Continue series or new one, opinions wanted

[michaudmarc]

I'm two pages from the end of my first major story arc (70 pages) in a science-fiction coming of age tale, Arc29, and I'm trying to decide if I should start a new series as I start the second major story-line. The reason being that the second story is not a sequel to the first, it happens in the same universe to some of the same characters but in the past and it is being drawn in a different style than the first arc (b+w vs grey-scale)
More importantly, I think that each story-line can be read independently of the other, though reading both will obviously add depth and intrigue.
Now my concern is this: I don't have a tonne of readers, a much appreciated but scant 54 subscribers, and I don't want to lose them by not having them follow me over to the new series. Has anyone else encountered this type of issue and if so how did you deal? Did your subs follow you to your new series?

[PotooGryphon]

I'd recommend keeping it in the same series and just labeling the episodes with a naming convention that shows where the arcs change. That way the subs you currently have can still receive notifications for each new update, instead from starting at square 1 again with a new series with no subs.

When I first started on Tapastic, I made the mistake of making each new issue release its own new Tapastic series. I don't recommend it. Readers were just confused why the series they where following didn't include the first issue and a lot didn't look to see on my profile the other Tapastic series I had at the time. It was a mess.

If it's within the same universe, using the same characters, with a story the current subs would appreciate, my advice is to keep it in the one series.

[AnnaLandin]

I agree with Cyndi. If the stories both take place in the same world, with some of the same characters, I'd say you're better off putting them in the same series. You just called it a "second major storyline", which implies that it's going to become relevant for stuff happening in your current storyline at some point, so it's essentially the same story - it's just two different strands.

[michaudmarc]

Ok, all sound advice. I will keep them together. I guess the challenge is getting it in front of more readers, which was always the challenge, right?

[AnnaLandin]

I guess the challenge is getting it in front of more readers, which was always the challenge, right?

Yep! And the only thing you can do there is update consistently, update as often as possible, and TELL EVERYBODY.

[Jabbage]

It looks like you've already made up your mind to keep them together, which makes sense since they're in a shared universe. But if you want an annecdote of someone who moved from one series to another where they weren't connected at all and so I couldn't justify doing that, my active readers definitely followed me, even if it took them a while. The ones that had hit "sub" on a whim and weren't keeping up didn't. I also think I probably lost some more casual readers who don't use Tapastic or CF to keep track of comic subscriptions.