How do you feel when you see a comic that has 1/4 your art skills have more subscribers than yours?

[Shanny8]

I'm very much a big proponent of "art is subjective", so I'm not gonna hate on someone for having subscribers than me. I also contend with the fact that I've only been active on Tapastic for a little over a year now- and the landscape constantly changes. I just keep with the mantra that I have to keep putting in work, to build my readership and get subscribers- I cant worry about what "so n so" is doing and how they got more subs than I do. I just have to focus on what I need to do to get the next subscriber.

[GoldenPlume]

First off, for the creators here, our recommendation is to type "Dash" into the URL box of your browser next time you want to go to Tapastic. "Dash" pulls up a shortcut to the Tapastic Dashboard for us so we can completely bypass seeing the homepage. What a huge breath of fresh air that has been since we started doing it about two weeks ago. This eliminates needing to see the same series again and again on "Popular" as well as the one episode, less than twenty panels, head scratchers that are selected for "Staff Picks".

It might sound a bit isolationist, but skipping the homepage has definitely lowered the amount of pressure we feel in comparing our series to other series. Going direct to the Dashboard helps us focus on what really matters, doing the best job for our series, irrespective of what is going on around us. Yes, certain genres do well here. Yes, staff is biased and they feature stuff you don't agree with. But both of those things are completely outside of your control. The only thing you can control is your story and your art. If you focus on what you can control and "Let It Go" regarding the things outside of your control, it definitely lowers the stress levels and the animosity towards your fellow creators, readers, and staff members. Less stress makes us an overall happier comic studio in total.

Webcomics are a five year game. Keep that in mind. Other series are going to get features and hundreds/thousands of subs and then, what's that, they stopped updating after only two 4-panel gags? Think of the tortoise and the hare. Who ended up winning the race? One series isn't "better" than the another just because it received a ton of subs right from the start. We'd rather argue that the "better" of the two series is the one that updates weekly for five years straight and actually finishes vs. the one that lasts a few months and then dies.

Other creators are going to hit the "easy button" and tag themselves with a popular genre, only to find out several years later that genre is no longer popular, or that they are not that interested in their own series because they chose to chase something popular rather than doing what was truly their passion. We would argue that the "better" series is one that only has 500 subs and is something that is deeply important to a creator because it it their "heart story" rather than a series that has 5000 subs but is something a creator took on because it was a "populist story". Dollars to doughnuts that the "heart story" is more likely to reach a satisfactory resolution than the other.

Everyone here wants to be popular. Everyone here wants to have lots of subs. Everyone here wants to be featured. Those are easy metrics to determine if you are being successful. Everyone wants to be successful. But not everyone can be popular. Not everyone can have lots of subs. And very few will ever be featured (maybe 3-5%?). Tapastic is approaching 30,000 series. That's just the nature of the beast.

While not everyone can be popular, everyone can be successful. Successful in terms of finishing your story and feeling pride in that you accomplished what you set out to do. Success is determined by reaching goals. What are your goals? To be better than the person beside you? Isn't that a very judgemental goal? We'd recommend creators reassessing their goals to see if they are A) positive and B) achievable. Setting a negative goal of being better than everyone else in terms of metrics is a path down a very dark and bitter road. Setting a goal of making $50,000 a year doing a webcomic is probably not achievable either because only a tiny fraction of webcomics achieve Homestuck or One Punch popularity. Think of all the girls who spend 10-14 years of their lives learning gymnastics and only 4 girls in the entire US Gymnastic program go to the Olympics. Set goals that are reasonable.

Instead focus on what you can control. Make your art better each update. Make your story better each update. Make your marketing better each month. Tighten your pitch. Let all the noise around you of "features", "popular", "trending" just be that, noise. If you focus on what you can control, odds are that you will be happier and likely more successful at the end of your five years than all those around you who get too wrapped up in the noise.

[JKNNKL]

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[lunaartemisasama]

I think in comics the art is just one factor, but the story, characters, development is also important.
But to answer that question, my art skills aren't so good so that never happened to me lol.

[joannekwan]

I hate them.

I just think those comics that pull this off have more of a mass-market appeal than mine (in some aspect or another). And I'm fine with that. I like having my art and writing be my own style. Like the soft, round, steven universe-esque look is quite popular and shareable but I'll be damned if I ever draw a line mouth touching the edge of a character's face (god I'm tired of seeing that packaged with an overly simplified face. My skin curls at the thought of drawing my characters like that.)

[Aspie_Gamer]

I've seen it go both ways before. Gorgeous looking comics usually get the attention they deserve. Even comics with an aesthetically pleasing, but not necessarily "good" art style still get a fair amount of attention. In any case though, just because somebody has more subs than you doesn't mean their comic as a whole is better than yours. Case in point, I've seen comics that had a ton of subscribers, but as somebody who loves his writing and will argue that good writing can salvage lackluster art, I can tell you that pretty much fuck all happened in some of these comics with huge sub counts regardless of how they looked.

[SpavVy]

I feel nothing, I just keep working on my own comic.
Why spend time thinking about the success of someone else's work when you could be working on your own?

[digitalvalium1]

I'm still dealing with actually wanting people to see my work so..... no, it really doesn't bother me.

[cleo_san]

@Savannah words to live by! <3

My main problem is: I don't think of the success of other people's comics, but I get entangled in reading so much of those gorgeous stories that I sometimes forget to draw XD

[Lindsette]

It's all marketing. Really you need to find your niche of people who want to see your content. And that might not be on tapastic, you could have a better chance of it on tumblr or deviantart or webtoons. But you need to give them incentive to come to tap(I post mostly here for the ad cent haha) And you can do that through posting here first and have your other sites a week behind, or however you wanna do it.
Posting on the forums is good too, because everyone here presumably already has a tap account. Just be friendly and talk to people, share it whenever. I don't have a big following but I have been using these tricks and I've gotten a few more followers from it.
I don't think it has much to do with art skill as much as personality

[Overlord_Thundersnow]

I have a zombie in my comic and I was considering making him my comic's avatar and slapping "ZL" for Zombie Love on the icon in order to generate the views necessary to live the lush and luxurious lifestyle I so richly deserve.

[Herofeeder]

my comic has a character that has a butt for a head ....i have exactly the right amount of subs i deserve

[BlackMantaStudios]

I'm indifferent to it; they may have deserved it, they may not. None of my business.

I really hate the entitledness implicitly attached to this "why do they have more subs than me?" mindset. Like, you're implying that people owe you something just because you have "better" art, or you think you have a "better" comic. They don't.

[Waterdrain]

It really doesn't bother me that much because I know there will always be a bigger fish in the pond when it comes to things. I try to stay positive and keep working hard on what I'm making because, as pretentious as it sounds, I know that I'm my own greatest fan. So I'd would feel a little bad for a bit but then my next thought would be "Yeah, You go man! Make that awesome comic!" they probably have the same anxious feelings as everyone else when they see some one who has more followers than them, so yeah I guess I feel pretty indifferent to it also.

[DMBrigman]

It doesn't bother me. Different people have different preferences when it comes to what they want to invest their time in.

Honestly, you can't just judge a series on its art, you also have to look at what value it brings to a reader. Some readers value in-depth stories and don't care much about the art. Comics like Dinosaur comics, XKCD, OwlTurd, etc may not be artistic masterpieces but they entertain and that is what their audience is looking for.

I have subscribed to series that have gorgeous art but poor storytelling, and after awhile stopped reading them. As an artist I do understand the effort and skill that goes into what they create, but as a reader pretty art was not enough to keep me engaged. Art may get people to give your series a view, as that is an indication that time has been invested, but if there aren't interesting characters and an engaging story then people won't stick around.

Ultimately, it doesn't do anyone any good to be bitter about why another series gets more views when you don't think it should. A comic's popularity has more to do with the audience's tastes than the creator itself. Just do what you enjoy and if your work is good you too may gain subscribers.

[Gatsumann]

I noticed this trend recently having studied hundreds if not thousands of patreons, webcomics, you name it, in preparation for launching our latest comic later this year (we've done previous comics in years past). It's been illuminating. I've accrued some data, and yes there is something to this whole BL thing...sorry, there just is. I say this having looked at thousands of different comics over the years.

My friend and I have been around the comic and convention scene a long long time. We have watched how comics evolved along with the internet from the 90's to now. One thing that has utterly flabbergasted us, and made us feel immensely disheartened, is the insane amount of money this newfound level of obsession with yaoi/boys love has become. You can also add in anything that remotely gives off a social justice vibe to that list too. I truly don't get it, not completely anyway.

I see people producing incredible, varied, beautiful work, leagues above this stuff, and they make pennies compared to these folks making BL comics and generating HUGE sums of money that my friend working at an insurance company doesn't even make and he's got one hell of a cushy high paid day job. It's. Insane.

I also found this a bit off putting "Setting a goal of making $50,000 a year doing a webcomic is probably not achievable either because only a tiny fraction of webcomics achieve Homestuck or One Punch popularity."

Quite a few people are now starting to make incomes in the $25,000 - $50,000 range. Wanna guess what genre is getting a lot of it? BL, SJW comics, and of course, Hentai/porn. (heck that's part of what drives BL too). NSFW stuff dominates patreon (but BL and LGBT stuff tend to do quite well even amongst that content).

It's already hard enough to sell original work, but clearly if you want to make money BL is the way to go. And considering some of us are actually trying to make a decent living at this, this stuff can be deeply depressing. I could, if I chose to, give you examples of objectively and technically beautiful art from a variety of comics, and then give you a list of comics that either take the SJW or BL angle and are often way less technically sound (though some are perfectly well done to be fair) and the difference is pretty stark. Just post your BL comics on tumblr and you have yourself an income it seems. Unreal.

[joannekwan]

But porn's always made a lot of money. If there's a demand for it, those people will pay good money to see it, especially if it's a niche. I mean, just look at all the successful artists on Fur Affinity (not to say FA's all porn, but a lot of it is).

[Gatsumann]

I agree, NSFW/porn etc is popular across the board. I feel like if you want to really make big $, you better be awesome at anatomy and love doing adult stuff.

The LGBT niche and BL in particular is a real thing though. It's a niche and overall interest that has been bubbling up and up and up in fandom in general as the years have gone by. Fur Affinity is def. a valid example of adult niche stuff being popular for sure, but BL really seems to outdo even that on the profitability spectrum.

[GoldenPlume]

Quite a few people are now starting to make incomes in the $25,000 - $50,000 range. Wanna guess what genre is getting a lot of it?

A 2015 SKTCHD survey reported that 48.2% of cartoonists who responded earned under $12,000 annually.

SKTCHD Survey: What's the Life of a Comic Artist Like? - SKTCHD

[JKNNKL]

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