8 / 15
Feb 2022

I have recently finished the first season of the story I am writing, and I have yet to find a real audience. Like 1 or two people actually read more than half the series currently. The season finale has NO views whatsoever.

So I really don't know what to do. Any advice?

Here's the webnovel: https://tapas.io/series/The-Chosen-wads-novel/info7

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    Feb '22
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    Mar '22
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First thing, you should have posted a link to your story in this thread.

You could also try to promote on the many promotion threads in the forum.

What acazolla78 said, but let me add to this: stay away from Sub-for-sub posts on the promotional side of the forums.

You will NOT get true readers if you pursue that way. If you want to focus on the number count on your account, then, by all means, go ahead and ignore what I typed.

Promoting kind of works, it's the only way I can get a high amount of readers usually, but clearly those readers drop out quickly given the way the read count evolves for each chapter.

Yeah, I see that. My old comic was sub-for-subbed as hell and I got 32 subscribers. The novelization of that same comic for the purpose of better telling the story? 9 subscribers, even after telling all my old comic subscribers to read the new one.

Not that this is helpful for keeping current readers engaged, but... personally I would not click through and start reading something if the author put "Warning: this is shit" in the description. :shook_01:

Its fantasy, action, adventure, Basically its avatar if Aang was apathetic and burned out by society, and the characters lived in RWBY world. It's written in an episodic style where each chapter is a story itself but also part of the larger story.

Yeah, that was weird. I put that there because I kept putting off writing because I thought I needed to give myself permission to write shit because I knew I could write 600 words per day but I kept failing at that, and thought maybe trying to make it look clean and right was the problem.

Also I can't get a beta reader on this so I'm stuck with my own biased eyes when editing the story, meaning that I can't really have quality control.

I guess it didn't do anything really.

Ahhh I get that, so much. Done is better than perfect but it's really hard to accept that sometimes.

But the description (after the cover) is the information that you're giving potential readers for them to decide to spend their time and energy getting into your story or not, so basically telling them don't bother might not be helpful.

I have a simple solution for you, J! Just look at Oda, Kishimoto, and Isayama. What did they do to have a successful manga? What components their manga contain that keeps the readers engaged? Did they work with a publisher?

If you could answer all three; and create a model that suit for your own need. Boom! You got a successful manga with engaged audience.

Some general advice:

  • Comics and novels tend to have different audiences on Tapas. Don't expect too much crossover from one medium to the other. Few people who came to read a comic will read a novel, even if you assure them it's the same story told better. Assume if you're making a novel, it's for the Tapas audience that reads novels, and look at what they're into (and also expect smaller numbers overall compared to a comic with the same story. That's normal.).

  • Whatever you're making, remember that if your goal is to build a readership, your decisions all need to be based in presenting something. So imagine that your novel or comic is going on a date with the reader and needs to make a good impression. Always try to make it look its best; neat, clear, easy to read. The cover, banner, thumbnail and blurb are your shop window, so put lots of work into them and look at what popular covers in your genre look like to see what sorts of things people are clicking on. Tapas can be a rough place for a developing beginner because it's full of very polished, professional comics and novels, but it can be a great place to see what a professional's work really looks like too for the purpose of realistically gauging your skill level and where you need to improve.

  • If you genuinely think your story is shit, you shouldn't be expecting other people to read it. Go back to the drawing board, do some development work on your drawing or writing skills or do some planning to iron out the plot issues and then when you feel ready, make something you're actually proud of and really think is good and that you can be honest when you say, "read my story, I think it will entertain you!" If you don't believe in your comic/novel, who will!? If you think your work is bad, then try to get into the mindset of "this is just a learning exercise. I'm here to get as much data about what mistakes I'm making with this first attempt as I can so that when I make the real thing it can be great". Ask for advice and get recommendations for good books, tutorials or youtube channels to really level up.

  • It's normal to have a really small readership on your first novel or comic. I definitely did! It's where you'll make all your beginner mistakes that you'll learn from, so honestly down the line when you're making much more polished work with far more readers, you may look back and think "Oh thank goodness hardly anyone read that terrible comic I made all those years ago!" :sweat_02: Give yourself time and go in with the mindset that every attempt you make, if it's better than the last, that's a step forward.

Yes, this exactly.

Even if you're unable to be a cheerleader for your own work genuinely, you still have to be able to fake it until it becomes real. What about your novel made you want to write it ? To put it out there ? Once you can find that, it becomes easier to find your audience.

Some of the best novels are born out of someone's wish fulfillment, and I find that it makes it much more appealing (to me, at least) when a book feels like someone's just having fun.

Tell a story you'd like to hear. Study tropes you like, pick apart the novels/stories you love, and really put your stamp on it. If it's hard for you to write x amount of words each day, perhaps build up a buffer so that way you're not pressuring yourself to preform.

I'm already telling the story I'd like to tell and hear, and I actually had a pretty wide buffer of content, having made the full 8 chapter season in advance. I set a daily writing goal for myself just because I wanted to write more.

1 month later

closed Mar 13, '22

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