Tom Akel, cofounder, CEO and publisher of Rocketship Entertainment, knows more than a thing or two about webcomics. He became Webtoon’s first American hire in 2015, after managing mobile and digital content for Viacom’s MTV and Comedy Central. At Webtoon, he was charged with developing content, recruiting creators, building staff, and developing partnerships.
But Akel’s heart belongs to print – something Webtoon has no interest in and, in fact, strongly opposes. “I just couldn’t get them to believe it,” he said P.W.
This was a point of frustration for Akel—not only because he had a soft spot for hardcovers but because he saw a hole in the print market that needed filling. “Most of the print publishers out there in 2018 don’t think there’s any of these webcomics titles, even when you see the online readership numbers,” he said, adding that creators often don’t have the time or resources to get to print.
So in 2019, Akel left Webtoon and, together with Rob Feldman, founded Rocketship, which is now a 10-person operation fully dedicated to creating mobile webcomics in print books. Based in Doylestown, Pa., and distributed worldwide through Simon & Schuster, the publisher released 19 titles in 2022 and has 24 projects lined up for 2023. All Rocketship titles are graphic novels, except for the first art book and first prose novel. , both arriving this year.
Rocketship publishes both paperback and hardcover (although Akel says the hardcover is probably better than the paperback), with print runs ranging from 4,000 to 40,000 copies, but usually in the 5,000–10,000 range. All Rocketship books are supported by crowdfunding campaigns on Backerkit, Kickstarter, or Zoop. Last November, Rocketship launched Bottlerocket, a new imprint for young readers. This year, Rocketship will add to that line and also start an awesome imprint, which will expand later in 2023 and in 2024.
“We’re crowdfunding because we want to replicate the relationship webcomic creators have with their audience as much as possible in the publishing experience,” Akel said. “As a fan, you have direct access to a creator, whether it’s through the comment section of an app or through social media. That’s very difficult to do in a traditional publishing model, but with crowdfunding, you can make fans part of the experience.
And from a business perspective, “the margins are much better with crowdfunding,” Akel said. “Crowdfunding platforms take 5% of the funds raised, while the margins of traditional publishing are such that products go to retailers on average at 50% of MSRP. [manufacturer suggested retail price]. So you are talking about less than 50% margin instead of 95%. That makes a big difference. This puts a lot of money in the pockets of our creators. “
Rocketship tries to be as fair as possible to the creators. This means not taking a percentage point from the IP and splitting the net profit 50-50 with the creator. “Everybody gets the same deal,” Akel said. “This is important. It’s not common, and it’s getting worse.
Rocketship works directly with many platforms, such as Tapas Media, because the platforms own the publishing rights of their creators. Otherwise it works directly with creators, such as those using Webtoon, where creators retain their printing rights. Although Akel declined to provide specific revenue figures, he said titles and revenue “are growing every year.” The sale of foreign rights is handled by JABberwocky Agency, and the company is represented by Gotham Group for TV and film media rights.
Rocketship’s biggest hit so far is Eisner-nominated Let’s Play, a romance drama by Leeanne Krecic. Some top titles include The Croaking by Megan Gray and Lars the Awkward Yeti by Nick Seluk. “Most of what we publish is very much aimed at women,” Akel said. “Our biggest and strongest category is romance. Our second biggest is what you would consider action-adventure, more traditional comic book stuff. Third is humor. Fourth is all ages.”
The company also operates in tabletop gaming, an area that has long been one of Akel’s passions. Its tabletop debut is a board game called Stan Lee’s Genesis, developed in partnership with Stan Lee’s Pow Entertainment, with a crowdfunding campaign set for this summer and a planned release in the fall of 2023. .Akel designed the game and cocreated its 200 characters with Ryan Benjamin, an Eisner-nominated artist perhaps best known for his work at DC and Marvel.
“There should be more crossover between tabletops and comics,” Akel said. “There are a lot of similarities between the two, and the tabletop is developing at such a great rate. Crowdfunding with the tabletop is a first window for many of the top-tier games that don’t exist today, and we’re very entrenched in that space that felt really organic to us being in both.
A version of this article appeared in the 02/20/2023 issue of Publishers Weekly under the heading: Bringing Webcomics to Print
