Comic’s preforming better than novel?

[LadyN]

So I’m making this topic because I’ve just posted pages 7 and 8 of my comic Anti-Deity. And I looked at the stats and realized how much better it performed in two weeks then my two (discontinued) novels combined! They’ve been up since I’ve first started posting on Tapas (January)

Is this just a matter of people preferring to look at webcomics than reading actual books? I mean it’s easier to create the comic than it was both of my stories…

Anyone else had this happen to them or have something to say? I’d love to hear your experiences with this!

[joannekwan]

a matter of people preferring to look at webcomics than reading actual books

This pretty much sums it up.
The novels section on Tapas is only like 2 (or 3? almost 3?) years old, it started as a webcomic site so the majority of its user-base are in it for comics.

And for a lot of people, comics are just easier to read. There's much less text, and they're quicker to get through.
The visual aspect is also a draw for lots of people. Readers are immediately immersed into the world and characters since they're displayed right there onscreen. But characters and setting take a bit of time to cultivate through prose alone.

[magnavarra]

tapas is an international site and most comics and readers are made by not native english people. It's much easier to understand what's going on in a comic even if you don't know language or google a couple of words. While translating the whole novel can be troublesome

[sushy00]

I joined here to create and view web comics, so I don't view novels often.

[surenlicious]

As a novel writer (and I am an artist too so I experience both) I can concur. People just like visual things more.

But it is a little painful if people compliment my art, saying they want to read my novel then run for the hills once they see its a ordinairy book. But it won't deter me from writing it, because I happen to enjoy books more so yeah, there we go.

[Kura]

I mean, I come to the site to read comics.

Novels are more of a nice bonus, especially for someone that enjoys working on both comics and novels. But it's definitely not the reason alone I would ever use this site.

[C_o]

I follow a few novels here, but Tapas certainly feels like first and foremost a comic platform, so I could understand why novels wouldn't get a lot of attention. I wouldn't blame someone for avoiding novels here entirely, their inclusion feels like a bit of an afterthought. I imagine creators would have more engagement on something like Wattpad where they don't have to compete for attention with visual storytelling.

[Zaboem]

Keep in mind that Tapas has hosted webcomics since the beginning. Novels have been here for what, three years now? The.established auidence for the playform was developed out of comic readers. For that reason and others, I'm not even slightly surprised that a comic version of the.same story can grow faster than a novel by magnitudes.

Edit P.S. I see that @joannekwan already stated the exact same observation as me.

[Leverance]

@C_o Unfortunately, many on Wattpad have even a tougher competition on there. Often they compete with billions of books griping from the same attention. And if one doesn't have a certain genre, a book cover with naked bodies or pander to some audiences is pretty difficult.

Hell, I cross publish between Wattpad and Tapas. Even my first story on here is doing better than on Wattpad by a long shot. Though, I think is easier to get an audience here with BL fanfics than on Wattpad that mostly have female oc x canon male character.

Been on Wattpad since 2014 and seen no good changes in years.

Just my two cents.

[AmandaJ-art]

I don't read novels on Tapas. It's just hard to start reading something online unless it's something that I know I like or it's fandom related. I just can't be bothered to do it.

I'm sure that many people feel the same.

[IdiotWithPencil]

Is this just a matter of people preferring to look at webcomics than reading actual books? I mean it’s easier to create the comic than it was both of my stories…

so you telling me that a webcomic hosting site has more webcomic readers than web novel readers?
color me surprised

ok sarcasm aside yes there are more comic readers on tapas than there are novel readers, it has nothing to do with people preferring comics over books, it has to do with what market tapas is catering too, and sadly the novel market is not the primary market for tapas. The same thing would happen if Wattpad created a webcomic section, webcomics would have a hard time cause Wattpad user base would be made mostly of novel/book readers, not comic readers.

[LadyN]

Hey in my defense it wasn’t until this thread that I learnt that Tapas was originally comics only. Sorry if I sound a little angry but no need to put it off that way. I thought it always was novels and webcomics. Glad to see that was cleared up.

[WolfUnderTheMoon89]

I get a sense that it's like that. But I can't say for sure, I only have a novel on tapas.

[Crusoe]

yeah, comics are what is mostly advertised by tapas as well, so most people who join join originally for the comics. I've gotten so many tapas ads recently and all of them have been for comics

[thedude3445]

Comics have much less content. Less dialogue, more visuals. You can skim a comic MUCH more easily if that's the kind of reader you are. I blazed through the entire archive of My Dragon Girlfriend without even trying in about 2.5 hours and a crappy internet (great comic btw), but it took me that long to get one volume into a novel on here.

[Maps]

Yeah, this reader-base is way more comic-interested than novel-interested. I have had the same thing happen. I have snippets of a comic I had planned and one that I actually started, both which gained followers like crazy even though the art isn't great and I'm bad at updating them!
Meanwhile, the novel I've been posting consistently still has less followers. It's just kinda how it is on this site.