Do You Use Social Media to Promote Your Works?

[BreeBaxter]

Hey besties!

So, I’ve been out here haunting the social media streets as Bree Baxter (yes, the one with the haunted latte situation), and I’m curious—how are the rest of you using social media to promote your webcomics or web novels?

I literally just started dipping my toes into X (formerly Twitter) to promote my series, and honestly, it’s been... an experience. (Apparently, posting as a haunted influencer comes with a few technical hiccups. ) But I know social media is a huge tool for growing an audience, and I’m wondering how everyone else is navigating these spooky waters. Do you use X, Instagram, Reddit, or something else entirely to connect with readers?

A few ghostly questions for ya:

• What’s your go-to platform for promoting your work, and why?
• Any tips for making posts that actually grab people’s attention (without coming off as a screaming banshee)?
• How do you handle engagement? Do you talk directly with readers, drop memes, or maybe sacrifice a pumpkin spice latte to the algorithm gods?
• I’m trying to build a little haunted corner on X and would love to see what you all are doing. If you want to see how I’m floating through X, you can check me out here: https://x.com/BreeBaxter02. Let’s share some secrets and help each other out!

I’ve tagged this as a promotion since I’m sharing my X link, but don’t ghost me yet—this is totally a collaborative post to chat about social media strategies. Let’s spill the tea on how to get our stories out there! Looking forward to hearing your strategies!

—Bree (haunted influencer, ghost Karen survivor, and full-time meme queen)

[Heidifisk]

A little.

Mostly just my friends like and post it.

Reddit CAN be useful if you have a super specific niche with your story, but finding the sub reddits is challenging if they even exist.

Most of the subreddits sadly dedicated to comics aren't really all that useful.

R/Webtoons don't care much for non popular/originals.

and R/Comics and R/Webcomics seem down right hostile to non-political or short form comics.

[BreeBaxter]

Totally feel you on that! I’ve thought about dipping into Reddit, but it feels like trying to summon the perfect spell—you need the exact right sub to get any traction.

Do you have any luck with other platforms? I’ve been trying X but was thinking about branching out to Instagram next. Have you found any niche spots on Reddit that worked for you, or do you think it’s not worth the hassle for us smaller creators?

Also, props to your friends for hyping you up! Gotta love that loyal crew.

[Heidifisk]

I did with the monster girl subreddit.

BUT a lot of those reddit changes with their rules ect. So I lost 1 reddit to promote in among other things.

[BreeBaxter]

I guess every platform is its own little haunting, you know? Different ghosts to deal with!

[clementina]

I've been trying to get back into social media to promote my stories (when I do publish them), but I've been out of social media for so long that it's tedious to me at this point.

I'm mostly scrolling through Instagram and Tumblr to see what I can find and to see if I can learn from younger writers posting. When I was active in social media, it was like 10-12 years ago, I'm 28 years old now, so what I used to do back then, doesn't really scope out now. I know TikTok is a large platform for sharing writing and all, but I'm not sure if you would be interested in recording videos.

Personally, I hate X (Twitter). I haven't been on it for a couple years, even before it was changed to X. I would suggest you scroll through other authors/writers accounts and see how they're getting engagement. That's the best advice I can offer as someone who's out of the social media game

I would also suggest you find other writers who write the same genre as you and create some connections with them (aka befriend), that's the best way to create a good circle.

[Rowan_Lane]

• I don't have a go-to exactly. I like to cross post and observe what does best on what platform. Instagram seems to be the best so far.

• Try making videos rather than posts. unless you're offering something they already know they want, people's attention spans are too short to read an informative advert. Personally, I'm experimenting with animation. vvv

Click here to watch a demon suggestively bounce, or here to watch a heartfelt short about the MC finding his soulmate in every universe (yes, I have such range i know :3c)

• I try to keep interaction to a minimum to encourage people to comment more in hopes of getting a response >;3c

• X seems dead imo. I only get NSFW bots now. If you have an insta though, follow me! https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_VxcyBRAqB/

good luck, bree!

[nikhilsughesh12]

Read The Founder Of Demonic Cultivation | Tapas Web Community

[Nugapug]

As a matter of fact I do, I use the social medias provided in my linktree below. Sometimes I skip a day or two on one of them.

Nugapug | Instagram | Linktree

[miyaskya]

Hi, I mainly use TikTok and Instagram to promote my comic (and sometimes my webnovels). Most of my content is speeddrawing/speedpainting videos set to music. I also used to promote my comic on Reddit a while back. My comic is also listed on Top Web Comics, and I've gotten some traffic through there.

Some observations:
- The TikTok videos tend to get many views, likes, and occasional comments if I use the right hashtags (although there are videos that get almost no views even though they have the same hashtags - the algorithm is unpredictable)
- I cross-post the TikTok videos to Instagram. They get far fewer views but get some likes and comments from followers.
- For Reddit, I used to make promotional videos every time I published a new episode of my comic and cross-posted it to different comic-related subreddits.

In terms of grabbing people's attention (although this may vary depending on your comic/novel) and handling engagement
- For TikTok, use trending music (or at least something something that starts with strong beat, since you only have about one second to get the viewer's attention) and, if it's a speeddrawing video, show the entire drawing process
- In general, if someone leaves a comment on any of the platforms, I give it a like and a thank you comment

With that being said, I don't think the social media posts are really driving that much traffic to the actual comic/webnovel, which is why I stopped promoting so much on Reddit (I still post comic-related content to TikTok and Instagram since I'm treating them like online art portfolios). What I found to be more effective on Reddit was responding to posts where webcomic creators are looking to support other creators' works (everyone comments with a link to their comic - usually at least one person will click on yours).

Anyway, hope this helps. Good luck!

Links if you're interested:

https://www.tiktok.com/@miyaskya

miyaskya • Instagram photos and videos

[BreeBaxter]

Thanks so much, everyone, for your insights!

I really appreciate all the advice you've shared. I know each of these will help someone on here in some way!

Totally feel you, Clementina—getting back into the social media game after a break feels like trying to resurrect something from the dead, right? But Instagram and Tumblr sound like cool places to explore, and I’m definitely thinking about connecting more with other writers in my genre.

Rowan_Lane, I gotta say, animation as a promotional tool? That sounds epic. I love the idea of using visuals and videos to grab attention—your demon video sounds hilarious!

Nugapug, I hear ya on skipping a day or two—sometimes even the best of us need to take a break from wrangling social media.

Miyaskya, thanks for those tips on TikTok and Insta—sounds like you’ve got a good strategy going with the music and speeddrawing! It's a wild world out there with these algorithms, but I love the idea of turning your platforms into an art portfolio. Might need to borrow that idea when I eventually post some haunted latte art.

You’ve all definitely given me a lot to think about. Thanks again for chiming in!

[Leyelle]

1. I use IG, I just like it best, and I mostly just post artwork of my characters, covers from my stories, and speed paints.
2. I don't get a lot of attention rn, so I have no tips, except that I've gotten some attention for my black female characters from ig accounts centered around that (black female myself, so that only makes sense.)
3. I talk directly to the people who leave comments on my story, I find it fun, and I know a lot of people like to know that the people they're reading the work of/enjoying the content of actually appreciate and acknowledge their presence

[MK_Wizard]

I most certainly do! My best places are Threads, X/Twitter and Instagram. It is because those places are crazy about comics and art. My advice is update regularly, post teasers of your updates only, and post art there regularly. Find all my social media here:

Marika Kapogeorgakis (@mk_wizard) • Instagram photos and videos

https://x.com/MKJekyllAndHyde

Threads

My comic;

Read Psychoborg | Tapas Web Community

Psychoborg

[kyupol]

Here's my Facebook

kYuPoL

[JogVodka]

Twitter was like the place I've been trying to gather some followers before Elon turned the site into ruins so I can't even tell who I've talked with is still even around. But yeah most of what I've been doing scheduled tweets whenever I update my webcomic, Hybrid: Humanity. I'm not too active there as I don't wanna get too involved in Twitter.

https://x.com/JVodkaArt

I once bought something from Fivver (before I found out it's a shitty site) where supposedly someone promotes my webcomic. It didn't work out well as I gained like zero views from it lol. I've convinced my friends to try and dub my comic but lately I'm feeling overworked that I'm considering cancelling it altogether.

My best chances with promoting is probably doing cross promotional shit which I've talked with another creator about since we both have a similar story and genre

[toonben]

I used to use Instagram to promote my webcomic while it's running. After that, I stopped using it out of fatigue. I refuse to return to Facebook and don't want Twitter. I can go back to instagram, only for promoting and portfolio and that's it. Now, I'm thinking of different ways to promote my work for a person who hates and sucks at social media.

[theyrebothakilogram]

I honestly couldn't tell you social media is far to wild a beast to understand this is my most popular post on tumblr so far and I don't even know what it means

[Jam_J]

A generic post advertising an episode of mine on Twitter was enough to get the attention of the Vogue. Hashtags are your friend. Use the ones I listed on mine if you'd like!

[clementina]

I definitely recommend Tumblr if you want to blog or share more about your stories/writing/planning.

If you want to follow each other, this is my Tumblr page (: