Oh wow, I wasn't expecting to get this many responses ^^; I just got home from a long day, but I will try to respond to as many people as I reasonably can. Good discussion guys. I like to see these kinds of thoughtful answers.
I like your idea of advertising on relevant sites. It's definitely a good way to get exposure. I would consider it, but I fear that for myself (and likely others), paying for ad space is not an expense that is reasonable if you are low on funds. In any caseâkeeping in mind that you had advertisementsâconsidering that you started posting your comic in June, 200 subs is a fairly impressive amount.
Keep in mindâand this is for everyoneâI don't find any problem with people who work in the mentioned popular genres. I read a bunch of romances, BL, supernatural, etc., and in fact, I write romance sometimes too. I merely want to discuss the immense popularity of those genres and the "barrier to entry" that it can cause. Also, for those of you who are worried I'm generalizing about genders (which I am to a certain degree), I am a woman, so I guess I don't find it offensive to understand that men and women are often very different in their tastes. Of course, everyone breaks those stereotypes to a certain extent...
Also, everyone, please try to refrain from attacking other people's ideals. This was not meant to be a sexual identity or moral battle, just a friendly discussion. I don't like hearing things that can easily be misinterpreted as extremely offensive like, "all gay comics are fetish material." (Although ANYTHING can be fetish material. HELLO? The internet called, it needs its Rule 34 back!) Or, "You're trying to say that BL is not a legitimate genre worth respecting!" That is jumping to conclusions. Keep it civil. ^^;
@Kura I like your sports analogy as well. However, * and this is mostly for the sake of discussion, * consider this: is it right for the media to cover American football (in the US) or soccer/football (everywhere else) more than volleyball, just because the previous sports are more popular? Isn't it possible that this disparity between media coverage only perpetuates the lack of interest in less-popular sports? (Applying this to comics and novels, aren't we losing the opportunity to show less-popular genres to interested folk if we focus too much on the already popular genres?)
Interesting... Yes, I have noticed this about other seemingly popular comics/novels, and it saddens me immensely. This is kind of what I mean by the perpetuation of support for popular genres. (Also, thanks for your kind words about my work. I am pleased that you enjoy it ^_^)
You know... that is a good point. I won't say it didn't cross my mind, but it certainly wasn't something I considered very deeply before you mentioned it. For example, I really don't see a lot of historical webcomics floating around, so I guess they have next to no competition, eh?
I agree that it was perhaps phrased poorly, but I don't think @IdiotWithPencil was trying to be offensive. Sociological studies have shown that many straight people have fetishized homosexual themes. I think it is similar to the idea of "the fascination with the other."
@joe_galindez Thank you for finding useful data and relevant sources. I think it helps to bring some facts into this opinion-based discussion
I agree... somewhat. Why I write and draw is for myselfâat least, at the beginning. I love my characters and story, even if no one else does, and I also am grateful for every subscriber or casual reader, and every comment, even the short ones, make my day. Every like makes me smile. While that is true, and I generally am really happy after I post a chapter and get ANY sort of feedback... I still can't help but compare my progress to others' (especially those who work in similar genres, styles, or demographics). I think that is part of human nature, and certainly a part of a creator's constant mental battle. And while it is not about money, sometimes it is difficult to find the time to work on what I truly love if I'm not making any money (and I'm sure this is the same for others).
@DaniBoy Thanks for the tips! Those all seem like great ideas for promoting and getting more eyes on your work. I admit, perhaps I shouldn't have labeled BL comics as getting a lot of backing from the site. While it is a popular genre, I think it wasn't entirely accurate to act like it gets heavily promoted. Romance however... (Once again, everyone, I love romance. I'm not trying to bash it, or any of these genres.)
@Haku I definitely think it is important to stay true to the genre you intended your story to be (or at least what it truly is to you). I was never suggesting to go under the guise of another, more popular genre. Also, I'm glad you decided to go for integrity in your work! That's great! I wish you the best of luck, and I think your work ethic is inspiring.
I am certainly pleased with the honesty everyone here has shared. And honestly, I work in fantasy, which is also a popular genre. I also notice that a lot of the comics that get promoted, get promoted more than once, in the daily snack and such. So it is not just genre thing. That being said, I have noticed that even fantasy series tend to be more popular if they are also romances, especially with novels. Like holy crap, look at the popular novels section, and the premium novels specifically O.O
(Just as a side note, to understand my perspective a bit more, and I'm not trying to be bitter or cast any shame on the Tapas staff and editors, but: I have applied for one of my novels to be a premium novel on the site and was rejected by the Tapas staff. I asked what I could do to possibly get accepted next time, and I never received a response to my inquiryâwhich is understandable, considering the volume of submissions Tapas most likely gets. However, after I did a bit of investigating and looked more into the site's history for premium novels, as well as returning to some of the staff's older forum posts about premium novel submissions, I noticed something that I think affected their decision not to accept my novel.... Most of the premium novels on this site have female protagonists. Most of them are romances, or romantic in some way. Most of them are written in more plain English, for broader audiences.... My novel has a male protagonist, is NOT romantic at all, and contains some dated language to fit the setting. I was disappointed, but I also kind of understood; my novel does not fit the target audience. That being said, one of my OTHER novels, which is also not a romance with a female protagonist, has been on the New and Noteworthy page twice, which baffles my mind. Thank you @STAFF for that. That's the only time I have received such consideration on any site.)
Wow, excuse my huge wall of text...