Being afraid of disappointing readers

[shinepaw]

Long story short, I started up my new, story driven comic Anima Magica which is very dear to me, I've been working on the story for 5 months, and I think it'd be an interesting comic, and different in it's kind.

But!

In less than 1 week it got 700+ subscribers and it scares and stresses me so much. I fear that people expect way more and bigger story than what it'll be and I'll disappoint them, I'm afraid that my prologue may be way to "claptrap-y", or I'll write something which sounds stupid in English, since my native language is not English... I could go on >_< It's my first published long-form story, and I don't really know what people are expecting of this story. I know where I want it to go, but maybe it's not what people are interested in... I'm even afraid to look at the comments.

I know I should be happy that I have so many subscribers, never thought it'd stress me so much. And I'm writing it down hoping it'd ease my feelings, I'm sorry. >_<

Anyway, a question to everyone, what do you expect from a comic? Did a comic ever disappointed you?

[UzukiCheverie]

Yeah, I can imagine that being a little stressful at first.

But remember, people have subscribed to your comic because they enjoy reading what you've done so far, not primarily because they just want to see what happens next. They've enjoyed it so far, and they want to keep following it. We're always, always going to be afraid of disappointing our readers when it comes to our content, but dwelling on that fear isn't going to change anything. Write the story you came here to write; don't tailor it to your readers, show them that this is what you've brought to the table and be happy they're there along for the ride. Don't worry about things that haven't happened yet and may never actually happen at all.

Be excited! You've gotten so many subscribers in such a short time, it can only mean good times from here on out Don't worry about the future, worry about what's going on right now - just focus on your comic and tell the story you came to tell. At the end of the day it shouldn't matter if people don't like it; we write and draw our comics because we want to, not because we feel obligated to. At the end of the day, no matter how much you or they care, this is your comic and it's yours. Don't worry about disappointing people with a project that is yours and you've put your love and time into, especially when it's such a personal project. Work hard, love what you do, and readers will follow.

[carloswebcomic]

Okay, I get it. Suddenly people are watching you and you think you're not up to the task of giving them what they want.

Now, I'll tell you something from experience. Many moons ago, when I did my first comic, for some reason or another it started to get crazy amounts of readers.
I got obsessed with trying to give my readers what they wanted. And it worked! I got more and more readers! Happy days, right?
Well, after a while I realised that I no longer had control of my own comic. I was miserable. It got to the point where I hated the idea of making more pages. So I stopped and never went back to it again.

Lesson of the story, try not to pay too much attention to the number of readers. Do the comic you want to do and let people come to it. Do it on YOUR terms.

[kazukitakamura126]

Firstly congratulations on the 700+ Subscribers I only have 23 subscribers to my comic Seishin Patona in 7 months. I was nervous about posting my art before 2012 because I didn't know if they were going to love it or hate it. However, I got past that and people today do enjoy my work and I have taken feedback to improve my work. As far as the plot no one on the outside usually has a say on how it progresses. I am so meticulous with my planning I don't want to make changes to my story unless its absolutely necessary. The readers are just along for the ride.

[HNLEE]

Yes yes I get you! I'm worried people might disagree with the way I write the story. I get scared I might get called out for mistakes and sometimes that leads me to second guessing my comic but I also think there's no way I can write this story to please everyone. When i comes down to it I guess we just got to forget everything else focus in making something we the author's can fully be proud of or else we might regret it later.

I have tried being disappointed in a comic though, sucks since I thought the story could've been much more but in the end there's nothing I can do. That's how the story is and I need to accept the author's choice so I just quietly unsubscribed.
I've also been disappointed by a series that inserted too much fanservice that it didn't feel like the same show anymore. In the end the characters were not themselves, the story was not what it used to be and the it became hard to watch.
So either way there's no total win and you ultimately you have to write for yourself.

[keii4ii]

I suffer from this issue.

BIG TIME.

My case is a bit different, but it has a big overlap with yours, I think. I just typed up a long response describing my version of this problem, only to hit delete because it was way too personal XD;;; To sum it up, I'm scared that no one cares about the story that I want to tell; that my readers are just following it for the shiny art; that they'll no longer be interested once my comic "shows its true colors" (i.e. get to the parts that are the most important to me).

Here's something that helped me. Try calmly assessing the worst case scenarios, the plausible ones. Yes, you might end up disappointing some readers. But is that really the end of the world? It's not.

Something like that happened recently to a very well known webcomic called Gunnerkrigg Court (not on Tapastic). A recent development in the story pissed off a significant number of readers, to a point they dropped the comic. It used to get like 500 comments on each update? Now it gets under 200. But it has retained more than enough readers for the author to make a living off the comic via Patreon. The majority of the remaining readers are extremely loyal and invested in the story.

I don't want to just say "don't worry," because that NEVER works if you happen to have depression and/or other mental health issues (like I do). Just remember that when your fear is intense, chances are, the reality is not nearly as bad as the fear itself.

Oh, and English is not my native language, either. 8D High five!

[mg78]

it's the main problem that must be faced by every "creators".
do your path, dont sell what u feel for "a glory" or even worse, for what other want.

[Dorian_Grey]

First of all, congrats on 700+ in one week!
That sort of exposure is great and something I could not or still can not even fathom as this moment, and mind you, I am only a month in a half in, starting from scratch with no following.
I can totally understand your stress though, you want to tell a story that is enjoyable to yourself as well as your readers. And there's a certain level of expectation that comes with it, for both of you.
The thing you must ask yourself is: is this a story that I truly want to tell before I kick the bucket? Or is this a story I want everyone to accept??
And the answer is, you cannot please everyone, but you can please the one person you do know, and that's you!

Even long running professional mangas such as Naruto got a HUGE hell of a backlash from it's readers because of its ending, to the point a online petition was made just because a certain pairing wasn't canon!! JUST because of something silly like that.
I feel like this comic should have ended differently myself, there was just too many hands in the pot and I think the creator was trying too hard to please the fans with a rushed, neatly tied, everyone-is-happy-and-married ending.
It severely strayed off from his original intentions because of fan base expectations and probably the industry in general. It didn't mean I liked his work any less, even if I didn't agree with some decisions in story making.

The thing is neatly tied stories and endings or predictably can be just as disappointing as something that comes as a shock to readers.
As your story goes on, you may make changes that even surprise yourself. And you may challenge your characters and yourself and that's true story telling. It should be about your own journey and hard work.

Again, you are never going to please everyone, especially on the anonymous internet where haters are gonna troll; so just do what feels right for you and make your story something you are proud of regardless!^^

[keii4ii]

do your path, dont sell what u feel for "a glory" or even worse, for what other want.

While I don't disagree with that message, I feel it's important to understand not every creator is tempted to do what the readers want, even if they're worried about disappointing people. It's unfair to imply that the OP may be thinking about changing her story to please other people. I think she fully intends to tell the story she wants; that can actually make the fear stronger...

[HeSerpenty]

I can definitely understand the pickle you're in--- but if I were you I'd just dwell on the fact that there's such an immediate positive response! Just keep telling the story you love and be true to the characters--- more will come!

Lately on Tapastic I've feel like I've lost more subs than gained the last couple updates-- I'm definitely struggle with feeling like a disappointment XD (thank goodness for all the mirror sites XD). O well tho! We can only do what we can do! Don't overthink anythin too much! <3

[RiverKai]

I definitely can relate!

A large amount of my comics' meanings deal with pain and tragedy, and not everyone can tolerate that. I'd say that you have an opportunity for something really cool if you have something shocking and not pleasing to everyone, because more often than not, word gets around once it has repaired/completed the issue about how freaking awesome it was because of the "disappointing" factor in the first place.

I just posted a page that I don't think any of my readers really "like" per say, since it's depressing, but that's what makes my story extra happy in the first place. Everyone is commenting telling me they're sad. But I'm always going to post them as harsh as they are or if they get even harsher than when they reacted before, because I have the knowledge of how much they'll appreciate the meaning of it later.

[joannekwan]

I feel the same way sometimes, especially since all my series here are basically just starting. Just keep in mind that these are YOUR stories first and foremost. Do it for yourself, do it for your characters.

I think being on tumblr helped me get used to sub counts. because I slowly get new followers, sometimes a bunch when I post something popular, and then on slow months I'll lose a few followers here and there. I don't take it personally since I know most people only started following me on a whim, but I know there are people who do enjoy my work, and they make me happiest of all, not the follower count.

Now if you post an update and your subscriber count drops to 0, then maybe you're doing something wrong. xD

And I don't know what to expect from comics, I just want them to entertain me. And I haven't been really disappointed with a comic yet, I just lost interest and unsubbed.

[BraveHeartTatsumaki]

From my reading list here, I haven't been dissapointed.
But I'd probably unsub if I see that the person is doing what the fans wants, losing the path of his own story.
From my point of view, if we read a story, is because we like it and we get interesed in the "world" the author show us, if suddenly you start doing what other want, the story will stop being "yours".
And I'm glad you got that amount of subs and such, because it means that you really caught the attention of people and they are there for your ideas. So just keep loyal to yourself.
I've been like this too, though I haven't gotten that many subs, but if in the future I get many, I'll continue doing what I'm doing, people might disagree with my story, others will like it, there are things for everyone, and if someone doesn't like it, at least we can say thanks for the moment then. xD

[DruidPeter]

Well. I can see how such an increase in subscribers would cause you to get stressed out, shinepaw. But here's the thing...

you are going to dissapoint your readers.

I don't mean generally and ultimately, of course. I mean simply that, it is going to happen. You won't be able to please everyone, and there's always going to be someone that will have an issue with something. This is why you should stay true to your creative vision and the story that you want to tell.

Because there's no use trying to change the story to match everyone's expectations, and then still dissappointing people. That just adds salt to the wound, so to speak. But there's good news, and that's that you can please a great deal of people in proportion to those that you don't! You've already pleased at least 700+ people, and that's far more people than those you might have managed to dissapoint so far!

Keep at it, and don't give up, @shinepaw

As to answer you question about how I deal with the fear of dissappointing readers... well, I kind of need to get readers first, now, haha.

[ashriott]

Congrats on 700+ subs in a week, you should be proud! If you're getting that many in such a short time, you must be doing something right. Keep doing what you're doing and let nature take its course!

But I can understand it can also be stressful at the same time. It's normal for wanting readers to like your story even if you tell yourself no one will like it. I don't have that crazy amount of subs, and never had a following to begin with, but that doesn't stop me from be self conscious about the story. I can tell myself my story is niche and not many people will like the characters, but some little part of me will always hope readers will get where I'm going with my story xD People say to write for your readers, and that's true to a degree. But heck, I've got no plans to change the contents of my story just to please the crowd. I think it' important to stay true to the story you want to write, and write the story as it must be, not what others want it to be.

[allenthomas]

Congratulations on having 700+ subs, and in record time. That's amazing. I honestly wasn't too worried about disappointing readers up until recently. Suddenly, I've had very little feedback to my comic in the form of low views, comments, and likes. I've also got more than a few unsubscribers recently and I'm not sure what I've been doing wrong. I hit a milestone of 50+ subscribers and things have seemingly gotten worse LOL. I'm trying to change things up to see if I can improve a bit more to attract new subs, but I'm concerned right now that I may be disappointing my faithful readers.

[jmhenry]

In less than 1 week it got 700+ subscribers and it scares and stresses me so much.

Uh... If you don't want em, can I have em? ^^;;

Seriously, though, just keep doing what you're doing, your readers are following you because they liked what they saw. As long as you enjoy what you're doingyour readers won't be disappointed.

[elixiadragmire]

Alrighty, I've been here 3 times this year alone. its scary.

The best way to explain in to people is like you've thrown out on stage, the lights blinding your eyes and you cant see the how big the audience is or their expressions but you can hear them, hear them cough and stir in their seats. So you start to tell them your story.

The best advise I can get you is, is to keep going. Just keep telling your story, get into it, get passionate about, dont look back and throw yourself into it. If you love it, they'll love it, thats why they came here in the first place right? And if some dont love it? They'll leave but the ones that remain will cheer you on and rally to you. They're the ones that are here to hear what YOU have to say.

[TheLemmaLlama]

I guess as long as you never made any concrete promises and they're not giving you anything, you don't owe them anything, so if your story wasn't what they signed up for, that's their problem Most of us know this too, so chances are no-one's gonna yell at you for it, and some fans might even come to your defense if someone does c:

[whydocowsfall]

I only have a few readers, but I'm terrified of disappointing them - one of my readers on tumblr literally sent me an ask saying "I hope you don't do [this thing that's going to happen] or I'll be really disappointed". Which was... Nice to know. Especially because they were my first reader and are as obsessed with Polyphemus as I am. :')

The thing is, even though I'm probably going to disappoint that one person, and likely a few others, I know the story I'm going to write, and I'm not going to change it for them. I have the advantage of working from already existing material, so I actually physically can't change aspects of the plot without it being unfaithful to the original story, which helps with the worry, but ultimately the same is true for any story. You've written your comic even if it's just in your head, you've decided what's going to happen, and you have to stay true to yourself, not your readers. Having 700+ subscribers so fast is great! It means what you've done so far is enjoyable and makes people want to know more! But you can't please all of them. And honestly, if you stay true to yourself, it's going to be a better story anyway - regardless of who you disappoint. A lot of famous artists and writers disappointed people in their own time, or didn't please anyone with their work (just look at Van Gogh), but that's what made their work so incredible in hindsight. Stick with what you want to write and you'll do fine. (: