Good ways to attract interactive readers?

[WistyWrites]

I’m sure a speak for more than just myself, but it gets increasingly difficult to attract fans who enjoy your story.

Due to promoting my webnovel on Forums, I have gotten a few more readers, but I still wonder how people get 100+ subscribers.

That being said, subscribers are not my worry. Sure, it’s nice to have subscribers, but I’d prefer readers who might comment and like my work, as I’m sure others will agree, since I have seen this in other discussions. But there are also a lot of people who expect “sub for a sub,” I never quite know if people subscribe solely so that their comic/novel will get another subscriber.

And so, I’m asking anyone willing to answer, how did you get readers who enjoy your work?

Alternate questions could also be how you promote, how you reach subscriber milestones, what your opinion is on “sub for a sub,” etc.

[jcmraz]

For me it was just a lot of time. It took me a year on tapas, 2 years of making this comic to get to 100

[ninjashira]

Sub for subs rarely get you engaged readers. Those trades get you numbers so you can hit milestones, but 90% of sub for subs never read the content they're subscribing to.

Comments are the hardest thing to get readers to give you. My comic is fairly popular for a non-premium series, and I still usually only get about 10 comments per page. It goes up when something important happens, and sometimes if I ask an interesting question, but it's still not a lot.

I looked at my numbers once. Of my total subscribers, about 33% of them actually read the comic. Of those people who read it, about 10% take the time to Like each page. And of that percentage, about 5% of them will ever comment.

[Ninjaniksel]

Yeah I prefer interactions to just subs. Just seeing that people actually read my new chapter when I upload it makes me very happy. I do wish some people would just like or leave a comment, I have one novel that gets a decent amount of views every chapter, but no one ever comments and I just want some interaction and know what people think haha. But I love it every time someone reads because that's an interaction too.

[SleepingPoppy]

You can't really target interactive readers specifically. You need to separate the two: Attract as many readers as possible, interact with those readers in ways that builds an engaging community.

@ninjashira said it, but I will second because this is a very accurate way to represent things. Statistically a very small percentage views become subs, of those subs, a small percentage will like, and of those who give likes, a small percentage are even willing to comment.

I totally get the "I'd rather have interactive readers!" mindset, but I'd caution everyone to appreciate all your readers. The vast majority of people just aren't interactive, but if they're subbing to you, they're someone who loves and supports your stories. That still has value, even if it's not as fun as a comment!

So how do you create engagement?

Creator comments! You set the stage and tone for interaction following your episode. I have kind of a range of go-tos for this, from talking about my process making the episode, whats happening in it, or something in my life from that day or that week. Follow that up with a relevant question to your audience every few episodes.

Otherwise, reminding people that liking and comments helps both your motivation and the comics visibility occasionally. I usually do this at the end of a chapter, or on an event update (like the tipping events).

But if the "quiet" is bothering you, I suggest looking at your number of subs, no matter how big or small, and think of them as individual people sitting on their phones or at a computer smiling to themselves as they read something you made. Those are still real people. And I don't know about you, but even 5 strangers liking my story enough to read it kinda blows my mind? This is just how I think and what works for me. Not knocking anyone for desiring likes and comments (they are fun and exciting!)

[WistyWrites]

I'd caution everyone to appreciate all your readers. The vast majority of people just aren't interactive

By “interactive” I meant mainly people who read, though I love to have people comment and share their opinions.

[SleepingPoppy]

Ahh, gottcha! You mean avoiding dead subs, which is totally fair. I was thinking you were asking how to target the type of reader that will like and comment. Sorry. XD

There will always be some dead subs that happen over time, people who loose interest after subbing but don't unsub, or who just stop using the site for some reason. The only direct way to avoid them is to not do sub for sub type of promotions. Sadly there's no way to, like, prune off people who aren't really reading.

[crowstories]

I made a little graphic that I put at the end of my chapters asking people to like/comment/subscribe if they enjoyed reading -- I don't have much trouble getting views, but most people never interact. My last update definitely got more interaction than the previous one (I think I made the graphic in between the two but I can no longer remember the exact timeline on that...).

I hate sub for sub, and I often mention that I'm not interested in it when I post to promo threads, and yet I still get people subbing without ever reading my work, then expecting me to reciprocate.

Getting actual readers is kind of a game of chicken/egg... staying near the top of the popular section for your genre is the best way for non-creators to find your work, but you need readers to hit the "like" button in order to get there.... and that's hard to find if you're not already up there....

This is the graphic I made, if that's helpful... I need to readjust the background colors for better contrast...

[rajillustration]

So like I think actually knowing who your readers are a little bit helps. A lot of my commenters are people from this forum or from twitter and discord that I talk to. You'll have an extra incentive to read and comment on something written by someone that you've actually talked to before. Once enough people have commented on a post, the lurkers will start to comment, they'll just kind of appear. Not often--but it's nice to have someone else that you know well to sort of break the ice by making the first comment.

Also, asking questions at the bottom of posts help. I generally don't leave author notes in my novel and I get less comments. If I ever do leave author notes like in my comic or novel, I will get people commenting about the thing I made the author comment about. So feel free to ask questions in that author notes blurb. Gets people talking.

But, overall, I don't get that many comments! Kinda how this website is, people get into the reading zone and they're so into it they'll even forget to sub after liking every page (the worst) and I'm fully guilty of that myself. It's kind of hard to think of comments to say sometimes.

[Kaydreamer]

I've managed to grow a very interactive readership, both here on Tapas and also on WEBTOON. My most recent episode was literally just two characters going from one place in a new spaceship to another place in the same spaceship, with minimal dialogue. I was expecting very few comments on that, because nothing happens, other than the spaceship looking pretty, and yet 32 comments across the two sites have me scratching my head and wondering 'how'...?

We'll see how the next episode does in comparison. It's more dialogue focused, and it's not the opening of a new chapter, so it may be a quieter one.

There are a few things which I think have really helped me cultivate such engaged readers.

• I never did sub-for-sub. I've always thought it was a dreadful idea, and further digging about how the algorithms function behind the scenes only confirmed that. Dead subs will hurt your work, and sub-for-sub is the fastest way to accumulate a disproportionate amount of them.

• I reply to every comment. I love interacting with my readers, so this is something I do gladly, but there are benefits to it other than 'it's fun'. If you're reading a comic you really love, comment for the first time, and the creator responds, you're going to be pretty happy! That makes you likely to comment again.

• I try to have at least one thing in each episode for readers to express sadness, delight, humour, joy, or whatever else over. (Apparently this time, 'aquarium spaceship' was that thing!)

• I use the authors notes at the bottom to say something about the episode. Usually funny, even if it's a sad episode, because being funny seems to make people less shy about being a bit silly in the comment section as well. They know I won't get uppity, because I'm here cracking jokes as well.

• I thank the readers at the bottom of each episode. That's pretty standard, but it's still important.

Something I don't do, but I think would be a good idea, is to ask readers a question or something in the author notes, or at the bottom of the episode. That could trigger discussion on an episode which is otherwise pretty slim on discussable content.

Hopefully some of this helps. Good luck!

[diamondactor]

I have a lot of dead subs. Some happened due to my story changing artists and having to start over a year later. I get losing those subs. The subs I hate sub then unsub once I sub to their stuff or just like all my stuff (within seconds of each other so I know they aren't reading) and then asking me to sub and read their stuff. If you 're going to do that at least actually read my stuff don't do this. It's very rude. I know I won't have huge numbers, but I would at least like my tiny fraction to be real and honest.

[DiegoPalacios]

I got an active and engaged readership. Here are some tricks that worked for me:

There are many techniques that may increase the posibilities of that....

1-Content: the updates of my comics was deliberately designed to give something to talk about, either by a joke, an important revelation, hidden details an eagle-eyed viewer could build theories around, or anything that evoke an emotion different than boredom. Pacing is key.

2-Games: sometimes i've made some activities like asking the readers to find a hidden character within the different pages. This naturally led to some posting answers....

3-Trivia: sometimes sharing fun/interesting facts about the creation proccess or characters can get readers to ask questions or start a conversation. Make sure you do that between chapters to not interrupt the flow of your story.

4-Q&A: this may require a readership that is big enouugh. If you get few questions at first don't feel down, answer them so wievers realize they can ask questions.......also, make sure you give a reasonable deadline. Not every reader will see your comic the same day is updated.

Hope this helps!

[Tailzkip]

I've just learnt to accept I have mostly silent readers....If they keep coming back every week, they must be enjoying it...or they just enjoy the punishment...idk lol.

[TL_Nonoke]

OMG thank you for this thread...I'm hoping for subscribers who actually like my story too...watching this thread now!

[Panpan]

I second what you said about writer engagement! In every few episodes, I'll ask a question or ask how my readers are doing in the notes section. Those tend to get more comments than others The sexy chapters also get more views, likes, and interactions

[WistyWrites]

Okay, I’m going to be a pompous prune and reply to my own post for no reason except for my pure boredom.

So, my thoughts on sub for a sub:
I’m going to be honest here: when someone subscribed to me, I check out their series, and often subscribe. The way I see it is that, if you subscribe to me, I’ll likely check out your work and whatnot—perhaps subscribe if I enjoy it.

But sub for a sub itself is bad. Because you’ll just get “readers” who don’t actually read. It’s been said a lot already, all around the Forums, but I just wanted to get that out there.

Anyhow, I guess in my point of view, my subscribers are generally small creators or something, and by subscribing, I’ll check them out, since it brings attention to themselves. I think that’s okay, but feel free to change my mind.