Hi, new creator looking for advice

[curlystar09]

Hi, I'm curlystar09, I am new here (as a creator, not as a reader) and I wanted to ask.... what the hell am I doing? I have a few things scheduled already for the first couple of weeks but I'm not sure if I did it correctly... could someone give me any advice on how to use Tapas, please? I would really appreciate it.

[Testaccount]

I'm new here myself - I've only been on the website for a month. What specifically do you need help with?

[Evan]

Well, general starting advice:
Set your expectaions low. You probably won't become popular anytime soon. I've been posting for about 1.75 years and I'm only at 50 subscribers.
Post often but not daily (If you can). 3 times a week is a good rate and you won't suffer from reader burnout, but once a week or even once a month is acceptable.
Post consistiently. It's better to post once a month than to post 3 times a week and then go to a 3 month hiatus.

Once you've started your comic, now you just wait (kinda).
In the meantime, look at other comics on Tapas and comment when you can (don't advertise your comic, just something witty or relating to the comic) and advertise your comics using twitter, facebook, or whatever social media the kids are using these days.

Speaking of which, my own comics:

Penciled | Tapas

Aband | Tapas

Once you get an audience, interact with them. You don't have to make your comic interactive, just respond to their comments and think about adding in their suggestions (if you want to, livestreaming is also a pretty good way to interact with your audience).

[YangKoete]

Interract with others on both the forums and on the general site. You'll meet many people in the art world, and just having someone you can ask that's also on here could help, or you can bounce ideas off each other while you work. Then you still have time to goof around~ ^w^

[XzynderVexymous]

People already said the basics but I'd say look at the comic style of other people. For example,
THIS IS NOT MY COMIC

His Barcode Tattoo :: Prologue | Tapas

This comic use great spacing, comic sans, and great story telling.

Something else you can do is post your story on the forms here. ( But only do it if others are doing it, or if the convo is about advertising comics) Post it on social media as well.
Hope this helped, fellow creator!

[9outofPen]

Anything particular you want to know about?

Otherwise, I'd just say give yourself some slack at first.

1) Talk to people on the forums, bounce ideas around, or join up with a co-creator if you want help!
2) Don't worry too much about doing things "right," at first, you can change things and adjust your stuff as you get the hang of it.
3) Remember that subscribers vary greatly. Depending on your genre, art, update schedule, etc, you may grow at a different rate than others, and that's okay. Everyone starts somewhere, subscribers are just a number.
4) Keep in mind who you started doing this for- YOU. I'm guessing you want to make comics because you enjoy it, so if you love what you're doing, odds are others will too. Subscribers come and go, but always put yourself first!

[TaisSS]

Hi!
I've been in tapastic for a year and a bit more now By no means I'll have all answers but feel free to ask if you need advice on anything or a have a question!

As for general advices:
-When you advertise in any social network search for the main and correct hashtags there. If you don't hashtag properly no one will see it no matter how good it is!

-Quality is really important. And by that I mean that readers greatly appreciate seeing progress as the story goes on. Not only as a writter myself but also as an editor I'm telling you, as long as you actually keep improving more people will gradually start to come to read your work. Push your limits to improve! I drew my first actual backgrounds when I started my comics.

-If you are not a native english speaker get someone to check your work, at least a bit. (This is my case, I actually speak spanish so my english tends to sound a bit weird sometimes).

-And as @Evan said ,do answer your readers when they comment. If you have nothing at all to say or add always give a like to their comment so they have a way to know you are reading what they took time to write too! (For example I use this page a lot. It's full of cute emoticons )

[kristinagehrmann]

Hi, I'm also new And I have a question too. How does an episode get "locked"? Okay, I have posted just one so far, but I didn't see any option to "lock" it. Does that come later when you upload more episodes? Do you get to decide which ones to "lock"?