24 - When receiving fan art, post it on your website with a link.
You may be lucky and receive unsolicited fan art, or you may ask for fan art of other creators (just remember rule 18). Regardless, create a fan art space on your website or any other space where you host your comics, put your fan art there, link back to their websites/comics pages and be sure to notify them.
Thanks for opening this, it's so informative and useful!
This is so helpful! I've been on Tapastic for a while but as a creator for only about a month, been reading some tips here and there in the forums but it's so wonderful to have so much written in one place. While I was reading I was trying to reflect on the things I have and haven't done, bookmarked this thread so that I can go back to it later on too. ;v;
Thank you so much for taking the time to write this, and in such great detail too, this will help so many creators, honestly.
Very thorough and helpful! I think you cover both the practical side of things, as well as the motivational side really well. Things like having an update schedule and be engaged with your readers is important, but it's also really important to not lose interest and be discouraged by a low number of views ^^ Well written!
Love it love it! I suppose another thing you can add is that if your announcement is meant to last more than a few days (like hiatus, support options, going to a convention) and you really REALLY want people to see it (because so few check the wall notifications) you can always tack it to the end of your episode, just don't post it on a separate episode by itself though. Then after you can go back and edit the episode to remove the announcement.
To those who might be interested, I'm finally taking each of these points and converting them into comic form! #1 of Tapastic 101 should be out this Friday.
Another great thread post @vincentprendick!
19.Don't forget to Self-Promote
Self-Promotion is key to growing your fan base. How can it grow if people don't know it exists? It's up to you, the artist, to promote your series in the proper manner; social media profiles, interest groups, comic conventions, get your friends and family in on helping you spread the word, practice advertising using free ads on Project Wonderful, leave freebies/flyers at community centers (library/church) or at comic book stores, and research new methods constantly and stick with ones that work. Construct a compelling elevator pitch (a brief line or two answering the question What makes your comic special and Why should I read it?), memorize it and recite it whenever you're asked to describe your series. Find your target audience and promote in places where they hang out. (ex. Fantasy comic- try joining online fantasy communities)
20.Give Readers a Reason to Stay
To make sure all this hard work of self-promoting pays off and your have readers that'll stick with you, give them a reason to stay. Hold fun contests/raffles with nice prizes (comic cameos, sketches, prints), try Livestreaming so fans can hang out with you as you work, Q & A comics, post WIP/extra content, time lapse videos, Art Requests, fun collab projects with other artists. Later on you may choose to only offer a few of these to supporters, however, first starting out you may want to consider trying these as a way to engage and make lasting fans. And Thank them constantly for their love and support that keeps you going.
oooh yes this is a thread I might need.
Question related to .19:
When it comes to for example artworks you've made from your comic, say I just made a really nice artwork of the main character in my story, if I wanna show it to my followers should I post it on the wall or upload it as "comic art" in the comic itself? I've seen ppl upload "guest art" in between pages of their comics. I'd rather use the wall for that, what is the best way to go?
I'd post that to my wall instead of in a comic episode, however, some artist have also posted artwork underneath comic pages in a series episode, so that's an option too. As long as the comic itself isn't being interrupted (like for example, just the artwork is the episode) that should be fine.
Guest comics, imo, are fine posted in the comic series, especially if the guest comics center around your comic. It's related material as so it belongs. It also serves a purpose of entertaining readers while the series creator takes a break.
Hello! Uhm, I've recently returned to Tapastic after a 5 month hiatus/artblock/break/rest/thing.
& I have a question! C:
- Be engaged with your fans...... If someone subscribes, say thanks on their wall.
I didn't notice walls or this custom of subscription thankyous before my break /apologetic fidgeting/
How important do you think this is? Should I go through my existing subscribers and thank them? Or just start doing it from now on? I hope it didn't come across as distant before now! O u O;;;;
Also, thank you for putting this together! c:
It's not that important IMO. I don't do it myself, and I don't feel super special when creators I follow post that on my wall. BUT you might wanna consider doing it as a form of harmless self promotion. People who visit your readers' walls might see your thank you picture and decide to check out your series.
When it comes to appreciating your readers, though, it is more important to keep updating your comic and to reply to the comments that you get. ^^
Thanks Keii! n u n
As a reader I don't really mind either way but it's hard to guage what the general consensus is on such a practice. c:
I didn't think of it from a self-promotion point of view. /rubs chin
This looks like really great advice, I'll probably come back and reference this a lot but as a creator just starting out this should really help, thank you.
I'd also add that its helpful to have a reference for your characters and maybe a mood board for your series for personal use. I know it should be pretty obvious to have a reference but sometimes people forget (cough me) and a reference makes it easier, especially a full turnaround to draw the characters and also in case someone requests it for fan art. As for the mood board (which is a collage of images or anything else that inspired your comic) its good to look back to, in case you get stuck wondering why you are doing this.
Wow this was super informative and helpful! Thank you so much for posting this thread. As someone who is fairly new to tapastic (been here a couple weeks,) this makes me feel a lot better about some things and definitely will help me in the future!
