So, you’ve created a gorgeous webcomic. You’ve published it on all the major platforms; you’re getting views and likes and all that jazz. You might even be making some money from ads and other platform-based payment options. And you’re probably starting to wonder how to create a successful webcomic Patreon.
Before you set up a Patreon for your webcomic, it’s advised that you wait until you’ve got some traction with your audience. Patreon can be a lot of work — but it’s also a great way to supplement your income. Before you begin, assess your readership and following, and maybe even ask them if they would be interested in joining a Patreon. The Comic Lab podcast has some good episodes about when to start your Patreon, so we definitely recommend listening to them.
A Patreon page will help you gain a bigger following, cultivate a sense of community with your readers, and — of course — earn money from your webcomic. So let’s go over exactly what you need in order to create and run a successful webtoon Patreon.
How to build a successful webtoon Patreon page
We’ll start with the basics. Once you’ve set up your Patreon account, pick a gorgeous banner and icon for your page. It’s a good idea to create a new banner just for your Patreon, because having a unique banner makes your page stand out from the rest of your content.
The whole point of a Patreon is to provide something extra for your patrons. Think of it as an exclusive club. Be welcoming and most importantly of all, offer your patrons rewards so that they get something out of supporting you. With that in mind, we should probably think about rewards and tiers.
How to create webtoon Patreon tiers
Patreon gives you the option to create different tiers for your patrons. These tiers are determined by how much patrons choose to pay a month. For example, you could have a $3 a month tier, a $5 tier, a $10 tier, etc. And it’s always a good idea to have multiple tiers, not just the one option. You want to give people the opportunity to pay more a month — and get more rewards in return!
When I increased from a single $3 tier, to a $3, $5, and $10 tier, my income doubled. Giving readers that flexibility to choose a tier which best suits their needs and means is really important! - Amaiiuwu on Reddit — here’s her Patreon
As you’re going to have multiple tiers, be careful not to offer too much in the lowest tier. It’s tempting to give a lot because you’re grateful that patrons are willing to pay you anything at all. But it’s important to ensure that your patrons are rewarded for the amount they’re donating, and leveling up the rewards is part of that.
When you’re creating the tiers, always put the most interesting rewards at the top. In the higher tiers, specify exactly which rewards are included from the previous tiers. Patreon tiers are usually cumulative — each new tier has all the rewards from the previous tier, plus some exclusive rewards — but your new patrons may not know this. When you write the text for your Patreon page, assume that you’re talking to people who have never used Patreon before. This will allow you to guide them through the process!
Tip: Don’t have a $1 tier! Patreon’s fees usually add up to almost an entire dollar, so it’s best to start at $2-5
And remember, it’s ok to dream big! Some webtoon artists have “generosity tiers'' on their Patreons. Generosity tiers give patrons the option to pay $20, $50, or even over $100 a month! You can offer this tier as a donation option, or you could add a very special reward for these big-spender patrons. For example, Red & Flynn (authors of the webcomic Shiloh) offer custom sketches and personal cameos as rewards for their highest tier.
When you create the tiers, it’s also a good idea to design specific thumbnails that look fun and appealing. You can also create identities for each tier when you name them, which adds to that exclusive-club vibe.
Red & Flynn have dubbed their patrons Streetrats, Sleuths, and Sinners…
…while T. A. Teufel, creator of the webtoon Fragmented Dreams, calls her patrons Murderbirbs and Sharky Fans.
And of course, keep the colouring and art style consistent across your thumbnails, banner, and avatar!
How to write a webcomic Patreon about page
Patreon pages have the main tab, which contains the tiers and all your posts, and the about tab. While your posts are locked so that only your patrons can see them, the about tab can be seen by anyone. This makes it a great place to talk about yourself, your comic, and explain what you’re offering with your Patreon — make sure to emphasize the perks of being a patron!
In your about page, you can include screenshots of your art and your comics, along with links to your comic on all the platforms you publish, and links to your social media. You can even include some examples of bonus content, as a little teaser of what people will get if they sign up as a patron.
Are you a webtoon creator? Join our Discord for Webtoon creators
What to offer as webcomic Patreon rewards
So of course the question remains: what exactly should you offer people? Webcomic Patreon rewards can vary depending on the type of comic, the type of audience, and ultimately how much time the artist has. But here are some examples of things you could offer!
Bonus content
This could be “deleted scenes” or extra scenes from your comic, giving your patrons a more in-depth look at your story. You could let your patrons in on some lore and worldbuilding you developed — maps, details about cities, background info about your world, etc. You could also draw beautiful illustrations of your characters, or share your initial sketches and character creation sheets. Concept art is another thing that your patrons might enjoy, as well as one-off illustrations for holidays — a Valentine’s Day sketch, for example!
Graphics that patrons can use
Everyone needs a desktop background. You could create wallpapers, banners, and icons featuring characters from your comic, for your patrons to use on their devices or social media. For example, here’s a wallpaper that Brandon Weigel, creator of Love and Hex, recently designed as a Patreon-exclusive.
Offering your backerss exclusive graphics will definitely make them feel like they’re in a club, as they’ll get to show off the beautiful content they got as a patron!
Early access to episodes
If you use Taddy Ink to publish your comic on multiple apps — and you have a Patreon account — you’ll be able to give your readers an additional perk.! We’re adding a Patreon integration to Taddy soon, which means that creators can select which episodes can only be viewed by their patrons.
On Inkverse, our webtoon reader app, fans can log in with Patreon and get access to those exclusive episodes only available to patrons. Creators can use this to paygate entire volumes, giving readers access to a few episodes for free, but requiring them to become a patron in order to access the rest of the comic.
NFSW art
Ah, the classic. Patreon remains one of the few places on the internet where you can upload NSFW art without it immediately being taken down. NSFW stands for “not safe for work”, and is a catch-all term for artwork featuring nudity or sexual scenarios. It’s something that a lot of readers want to see, especially if you’re creating a romance comic or anything in the BL/GL genres.
However, adding NSFW art does come with some admin. Patreon will require you to mark your page as 18+. You will also need to verify that you are over 18 by sending Patreon some documentation. Here are Patreon’s guidelines for 18+ accounts.
Also, if your Patreon is 18+, it will no longer show up when people search for you using the site’s search box function. You will still be discoverable via Google search however, and most creators get around this by giving their account’s full url when they promote it or invite people to become patrons.
Exclusive episodes
You could even create entire bonus episodes, spinoffs, or one shots that are exclusive to your Patreon backers. Patreon allows you to upload a lot of images in one post, so this is an easy thing to do, and it’s super rewarding for your patrons to get this kind of content.
And of course, if you use Taddy to publish your comic, you can also allow patrons to view exclusive episodes on the Inkverse webtoon app.
Tutorials and livestreams
Many webcomic patrons are artists themselves. They might be following you because they love your art style and find you inspirational. Everyone wants to improve their art, so you could offer tutorials that explain how you do what you do. If this sounds like too much work, you could always livestream your screen as you draw — this will give your patrons an insight into how you create your unique style, without you having to explain it in depth.
Tip: Be mindful of your bandwidth and don’t over-promise. It’s important to protect your time and energy!
Merchandise
Creating physical media can be tricky — printing costs, shipping, and admin like taxes all add up to a lot of effort, time, and money! But if you have the means, offering your patrons things like stickers and other merch can be a great way to reward them. Plus, it’s another way for you to make a bit of money — provided the profit balances out the production costs.
WIPs and sneak peeks
Give your patrons a look at what’s coming up next by dropping WIP sketches! You could do this for upcoming episodes, or even tease future projects by offering a glimpse of what you’re working on.
PDF comic downloads
Again, this one can take time — and be tricky when it comes to formatting — but several webtoon creators offer their patrons PDF downloads of their comics. Plenty of readers would like to be able to access comics offline, but Line WEBTOON only allows readers to download Originals comics. So, this is a neat little exclusive for your patrons!
How to manage a webtoon Patreon
Adding another project onto a busy schedule can be tricky, so it’s important to work out a plan for how you’re going to manage your Patreon. In order to compensate your patrons for their monthly donations, it’s a good idea to update your Patreon as frequently as you can. However, life doesn’t always make frequent updates easy. So how can you make managing a webcomic Patreon easier?
Set an achievable posting schedule
Before you do anything else, create a monthly posting schedule for yourself that is achievable. This is your baseline — you can always post more if you happen to have content that you want to share! But work out if you can do at least one post a week for your patrons, and have a think about what those posts might be.
Create content in advance
Then, create a buffer. Produce some content ahead of time, so that when you launch your Patreon you already have a few weeks’ worth of posts taken care of. Thankfully, Patreon has a handy scheduling tool that allows you to make content ahead of time. You don’t necessarily have to make brand new content, either: see if you can repurpose something you already have, like those character sketches you created when you were developing ideas.
Create collections
Patreon allows you to sort your posts into different collections. For example, you may decide to create an entire collection of illustration posts. These posts would then be listed on the collections page along with other post collections. Here are T.A. Teufel’s collections:
Establish a tagging system
You can also create tags that will help you organize your content. The most useful tags are those that describe the type of post: NSFW, WIP, early access, announcements, updates, etc. If you have multiple projects on the go, you can also tag your posts with the relevant project name. For example, a post might have these tags: WIP, [project name], concept art. With a good tagging system, patrons filter posts to see everything in one tag, without having to scroll through other kinds of posts.
Interact with your patrons
Remember that point about making your Patreon feel like an exclusive club? The most effective way to do that is to actually interact with your patrons. You can cultivate a sense of community by replying to comments and engaging in conversation with your patrons. You don’t need to dedicate too much time to this, but having some kind of interaction with your patrons makes your Patreon feel much more personal and fun than just posting and never responding to anyone
With that in mind, you could even create a patrons-only Discord server! This might take more management from you, so only do this if you think you have the time and energy. But Discord servers are a great way to create a community around your comic. Of course, it might be worthwhile having an open Discord for any readers of your comic… and then you can use that Discord to promote your Patreon and encourage readers to sign up so they can get all those wonderful rewards!
How to market a webcomic Patreon
The exclusive club feeling is also essential when you market your Patreon. When you promote your Patreon, you can make it feel more than just a way for you to make money. Invite people to join you, rather than asking them to donate. Highlight the rewards and talk about the content your patrons can access. Which brings me to…
Utilize social media
Social media is a powerful tool in any webcomic creator’s arsenal. Obviously, it’s a way for you to get the word out about your comic, but you can also engage with your community there and make connections both with your readers and with your fellow creators.
When it comes to marketing your Patreon, social media is a fantastic way to both let your followers know you have a Patreon, and consistently remind them of what they can get if they become a patron. Post on social media to let your followers know that you’ve released new content on your Patreon — free scheduling tools can also help you here! You can even post little teasers of said content — the top quarter of a beautiful new illustration, or a censored version of some NSFW art.
Promote your Patreon in webtoon episodes
The end of each webtoon episode is a great space for you to put things like a little bio, your social media handles, and tell them where else your readers can find your content. And of course, you can also promote your Patreon here as well. Provide some little teasers of the kind of content you share there — thumbnails of bonus illustrations, classily cropped NSFW art, etc. Be sure to provide your Patreon url so that your readers can find you!
Here are some examples of how two creators — Soya and Madamka, hosts of this how-to video — promote their Patreons at the end of webtoon episodes.
Promote on Reddit
There is a vast community of webtoon readers and creators on Reddit, spread across various subreddits. Posting here can be a great way to engage with the community and spread awareness about your comic. But if you want to promote your Patreon, be mindful of each subreddit’s rules. For example, the very popular r/webtoons only allows self-promotion of comics at the weekend — and posting Patreon links is a bit of a gray area. If you want to promote your Patreon on these bigger subreddits, it might be a good idea to create a post about something else (perhaps a piece of bonus content), and link your Patreon at the end of the post or in the comments.
Another thing webtoon creators have found effective is to post in non-webtoon subreddits that are about something relevant to your comic. For example, subreddits for specific genres or something to do with your comic’s plot. Posting outside the webtoon community can be a bit of a gamble, but you’ll certainly stand out for being something different, and some webtoon creators have had really great responses when they’ve tried this! And obviously, check the rules before linking your Patreon in these posts.
Sign up for Taddy to get paid via Patreon
Finally, if you really want your webtoon Patreon to be successful — in regards to providing you with an income — be sure to sign up for Taddy so that you can benefit from our Patreon integration! When this launches in March, you’ll be able to create an additional perk for your backers who get to read exclusive episodes on Inkverse, our webtoon reader app.
Are you a webtoon creator? Join our Discord for Webtoon creators