Rocketship Entertainment’s Tom Akel talks about putting webcomics in print

Rocketship Entertainment co-founder, CEO and publisher Tom Akel knows a thing or two about webcomics. He became Webtoon’s first US-based hire in 2015 after stints at Viacom overseeing mobile and digital content for MTV and Comedy Central. At Webtoon, he is responsible for developing content, recruiting creators, developing staff and developing partnerships.

But Akel’s heart belongs to print — and the Webtoon isn’t interested in that, in fact, it’s firmly against it. “I just couldn’t get them to believe it,” he told private server.

This frustrated Akel—not only because he had a penchant for hardcover books, but because he saw a gap in the print publishing market that needed to be filled. “Most print publishers in 2018 don’t think these webcomic titles make any sense, even if you can see online readership,” he said, adding that creators often don’t have the time or resources to take it to print.

So, in 2019, Akel left Webtoon and co-founded Rocketship with Rob Feldman, a 10-person company entirely dedicated to turning mobile webcomics into print books. The publisher, headquartered in Doylestown, Pennsylvania and distributed worldwide through Simon & Schuster, has 19 titles released in 2022 and plans to launch 24 titles in 2023. All of Rocketship’s titles are graphic novels, with the exception of the first art book and first prose novel, both due out this year.

Rocketship publishes paperbacks and hardcovers (although Akel says hardcovers are better than paperbacks) in run runs ranging from 4,000 to 40,000 copies, but usually between 5,000-10,000. All Rocketship books are backed by crowdfunding campaigns on Backerkit, Kickstarter or Zoop. Last November, Rocketship launched Bottlerocket, a new brand aimed at younger readers. This year, Rocketship will join the series and begin Scarlet Stamp, which will expand later in 2023 and 2024.

“We crowdfunded because we wanted to replicate as much as possible the relationship between a webcomic creator and audience in the publishing experience,” Aker said. “As a fan, you have direct access to the creator, whether it’s through the comments section of the app or through social media. That’s hard to do in the traditional publishing model, but with crowdfunding, you can make fans a part of the experience.”

From a business standpoint, “crowdfunding is much more profitable,” Aker said. “Crowdfunding platforms charge 5% of the funds raised, while traditional publishing makes a profit as products are often sold to retailers at a 50% discount off the suggested retail price [manufacturer suggested retail price]. So you’re talking below 50% margins not 95%. This makes a big difference. It brings in more money for our creators. “

Rocketship strives to be as fair as possible to creators. This means not taking a single percent of the IP and sharing 50-50 of the net profit with the creator. “Everyone gets the same treatment,” Aker said. “This is important. It’s not common, and it’s getting rarer.”

Rocketship works directly with many platforms, such as Tapas Media, because these platforms own the printing rights of their creators. Otherwise it works directly with creators, such as those using webtoons, who retain their printing rights. While Akel declined to provide specific revenue figures, he said games and revenue “grew year-over-year.” Foreign rights sales are handled by the JABberwocky Agency, which is represented by the Gotham Group for television and film media rights.

Rocketship’s most successful work to date is Eisner nominated let’s play, a romantic drama by Leeanne Krecic.Other popular games include Rattle by Meghan Gray and awkward yeti russ By Nick Celuk. “Most of the content we publish is more geared toward women,” Aker said. “Our biggest and strongest category is romance. Our second biggest game is what you would consider an action-adventure game, a more traditional comic book game. Three is humor. Number four is all ages.”

The company is also venturing into tabletop gaming, one of Akel’s longtime passions. Its tabletop debut is a board game called Stan Lee’s Genesis, produced in partnership with Stan Lee’s Pow Entertainment, with a crowdfunding campaign slated for this summer and a fall 2023 release. Akel is designing the game and co-creating the game’s 200 characters with Ryan Benjamin, an Eisner-nominated artist perhaps best known for his DC and Marvel work.

“There should be more crossover between desktop and comics,” Aker said. “There are a lot of similarities between the two, tabletop gaming is growing so fast. Tabletop crowdfunding is the first window for many of the top games launching now, and we’re so entrenched in the space that we feel like both It’s all organic.”