Can My Comic Do Well If It's Not Constantly Updating?

[LWriter]

Hi guys, I posted my first comic here earlier this year, the first full chapter at least, which was 14 pages that took a lot of time to plan, pay and get ready. I figured it would be better to just release the full thing at once, and so I did, give people the full story (which is certainly how I'd prefer it), but I get the impression people might prefer regular updates even if its only one page. Is that true?

I'm currently working on the second chapter of my comic, which will be another 14 pages, and was planning on doing the same and release it all once when finished. Just asking here in general for any advice or suggestions people might have, but should I try releasing one page at a time instead then? Spread it out like...I don't know, one page a week? Would that draw more people to it, or is it the same really?

Was already thinking of making the third chapter shorter so it wouldn't take as long between chapters, but it would still be months apart no matter what. I'm still relatively new to Tapas and comics in general, but I've noticed a lot of artists here post weekly (some even daily), and well, if that's not something I an do, is there still a place for me and my work? Any feedback is appreciated, I'm just trying to learn.

[Chita]

Well, I'm still a newbie on making and publishing comics here on Tapas but I believe that it's better if you update more times with less content instead of a complete chapter all at once. This will make you appear more often in the Fresh section and thus you'll gain more readers.
Also, I higly recommend this if it takes you too long to make an update. Maybe if you post a page every week or even 2 weeks you'll keep your readers interested on your comic while you're working on the next scenes.
That's what I think about your situation, hope that I could be of some help

[LWriter]

Thank you, any advice is welcomed ^^

[keii4ii]

It COULD succeed, but in most cases it's much more difficult for several reasons:

• Especially with newer comics (i.e. less than 2 years old), people might think it's another abandoned comic and not bother checking it out.

• If people don't check out your comic for a long time, they forget a lot of the plot details. This happens with frequently updating comics too, but the effect isn't as severe.

• It's easier to advertise your comic when it updates more frequently. "Here's a comic that I updated 5 months ago" isn't as exciting as "NEW UPDATE TODAY!!!"

[silverraven0]

On tapas, peoples relatively posted a few pages in a timely matter. Example like what chita suggested. This kind of updating schedule will make you appear on 'Fresh' section more often and won't make your audience forgot that you exist (lol). The contra for this is that it'll make peoples (like me...) pissed about the cliff (rarely), and the story might not even be 'connected' because reading a page at a time won't ensure one memory to remember everything if they didn't read the previous pages.

As for a whole chapter with full pages kind of updates, though it'll bring more satisfaction to read (for peoples like me, sometimes there really is peoples that enjoyed a page per week updates), too long of a time gap will make peoples forgot of the story (just like option one), but if your story is good enough to make them intrigued, then you're good. The contra of this kind if updates is that with only one update per few months, you won't appear on 'fresh' at all unless you update, and it'll make you rather hard to find.

But back to the comic itself. If it's interesting then it's interesting, and peoples would wait for you if its mean the quality is better too. That's my opinion though.

[LWriter]

I might try that approach with my next chapter, release one page a week, see if people respond more to it that way, and keeps them coming back or not. So far, my comic is definitely paralyzed in terms of people seeing it, so don't really have anything to lose. As for whether its interesting or not, can't say for my part, but hopefully I did a good job lol. I'd say m check it out if that's ok, any feedback is always appreciated ^^

[LWriter]

e effect isn't as severe.
It's easier to adv

A valid point, yeah. I am thinking of releasing my next chapter that way, one page at a time, see how people respond to it that way. If it's the same then I'm at least no worst off. Thank you so much for your feedback though! ^^

[ZombieOwl]

I think it was a good idea to post the whole first chapter; it hooks new readers when you're first starting out! Like others have said, going forward, you might have more visibility and growth by uploading a few pages at a time (eg: 2pages 1x per week, 5 pages 2x per month...).

I think you'll see better results with a trickle of pages instead of a flash flood

[LWriter]

ward, you might have more visibility and growth by uploading a few pages at a time (eg: 2pages 1x per week, 5 pages 2x per month...).

I think you'll see better results with a trickle of pages instead of a flash

Thank you! Actually, that makes me feel better, I was starting to worry I made a mistake posting the first chapter like that lol

[indagold]

After doing comics for 10 years some things I notice: frequent and regular updates is a must for webcomics or you'll lose your fanbase if its not popular enough to warrant frequent hiatuses that a fanbase can accept. Comics that stop updating for about year and then return gets massive drop offs because the people reading it don't care, don't remember or feel like catching up on it. Also comics tend to die completely because there was no buffer or future plans and you essentially lose whatever fans you had even if you wanted to start something else. Best method I see is posting a set number of pages one day out of a week or 1-3 pages on different days of the week and make a big buffer. It will save you a lot of pain in the future.

[DiegoPalacios]

The contra for this is that it'll make peoples (like me...) pissed about the cliff (rarely), and the story might not even be 'connected' because reading a page at a time won't ensure one memory to remember everything if they didn't read the previous pages.

There are tricks to fight these drawbacks, like keeping each update relevant and interesting and not over-relying of cliffhangers. (for example, a page can end with a punchline). But is up to the writer to make sure they keep a good pacing.

[orangeh00dey]

Think of it like TV shows! weekly airing stories keep viewers coming back and engaged for a while. Netflix-style binges are short, but keep viewers don't have to be engaged for as long. Both sides have advantages!

[A-weird-girler]

In short, no. You're going to lose subs. Never go on many hiatuses and if you do, announce it

[Zhengo]

I think the farthest apart you can update chapters is like a month apart. Anything longer than that and readers are going to start forgetting plot details. Also, I've heard that if you can't update frequently, at least update consistently, so that readers can expect when the next update will come. Updating sporadically can be a problem because then readers will never know if the comic is dead or if the creator is just taking a long time on the next update.

[dawgofdawgness]

You can update in batches if it works for you - in fact, I'm pretty sure that kind of updating style is preferred on Webtoon. On Tapas, quicker/shorter updates are the most common, but I find that updating 3-4 pages every 2 weeks is fine as well. The only worry is that your readers might forget what was going on in the previous pages if you leave the gap between updating too long. Just make sure that you have content with context in each update!
For example, if one of your pages is just a continuation of a conversation, your readers might get lost if it's put out a couple of weeks after the previous one. Try to start fresh on each update. At least, that's what's been working for me so far.

[Rosso]

if you want readers to constantly come back, for them to not lose interest, or for your webcomic to be on the Fresh/newly updated tab more often, i highly advice against updating a whole chapter once in a while in one go. Maybe update by scenes or 2~4 pages per update (for me, i go at least 20 panels for vertical format)

one thing i've noticed is, even if you are VERY efficient and can produce a lot of content in a short amount of time, even if you have a huge buffer, online readers have a very short attention span AND generally impatient. Short & Frequent seems to work best for the creator and their readers.

in fact i noticed i'm more likely to read/binge through bite-sized updates than huge ones. but that's just me.

[MK_Wizard]

After being a year online, I can say this (and as a friend in the kindest way), no. You need to update consistently and at least once a week or else your readers will lose interest. If you need to disappear, give them notice. A webcomic is not like an actual comic where people get that you need time to put everything up because it takes time to make a whole book and print it, but when you're doing something that's digital and a page at a time, people expect you to bring it out faster.

At least that's my experience.

[charliesackett]

Personally, when I read stuff I want to sit and binge the whole thing, so I usually wind up just reading series that are either done already or have a couple years of archive so I can just get lost in it. So big updates over fast updates for sure.

[Croik]

Personally I don't like 1 page a week. I lose interest a lot faster because it doesn't feel like enough happens to merit remembering.

The comic I write for has been posting for almost a year and a half. Our chapters are 18 pages each and we update 6 pages at a time over 3 weeks, then take a few weeks off, then the next chapter. In between chapters of the comic I also post chapters for the novel, which uses the same characters, to keep it fresh in readers' minds and so it doesn't feel like we disappeared. It allows us to do entire chapters at once for greater consistency and efficiency, and so far we haven't had a single complaint.

It's probably true that posting a page a week would get us "fresh" a lot more often, but that only lasts about 3-5 minutes no matter when you post. What's more important to us is that we're working at a comfortable and sustainable pace, and giving our readers something meaty to look forward to with every update. So first figure out what workload is most comfortable for you going forward, and schedule your updates accordingly.

[Redsheis]

I have been testing out this theory as well, constant uploading or a by week to month upload.
I think it depends on what content you want to make. I know that when you make funnies or life/episodic comics people expect you to have a page every day or a week. But from my experience if you are working more on a drama comic viewers are willing to wait till the next segment release. I tend to combine 2 pages together for a big upload so it would be worth the wait. Posting the pages all at once is not a good idea in my opinion, because you only got one shot/day so I would pace it out a bit for new readers.