon Is Paying Its Creators Millions To Make Mobile Comics

Webtoon, the popular mobile online comics platform owned by Korean tech giant Naver, just announced its payments to English-language comics creators and the results are eye-opening in an industry not famous for its generosity to artists and writers. According to Webtoon, payouts to English-language creators topped $27 million since 2020, or more than $1 million per month on average. That represents an increase of nearly 75% since launching its creator monetization program in the US in 2019.

Those results are in line with the massive growth Webtoon has seen in the past several years, surpassing 82 million monthly active users on its app globally (15 million in the US) according to statistics recently released by the company.

Creators earn revenues from users who subscribe to their serialized stories. Subscribers get exclusive early access to new episodes for a small monthly fee. Top features on the site such as Lore Olympus by Rachel Smyth garner billions of views and millions of subscribers. In Webtoon’s home turf of South Korea, where the market for this kind of content and business model is more mature, the top-earning creator earned more than $9 million last year.

“Webtoon creators are some of the most talented, creative, and captivating in the history of comics,” said Ken Kim, CEO of Webtoon Americas. “Our storytelling technology platform supports every type of creator, allowing them to build a global audience and make money from their work. In a time when comics have never been more popular, we’re incredibly proud of the growing Creator Economy and ecosystem we’ve built to celebrate and support Webtoon creators.”

As with any platform, there is a power curve where a few top features account for a majority of revenue, views and subscribers, with a long tail of material that generates significantly less. However, Webtoon Global CEO Jungkoo Kim said last year that even on average, some South Korean creators were making six-figures ($USD) using the same model the company uses in the US.

Webtoon uses advanced data analytics to help connect audiences with new work and creators, with the goal of promoting more titles into top sellers. The company also provides other ways for creators to monetize through TV, book and film deals through Wattpad Webtoon Studios, as well as through the company’s relationships with publishers and licensors.

The company also announced a new tipping system for creators in its Canvas (user-generated content) environment, yet another way that the new mobile digital comics space is providing avenues for creators to make a living doing their work outside of traditional publishing gatekeepers.

“We’ve built something truly special at Webtoon: a platform where every comic creator can build a global fandom and make money from their work,” said David Lee, VP of Content at Webtoon. “We’ve honed our creator-first business model since 2004 in Korea, and now we’re bringing those learnings and earnings to our incredible US creators. But we’re just getting started, and you’re going to see more creators making more money on Webtoon as we grow the local market and help more creators earn more money doing what they love.”

It should be noted that underneath that big creator payout number is an even larger denominator. Webtoon says its total Gross Merchandise Volume reached $900 million in 2021, and the company is expanding into other markets and other media worldwide.

Webtoon clearly hopes that sharing the bounty of growth with creators will give the company an advantage competing for the talent and material that the rising generation craves. Last year the US comics market grew more than 60% to over $2.1 billion, reflecting an enormous appetite for sequential art in all formats, across all genres. With its well-honed mobile app and data-driven operation, Webtoon has already found a way around traditional distribution costs and complexities, and its broad approach to genre content has brought in a new audience for comics.

Is all this enough to help the mobile-first digital app turn the US comics business on its side? It certainly gives creators something to think about.

NOTE: If you’re at San Diego Comic-Con this week and interested in learning more about this industry, I’m moderating a panel Thursday, July 21 at 7pm called From Fan Art To Franchise: The Future of User Generated Content, featuring Webtoon VP David Lee, creator and creator instantmiso, alongside YouTube star Steven He and reality-show producer Ken Mok. Wattpad/Webtoon will also be featuring its content on Saturday at 1pm in the panel Manga, Webcomics, and Anime: The New Formats and Fandoms Dominating Entertainment featuring Taylor Grant, Head of Global Animation, Wattpad Webtoon Studios; Gita Rebbapragada, CMO, Crunchyroll; Michael Gombos, Sr. Director of Licensed Publications at Dark Horse and moderated by Borys Kit, The Hollywood Reporter.