May 2017
39 / 50
May 2017
May 2017
Kyulein
May '17
DMBrigman

There are just a few comics I don't follow on their own site - it's the home they were meant to have and the creator can make sure they're experienced the way they were meant to (unlike tapas' rigid sturcture).

If bookmark checking is not to one's liking I, too, can recommend Comic Rocket as a hub/library. They link to each single page rather than storing content and monitor your progress so that you can pick up at the point you left off at a later time, or have that particular comic appear in the "pages to read" tab after an update.

Also following creators on social media and to get their update notifications is a possibility (next to getting those you're also showing that creator your support by increasing their subscriber numbers smile )

EDIT:
Also one of my followers has a document set up in their sta.sh (deviantArt's file storage feature) with all the links they check regularly. It's a regular source of traffic form that user, as I've seen on Google Analytics, so something in that way might also be a possibility.

joannekwan(ง ˙o˙)ว here to help~
May '17

Thanks for all your input, guys! And Comic Rocket definitely seems useful!

But touching upon social media again, I can see there being creators who people wouldn't want to follow except for updates. Like if the creator posts a lot of extraneous stuff readers aren't interested in.
Come to think of it, there's a certain creator I follow on tumblr, their work is really nice but often they'll go into these long back and forth diatribes with people who disagree with them. I've come to ignore most of those posts but damn do they take up space on my dashboard. xD

Kyulein
May '17

Many comics have official social media profiles these days, from which the creators tend to retweet/reblog, too. These are usually cleaner and on point with what you'd want to follow.

Unfortunately for your case not every comic has them. Personally I wouldn't want to follow an account that has nothing but update notifications - but yeah that's an opinion where people differ a lot.

For twitter an alternative would be to set up a list and add comic profiles or creator profiles in case they don't have a comics-only one. Don't know how that'd work on either FB or tumblr, though, they're simply not my preferred kind of social media.

lunaartemisasama
May '17

Well, I read Hiveworks works and they have their own site each one of them so when I remember to read one of them I see the banners and remember I can read more lol.

Pik
May '17

I don't follow a whole ton of comics but I use Comic Rocket4 and find it really useful. Saves your last read page, and when comics come back from hiatus you get notified right away because updates bump to the top of your list. Occasionally the Comic Rocket bot has difficulty with the creator's website and will get stuck in un-updated limbo when the comic is actually updating, so you have to watch for that and check the sites manually sometimes.

Other than that, I know several of our readers use RSS, and one even uses a Pinterest board to keep track of their comics, so goes to show that you can get creative with it.

I do like reading comics on their own sites, just for the immersiveness of it, as someone already put, and easy access to extras like profiles, creator's blog, projects they're doing...

JoshFedman
May '17

I use a webcomic tracker called piperka7. It has a page for almost every major webcomic out there, and if it's missing one, it's very easy to get it added. Updates are checked for every hour and there are a bunch of nifty statistics available too. I've got about 70 comics I'm tracking on there and it's been near flawless so far.

serenitysquirrel
May '17

There are a few who have their own site who I binge read about quarterly. There are some great comics out there that are -only- self hosted. Of course, there's also the wonder of an rss feed smile

JessJackdaw
May '17

Actually they just redid their main site to be mobile compatible/friendly, and if I'm not mistaken they also want an app. Plus 90% of their creators do the RSS and social media updates. So at least they're trying to stay on top of things. Still gated though. D:

trinkettrancemusic
May '17

I'd definitely follow fewer comics on their own sites than I do on here. The ones I really love though, I make a point of following on social media and I keep meaning to set up a proper RSS of my favourites. I discover a lot of great comics here, and give even more a chance via heavy digging through the Fresh updates and forum recommendations. Tapastic's recommendations haven't introduced me to any of my favourites.

Having my own site is vital though - The Beard3 is a multi-media comic. I've been using 5-7 page PDF chapters to house the enhanced elements - links, sound triggers, score cues - and don't have my site set up as a traditional webcomic yet (though that's planned for the launch of issue two in June). PDF reader compatibility is a pain for the extra content still though - technical kinks to iron out.

revisionstudios
May '17

I'll follow a comic on their own site if it's my only option, but to echo the others it's not something I like doing--I prefer getting notifications and having them in one place. :/

Another big reason I don't like most comic sites is because I have wait for a comic page to load, read it, click next, wait for it to load, read it, click next, ad infinitum. It totally breaks the mood for me and is really tedious? I'd much rather read on a site like Tapas where it lets you scroll through pages and automatically loads the next update.

It's kinda why I haven't invested in putting my own comic on its own site. I don't know how to make a system similar that's easy to read and has fast load times, so I just.... don't bother. One day I'll hire someone else to do it.

joannekwan(ง ˙o˙)ว here to help~
May '17

This is very true! I looked at one site such as this recently and it does break immersion, especially when you scroll to the bottom of a page to click the "next" button and it jumps back up for the new page to load.

Migue
May '17

I think hosting sites have a little bit more advantages than owning a page.

In a hosting site you there is already a readers base that may be interested in your comic, contrary to a webpage where you have to do a lot of heavy lifting if you want to get people to read your comic if you are starting for scratch.

You have to learn at least a little bit of coding or be willing to pay someone to design the page, contrary to a hosting where everything is ready to upload.

As it has been already commented,it's easy for readers to forget about your comic.

And tapas has that cute little app.

In the end is a matter of preference and what works better for each creator. In my case, I'm very happy not owning a site.

Kyulein
May '17

Re: discovering comics outside of Tapas
- I personally discovered more comics I liked through links pages on webcomic sites (such as these ex.1, ex.2 and ex.3), than I ever did through Tapas. Personally a recommendation like that from a creator I trust wieghs a lot higher than a little square with a random face that doesn't tell me anything.
I'm gonna file that under individual preference, though.

Re: loading single pages
- Many a webcomic site has arrow key navigation implemented, unfortunately that doesn't go for all. I prefer that way of reading, though, because it gives off more of a book vibe than scrolling through it single file, being interrupted by comments I don't want to read on a binge read. (It's also better than having Tapas crash your browser because the workload seems too high for some reason or jumping back to the previous episode out of the blue.) (filing this under "mostly preference", because bugs aren't exclusive to Tapas)

Re: people forgetting about your comic on a lonely website
- I have way more readers and way more interaction on my main website than I ever had on Tapas, it's all a question about reaching out and making sure readers DO NOT forget and give them a reason to come back at whatever intervall your update schedule is. Notifications are nice, for sure, but they tend to let creators forget about pushing their presence on the web.

As is probably obvious I'm pro reading comics in their natural environment rather than forcing them onto a rigid template, that they may or may not work well with. On their individual websites, though, you experience them the way they are meant to be read. I'm more likely to be passionate about a comic if the surrounding webdesign elevate the content rather than being the same for all.
As both a creator who can plug opportunities of support more organically and a reader who just also gets all the extra content, I very much prefer individual sites.

LordVincent
May '17

Haha I never really understood the whole "reading comics in their natural habitat" thing :laughing: I just imagine this nature documentary type of narrator going "Watch as the evil publishing platforms kidnap the poor comic babies out of their natural habitat and force them into the evil reigns of ToS. It is a heartbreaking sight, but it is the law of nature!"

Sure, some comics are better off on their own sites, but most comics have formats that are fully readable on mirror sites. Whether to use them or not is up to each author and reader, we all have personal preferences :smile:

Personally I prefer mirrors. They are easy to use both when I read other comics and upload my own works, and reach out to a larger audience!

Zanreo
May '17

For me, I actually often prefer reading comics on their own site(whether that means self-hosted domain or a host like Comicfury that basically gives you your "own site") rather than a platform like this - I like to see different layouts (and extra pages!) rather than the same plain one for everything. Makes the comics feel like more of their "own thing".

I actually have had slightly more success on CF than here x3 It's a good mix - you get your site to customize however you want, while the site still has an userbase, lets you subscribe to comics and gives you sort-of notifications for comments and updated subscriptions (even if you have to go to their own tabs to see them) Actually most of the comics I read are on CF x3 Plus there's always RSS feeds

GoldenPlume
May '17
silencelibrarian

Not at all. We juggle a mountain of stuff to do each day and subsist on sticky notes. The last thing we want to do is try to remember to visit a number of individual websites. At one time we did follow a few comics outside of Tapas but its simply too much effort to add it to the daily/weekly routine so we stopped. The app makes it where we can easily maintain a reading list and just binge read when we're stuck somewhere with nothing else to do but use our phone (like in the line at the post office which is always a 20 minute drag). We just read up on everyone then. The only drag with the app is that commenting is much more difficult vs. using the desktop and creators can't earn anything from display ads. Our phone rarely shows any display ads vs. the desktop which always delivers two each episode.

In its current state, we have Hiveworks predicted to eventually cease operations. Readership is increasingly going mobile. Wattpad reports that 90% of its traffic is mobile based. Hiveworks does not have an app. "Wanting an app" is a lot different than able to make one. Creating an app is a monumental task financially and its our opinion that Hiveworks does not have that degree of internal resources to get it done. Tapas had to go out and get millions in preferred financing to get theirs done. Hiveworks could put something together like what Pop! Comics rolled out but the app is bare bones and takes away from the reading experience to the point that you don't want to use it. Readers have a certain level of expectations and if you deliver less than that they will simply go elsewhere.

We've mentioned this before but Hiveworks primary source of income is ads, which unfortunately remains on the decline. Tapas saw the writing on the wall so they switched to adding novels and premium content. Like it or not, this is the main way Tapas keeps the lights on. They also have the tipping feature which Hiveworks also lacks. Tapas is currently so far ahead of Hiveworks that it seems unlikely that will be able to keep up.

LINE Webtoons is the dark horse. They announced in their ToS update that they have been spun off into their own corporation which is a concern because it indicates that Naver wants Webtoons to start carrying its own weight. Webtoons is going to be adding ads soon so that increases the likelihood that they will continue forward, but as we can see from what Tapas is doing, ads alone aren't enough. Another big unknown is how readers will respond to "first contact" with ads on Webtoons. Will it negatively impact traffic? If so, to what degree?

The next big real tell will be what happens in July when their current Patreon bonus program is scheduled to end. They put up $3.6M into that program last year and the tell will be if they renew it or not. We're predicting that they won't.

These are all the reasons why we decided to host on Tapas rather than on our own.

Not saying that Tapas is perfect. There's certainly a lot of room for improvement but it's currently the best in class among all the self-service comic platforms out there.

miseryhunting
May '17

I'll be honest - I wouldn't. In the wake of the latest Tapas issue and also few people leaving to host on Sparklers Monthly, I forget to keep up with those comics. For me to do that, I need to bookmark each and every comic and memorize all of their schedules (and I have 100+ on my reading list only on Tapastic).
I know few artists post regular updates on their twitters, but often they get buried under my feed.
I'm willing to register in different places and hosting platforms, like Webtoons, Smackjeeves, etc.
I don't know, I understand the artists' wish to have their own place, to design it their way and to include extras, however I must be personally really invested in the story/creator's artistic path to be able to keep up with that. I also have a separate place hosted through Tumblr, but honestly, almost no readers come from there and even I sometimes forget about it.

silencelibrarian
May '17
GoldenPlume

I always wonder how does webtoon survives paying each of their featured artist without having any ads or anything to sell.
I know in this digital era, when the product is offered for free, then what their selling is you (the readers),
after all, they've been gathering all the data of everyone who's reading it for free in their mobile phone
maybe that years of data gathering can target each individual with specific ads, once they roll out the ads.

I personally loathe ads, and I prefer netflix style subscriptions service where I can pay for not having to be blasted with stupid advertisement.
However, I also do not wish to pay for 25 different subscription services every month,
so my guess is, in the future, only the big players like (netflix, spotify, etc) survive the online digital business for entertainment content
but then again, the world is big enough that there are alot of people who don't find what they like in the major players and would like to subscribe to the little guys who has content that they can relate to