How do I interact more with my readers?

Tailed 2017-12-03 23:41:17 UTC #1

Hello there!

I'm a pretty small comic maker, and I'd love to extend the interaction with my readers. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's fine atm, but I'd love to receive more feedback and get more people to comment. Any advice on how to do that? Should I wait until I get more subscribers?

NanettesClouds 2017-12-03 23:48:07 UTC #2

I found that making a "thanks for subscribing post" on someone's wall along with an illustration of some sort has been great for getting sorta generalized feedback from your readers, and people really appreciate it too. Besides that, just responding to comments is always a good thing too.

Definitely don't wait til you get more subscribers to interact with your readers, in fact the "thanks for subscribing" thing becomes harder to start doing the longer you wait. On top of that, I found that when I was just starting out the quality of my interactions with readers was a little bit better and more personal feeling, because there's this level of like "Oh man I've discovered something really cool that no one else knows about, I'm gonna be extra supportive" or something like that? Not to say that my current interactions with my readers aren't great or anything, but it's definitely different to how it used to be.

Tailed 2017-12-04 07:02:24 UTC #3

Thanks for the insight!

YangKoete 2017-12-04 07:25:57 UTC #4

Same with what Niah said above but you should try to hold some requests or advice for your comic.

Make it so people have something to be thankful for other than the comic. (Works for me. A lot of people stay perked up for my comics when I did their requests.)

Rhombik 2017-12-04 08:26:14 UTC #5

I try to reply to comments and engage with what people are actually saying. This might get more difficult as the readership grows but it's worthwhile talking with people a bit.

punkarsenic 2017-12-04 12:21:40 UTC #6

bouncing off what niah said, it also helps to personalise your 'thanks for subscribing' messages. the image can stay the same, but personally in the message itself i try to use the persons name (if they share it) and if they have a nice icon or a comic of their own, ill make a positive comment abt that - otherwise, jus smth like 'youre the best.' it helps build a more personal rapport, and knowing a lil bit abt your subscribers never hurts

NanettesClouds 2017-12-04 17:41:50 UTC #7

Oh man thats a good idea, I just got caught up on sending out my thank-you posts, but next time I do it I'm gonna start doing that.

I second this as a good idea, it really helps build up connections with other artists on the site and can open up the door to more interactions with those folks.

Samuraiflame 2017-12-05 00:42:51 UTC #8

I've been holding reader events every time I reach a milestone in subscriber count (between my two mirrors)
At 1k subs I did a Q&A event and picked 9 questions from the comments to illustrate answers for.
Then recently at 2k subs I held a fanservice poll for the character people wanted to see drawn the most.

Both events had comments from people who generally never commented before, and gave me a chance to talk to them. Ever since, I think they've felt more open with commenting and striking up conversations.

I don't think you need to wait for more subscribers, but doing things to thank people for reading can definitely let them know that you appreciate them!