Kakao Entertainment's Strategy to Expand Web Novel Market in North America

Courtesy of Kakao Entertainment

Tapas Entertainment, a web novel and webtoon platform based in North America, disclosed the names of 15 victors in its recent romance web novel competition, as declared by its parent company Kakao Entertainment on Friday.

The contest, titled "True Love on Tapas," commenced in October last year and concluded after a two-month run, attracting 264 submissions. This initiative aligns with Kakao Entertainment's endeavor to fortify its presence in the North American web novel sphere. Despite being in nascent stages, the company notes a promising trajectory for the web novel market in North America, indicating potential for sustained expansion. 

▲ Courtesy of Kakao EntertainmentAmong the 15 selected winners are "Iron Blood Bride" by PixxiePink, "Serving the Undying King" by Twoony, "Prince of Fire and Ash" by Leveret Moreau, "The Seventh Date" by KG Brightwell, "The Mafia's Nanny" by Suleidy Merced, "Summoned: Familiar of the Dark Magician" by Rachel Ashton, "My Husband's Divorce Attorney" by TheFlyingBookworm, "Whispers and Shadows" by Mariehallwrites, "Hail To The Saintess!" by Xula Von Ziegel, "I Didn't Ask to Marry You, Male Lead!" by AKG, "The Prince and the Pirates" by Yourpersonalprince, "Onabi Hex" by N.A. Carson, "Free Radical" by AmourAccompli, "Respectfully Yours," by Danni, and "Bondage" by GiveMeThatBread.

Rachel Ashton, the author of "Summoned: Familiar of the Dark Magician," expressed her excitement at being among the top 15 winners, acknowledging the supportive community of Tapas for creators.

Following serialization on Tapas, Kakao Entertainment plans to evaluate the potential for further serialization of the web novels on KakaoPage's Novel Comics platform, contingent upon their popularity on Tapas. Novel Comics specializes in distributing webtoon adaptations of web novels.

An official from Tapas Entertainment emphasized the aim of introducing North American creators to the web novel genre, which has flourished in Korea. Additionally, they expressed hopes that through Tapas, creators could not only debut as web novel writers but also receive professional support for expanding their intellectual properties through Novel Comics and traditional publishing avenues.

Sayart

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