Bombing and moving on?

[Brumoss]

At some point in working i have to admit to myself that “people don't seem to want what im putting out”. And if my goal is to “tell a story to people” then…. I have to move on and find another story right?

Im the kind of person who can only focus on one project at a time. Right now im working on Jackalope. A mystery/supernatural/ action comic.

The other project I have in mind is a sci-fi.

But how do i know when its a healthy time to move in and try something different. I mostly just want to connect with people thru story telling and comics is the only way i feel i can tell a story right now.

Anyway any thoughts?
!please pass on any “no keep trying Dont be sad”. Im not sad im just trying to find what works for me.

I read some famous author said something about how its healthy to move on if what you are doing isnt working. So i was hoping for some discussion points on that?

As far as the comic im working on now- i will at least finish part 2 before i decide.

[rajillustration]

yeah, I've done that plenty of times myself, everyone bombs like a hell ton of times, sometimes artists and authors who've been doing this a long time might make something that gets no attention. For me I ask myself "Is this still rewarding to me? Do I feel like I'm still learning?" and if it's not, then I move on. I'll either make a soft ending and post the script (which I did for my last comic that just wasn't getting views because of it being just the wrong thing for Tapas/WT) or I'll just.........stop updating. There's no shame in being like "hey this was fun, but I think I got all I wanted out of the project" and starting a new one. If you don't have a lot of subs anyway, they'll be fine. They can see your sub count too, youknow.

As it is, I'm really happy I'm doing a comic that gets more attention now. Took a couple of comics to figure out what people wanted out of scroll format and Tapas/WT reading (still figuring out what Tapas readers want, tbh) and maybe if this comic ever just plateaus, I'll do the same thing all over again. In the end you're the one putting in all the work and effort and not getting paid for it, so you aren't beholden to anyone if you feel like doing something else.

However, just looking at your stats--you started in February, and it is still........February. You may want to give this more time haha. Also, post your story so you don't post more than one update a day, fresh only works 1 time every 24 hours.

[kaetana]

I once saw someone saw you need to give it at least a year, and ideally more like 3 years, to have a solid idea of how your comic is going to do. This is granted a pretty big ask for a project that you're uncertain if it's going to pay off for you, but I think the idea behind it is that there's so many little things that can shift from month to month that you need to be sure you're looking at the big picture. It can feel like your comic is performing terribly but then it turns out that readership is down for everyone that month because of holidays or finals or whatever, and it actually has nothing to do with your work.

So, glancing over at your comic it looks like you've been posting for less than a month, so it's definitely pretty early to tell how your comic will do. One thing I notice you've done that you might want to consider adjusting going forward, is you're putting out multiple episodes in the same day. Generally you want to put at least 24 hours between updates to be treated more favorably by the algorithm and increase the chances of being seen by more people and thus gaining more subscribers. It also looks like your primary genre is fantasy, which is the most crowded genre - it may be worth experimenting with switching your other genres to primary for a bit to see if that gets you more visibility.

Whether or not you want to try out those suggestions, I'd encourage you to give it a bit more time to see how you do. I definitely get how it's frustrating to continue telling a story when it feels like no one is actually there to read it, but it's pretty normal for comics to see a gradual build-up of subscribers over time, so you may start seeing the engagement you're hoping for if you give it a few more months. Best of luck to you whatever you end up doing!

[Brumoss]

So many good points! I will defiantly keep the “am i being rewarded” bit in the back of my mind.

I started in webtoon- up loaded the first 3 then have been doing every Thursday. Tapas i just started and caught it up to webtoons. Was going to do every Thursday but it stopped letting me- some bug i saw others where having.

Last episode of part 1 will do up this thursday. Then once part 2 is done ill think ill decided if I'm moving on or not.

I mostly feel rewarded for drawing in my cartoony style. But i guess it boils down to i just want to feel like the story i am telling matters. Right now i feel like most my subs only subbed cause i subbed to them?

Do you post anywhere thats not webtoons/ tapas?

[darthmongoose]

I was going to post a bunch of advice but then I read @rajillustration 's post and.... you've only been going like a few weeks and you're already deciding it's a failure!?

That simply isn't long enough to tell if your comic succeeded or not, and there are still plenty of things you haven't tried to salvage it.

In my case, it took me three months to get just a hundred Tapas subscribers, and I genuinely started to think "maybe I made a mistake", but when I got to 275 subs (which took me... I dunno, eight or nine months, I think. I didn't do sub-for-sub, so it was a grind) I started getting features, and now after a couple of years my comic has about 1400 subs and will be on the Creator Bonus Program in just a few days time. So like... while I do respect cutting your losses and not getting bogged down in sunk cost fallacy on a comic that's making you miserable, you might be jumping the gun a bit here.

If you're not enjoying making the comic, then yes, you should maybe consider scrapping it and doing a post-mortem; writing down what worked, what didn't work, what feedback or criticism you were given and what you've learned about the different platforms that can be applied to your next comic.

BUT if you do enjoy making the comic, it might be best to first try some things to give it a boost before you put it to sleep. For example, trying changing the cover and/or blurb, run some adverts or do a group promo, apply things you've learned to the newer pages, edit older pages for better readability etc. Give it at least three months, and call it a "data collecting exercise" if that helps. Look at how you perform on the different platforms, what sort of updates get a reaction on which platform, does changing the cover or main genre help? Do certain types of forum thread help? (personally I always found promo threads where I post pages or panels or the cover were massively more effective than ones where it's just the link).

[nathanKmcwilliams]

Adding on to @darthmongoose's point...it took me almost two years to reach 100 subs. Like... I'd suggest giving it a minimum of 6 months to a year.
During that time if you really want to bring in new readers, you'll need to promote it, anywhere and everywhere (which can suck and is difficult to keep up with sometimes.)

[SleepingPoppy]

But how do i know when its a healthy time to move in and try something different. I mostly just want to connect with people thru story telling and comics is the only way i feel i can tell a story right now.

Firstly I agree with the others that it's necessary to put a decent amount of time into the project where you post on a consistent schedule before you decide if it's not working- how much time should really depend on you, but comics as a medium are inherently more about endurance than sprinting. It's a huge long term commitment. If you don't have the patience for that, consider a few short term stories, so you can see how they perform while also getting something finished! (This is just a suggestion, at the end of the day, do whatever you feel inspiration/motivation for)

Following that, before you decide if the comic is a dud, you should think about things like promotion and advertising. It's very possible that the problem isn't that a comic doesn't connect, but that you're just not getting it in front of the right eyes. Things like a really good cover, and good promotional choices can make all the difference. Personally, I think the art is good, but the cover doesn't really stand out- even with the purple it's kind of dark? I think you should revamp that a little and see if it helps!

[redfish]

a big webcomic artist I follow said it took her 10 years to get the traction she has today. It is lonely but I think if you're making a story, make it for yourself first and for others second. You need to enjoy the comic you're doing, if not, then it's yeah there's nothing wrong with folding it. You don't owe the complete ver. to anyone, especially if it's all free to view and made out of your own labour.

[Brumoss]

@redfish

Most of my promoting has been here reddit and commissioning artists to draw my main character.

Thats a good point on the needing to figure out how much time is right for you.

The whole sprint vs endurance resinates with me.

Side note- i feel like a lot of people are reading this as im giving up? I hope im not coming across as that. I just wanted to have a healthy conversation about when it is time to (before it's time cause i like to plan).

My currently plan is-

Finish part 2 and then see how i feel. Day to day when im not feeling jackalope i will start sketch/story boarding something i feel could be next. Again this is all because my comfort zone is over planning personal stuff.

[TheLemmaLlama]

If people don't seem to want what you're putting out, then:
- people just aren't seeing your work, or
- people are seeing your work, but there are some fundamental issues with it that are preventing them from latching on to it.

If it's the first case, then the correct move would be to continue that piece of work, because as long as it exists, people can find it eventually.

Therefore the correct time to move on is if/when you have evidence that it's the second point that's the issue. Whether from audience/proofreader feedback, or from your own analysis once you've grown as a writer, move on when you've clearly identified a specific issue with your writing because then you know that if you continue, it'll exist and people will find it, but they won't like it.

Moving on before this point would lead you to either abandoning a promising story with no issues, or repeating the issues in your new work so that you'd eventually have to abandon that one as well.

[Brumoss]

So i need to do the most scary thing and ask for review/feedback lol

Nice break down- simple and easy to follow.

[rajillustration]

Do you post anywhere thats not webtoons/ tapas?

personally I don't because my comic is long scroll format. Like I did try and make a comic fury page, but I couldn't actually fit my posts into an update over there haha. But, I know a few people enjoy comic fury, especially because it's page format friendly. It really depends on length, too. If you're doing a gag-a-day you can do it on twitter and instagram.

A bunch of people post comic art on tik tok with some success as well, something to keep in mind.

[SleepingPoppy]

Side note- i feel like a lot of people are reading this as im giving up? I hope im not coming across as that.

I don't think you come across that way. I think people are just worried you're jumping the gun a little by considering if your project is bombing when it still seems so early. But I think your current plan to finish part t wo and then assess is a good and practical one!

[system]

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