Creating a webtoon takes a lot of work, time, and energy. It’s no surprise then, that many webtoon authors hope to earn an income from their creations. But with major platforms like Naver Webtoon making creators jump through hoops just to get paid, Patreon has become most webtoon creators’ go-to for earning money.
And their efforts are paying off. Some of the most popular Webtoon Canvas creators are earning from thousands to tens of thousands of US dollars a month: Muffin Girl, who creates Soara Academy, makes about $1,300 a month while A. Szabla, creator of Banquet, makes around $13,000. These figures were calculated by multiplying the creators’ number of patrons by the lowest tier’s subscription cost, so it’s likely that they make much more than this.
So, how can you make money from your webtoon using Patreon? We’re gonna go over exactly what to offer your readers to entice them to support your webtoon creation!
Early access to episodesExclusive episodes on Inkverse Bonus content & NSFW artPromote your PatreonStart your webtoon journey…
Early access to episodes
It’s been true since the dawn of civilization: people will pay for something they want. And while some of your readers will just want to support you, creators who offer bonuses and perks tend to have more backers. But what do your readers want, exactly?
When I surveyed a dozen or so webtoon creator Patreons in order to write this blog post, the most common perk offered to patrons was early access to episodes — meaning that patrons are able to read new episodes days, or even a week before other readers.
In fact, when YouTuber Isabelle Ranson conducted her own survey of webtoon Patreon accounts, she found that 87.8% of webtoon Patreons offered early access.
(Fyi, the highest earner Ranson found was making an incredible $35,000 a month. Which… made me have to sit down for a few minutes.)
Offering readers early access to episodes is super easy for webtoon creators. The best thing about it is that you don’t actually have to do any extra work! You’re creating the same amount of episodes, you’re just releasing it to your patrons first.
Tip: if you want to do early access, make sure you have a buffer! Create at least 3-6 episodes in advance, so that you’re always ahead of yourself.
However, there are some drawbacks for this. One is that you have to be organized and remember when to publish an episode that was previously exclusive to patrons. Another downside is Patreon’s user interface, which is not built for webtoons. The formatting of the website is cumbersome, and some creators have been frustrated with the site’s low image quality. So, what if you could offer your patrons early access to episodes on an actual webtoon app?
Exclusive episodes on Inkverse
That’s where we come in. We founded Taddy Ink because we wanted to make things easier for creators, by allowing them to upload their comic once and publish it on multiple comic apps. But we also wanted to help creators earn money from their webtoons — and Patreon is the best way to do that.
Creators can now publish exclusive episodes on Inkverse (our webtoon app) that can only be accessed by your Patreon backers. Which means that you can create an early access system on Inkverse!
So how does this work? When you have finished creating an episode, you can make it available only to patrons for a certain amount of time (eg: a week). Once you publish it on Inkverse via Taddy Ink, your episode will be locked to readers — unless they are a patron of yours. Then, they can log into Inkverse with their Patreon credentials and view your episode early.
You can also post the Inkverse link to your webtoon on your Patreon, to let your patrons know that they can access episodes early on that app. And of course, add this information to your Patreon tiers!
Because Inkverse is a webtoon app, this also means you can adapt your Patreon strategy. For one thing, you won’t have to wait until you have a large following to set up a Patreon account, as you can get readers on Inkverse — readers who want to access your episodes before anyone else.
In her survey, Isabelle Ranson found that the average percentage of readers on Naver Webtoon who became Patreon backers was 0.29%. But with exclusive episodes directly on Inkverse, your readers are already reading the comic and are incentivized to join your Patreon to get episodes early. Inkverse is also publicizing your Patreon account, so more people will know about it!
Bonus content & NSFW art
Early access isn’t the only way you can make money from your webtoon on Patreon. Many webtoon creators produce bonus content as rewards for patrons. Once again, before you produce any bonus content you must know what your readers want — and the first step to knowing what your readers want is to know your readers.
A little demographic research before you set up your Patreon will go a long way. Perhaps the most important piece of information is the age group of your core readership. Older readers are in control of their finances and tend to have more disposable income than younger readers, so they’re more able to do things like sign up to artist Patreons. Older readers are also interested in bonus content like NSFW art — which can be a big incentive for patrons.
Of the dozen or so webtoon Patreon accounts that I surveyed, the highest earners all offered NSFW art. That’s actually one of the key differences between Muffin Girl (earning $1300 per month) and A. Szabla (earning $13,000).
Soara Academy is a light high school comedy, while Banquet is a darker, steamy saga set in a fantasy environment reminiscent of Hell. These two stories draw different demographics that are probably quite far apart in terms of age. And because Banquet is a more mature story, A. Szabla is able to offer their patrons NSFW art as a perk.
If you don’t want to create NSFW art, don’t despair: this kind of content isn’t the only thing that readers are prepared to pay for. You can offer lots of bonuses, from WIPs and character sketches, to art tutorials and livestreams. And you can find some more ideas in our Patreon 101 blog post!
Promote your Patreon
Content production isn’t the only piece of the puzzle, though. It’s all very well to have a well-stocked Patreon account, but you need to do a bit of extra work to make sure you even get Patreon backers in the first place. So, the best way to make money from your webtoon using Patreon is to… tell people you have a Patreon.
Are you a webtoon creator? Join our community of Webtoon creators on Discord and you can…
✔️ Connect with fellow creators
✔️ Participate in art challenges
✔️ Get feedback on your comic
✔️ Get webtoon creation resources
✔️ Join workshops, tutorials, and other liveevents!
If you’re using Inkverse to publish exclusive episodes, this will make your Patreon a lot more visible. This is because, on Inkverse, readers are being driven from the app to your Patreon account: they know your Patreon exists because there are episodes on Inkverse that they can only access if they become one of your patrons. However, it’s always a good idea to promote your Patreon account on social media, as well as on other webtoon apps.
On social media, you can post samples of the content you’re posting on Patreon. This allows your followers to see what they can get if they sign up for your account. It can be fun to treat your Patreon backers as members of a club. This makes it more fun for them — a Discord server is a great way to create a sense of community! — and it will also incentivize more people to sign up, so they can be part of something.
On webtoon apps, many creators include small samples of patron-exclusive bonus content at the end of their chapters, as well as telling readers they have an early access system. Creators who post NSFW art to Patreon can also share censored versions of that artwork, to tease what readers can get if they become patrons. That means that everyone reading your comic will know you have a Patreon, what you’re offering, and how to sign up!
At the end of the day, the creators that make the most money from their webtoon Patreons are the ones that really understand what their readers want, and then give it to them. Your readers will have their own needs, so the more you understand them, the better!
Sign up for Taddy Ink and get paid for your comics via Patreon!