Tapastic
|
Icon of the Tapastic app | |
| Web address |
tapastic |
|---|---|
| Commercial | Yes |
Type of site | Webcomic platform |
| Registration | Optional |
| Available in | English |
| Owner | Tapas Media |
| Created by | Chang Kim |
| Launched | October 2012[1] |
Alexa rank |
 5,697/17,872 (01/2016) |
| Current status | Active |
Tapastic is a webcomic syndicate set up by South Korean entrepreneur Chang Kim in October 2012. Operated from both Seoul and San Francisco by Tapas Media, Tapastic features a large collection of short-form, English-language webcomics and webtoons from over 5,000 artists.[2] The website aims to create a platform where comic creators can publish their works without cost, describing itself as the "YouTube of Comics." Since 2016, the Tapas Media's mobile app also publishes books through a freemium business model.
History
"We discovered a lot of people still use print publishing, and paid their own money to print comics ... Or people start their own website, in which case you have to build your audience, think about mobile, pay for hosting. It just doesn't really work out."
Chang Kim[3]
Chang Kim came up with the idea of starting an open-publishing platform after wondering if there was a singular online location to read all the webcomics he was a fan of. While YouTube users were making money through uploading independent video content, there existed no equivalent for comic creators. Kim also noted that this business model was already successful in South Korea.[3] With $3.4 million in backing from both American and Korean investors, including Daum Kakao and former Facebook Chief Technology Officer Adam D’Angelo, Kim started up Tapastic in 2012.[2]
In 2014, Tapastic reached a partnership with Daum Communications, which operates the largest webtoon portal in South Korea. Through this partnership, Tapastic hopes to bring over successful Korean titles to see if they can find success in the United States market. The partnership deal also resulted in $2 million USD of Series A funding for Tapastic.[4][5]
In April 2016, Tapas Media released a new mobile app, simply titled "Tapas". Using a freemium business model by offering content to readers for free as an incentive to pay more, the app added books to its line-up of offered media. According to Tapas Media, around 10–20% of the books are offered for free, creating a form of sample preview. Books are split up into "bite-sized micro chapters" in order to allow people to read portions within a few minutes. The model was inspired by free-to-play video games, such as Candy Crush.[6]
Content
At its launch, Tapastic billed itself as the "YouTube of Comics".[3] By 2015, the website features a collection of comics from over 5,000 unique artists.[2] Kim stated that slice-of-life-style comics are the most popular on the service, which likely because of their "shareability" and because they can quickly be read. Kim also noted that comics featuring school life and work life are "deeply relatable" to Tapastic readers.[3]
The website has formed an interactive community, with creators and fans discussing comics and some creators asking for fan feedback.[3] According to Publishers Weekly, Tapastic had over a million active readers by April 2016, most of which are from North America and 90% of which are under the age of 34.[6] Tapastic allows its content creators to profit from their work by selling premium comic series and by receiving donations in turn of exclusive benefits. Some artists on Tapastic make over $800 USD per month on the service.[2] Creators on Tapastic are also supported by shared ad revenue.[4]
Tapastic features a subscription feed similar to that of RSS, which is optimized to be used on the comany's mobile app. In contrast, Caitlin Rosberg of The A.V. Club described using the Tapastic website as a "steep but fast learning curve."[7] Tapastic offers a translation service for its Korean and French creators, as some of the company's internal staff is bilingual.[1]
See also
References
- 1 2 Burszan, David (2013-05-12). "Interview with Chang Kim, CEO and Founder of Tapastic". Den of Geek.
- 1 2 3 4 Lee, Jun-Youb (2015-04-03). "Startup Battles Naver in English Webtoons". The Wall Street Journal.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Serafino, Jason (2015-05-20). "The YouTube Of Comics: How Tapastic Offers New Publishing Opportunities For Creators And Fans". Tech Times.
- 1 2 Etherington, Darrell (2014-01-28). "Tapastic Raises $2M To Build Out Its YouTube Of Webcomics And Visual Storytelling". Tech Crunch.
- ↑ Alverson, Brigid (2014-01-29). "Tapastic’s CEO talks new partnership, launch of ‘Like a Wolf’". Comic Book Resources.
- 1 2 Gross, Anisse (2016-04-08). "E-book App Applies Gaming E-Commerce Model To Mobile Reading". Publishers Weekly.
- ↑ Hennum, Shea; O'Neil, Tim; Rosberg, Caitlin; Sava, Oliver (2016-02-23). "Harley Quinn #25 features a breakthrough for DC’s hit character". The A.V. Club.