How do you get readers?

[HonorableTakoyaki]

Don't mind me.

[MrSpy]

Are you indicating this is a triggering post? If then, I am sorry. I just want to know how to grab readers attentions since there is no way my writing can reach them. I am new. So I do not know.

[HonorableTakoyaki]

Perhaps? I'm also new so I'm not sure, but I've seen some things similar to your post and I might have gotten the wrong idea that you were complaining.

Regardless, I'm here to watch. I might learn something new from those who answer this.

[MrSpy]

I see. Damn. I had no idea that it appeared that way. I'll try to edit and add a line notifying that I not complaining.

And, best of luck to you. Hope we all get a chance to grow.

[HonorableTakoyaki]

Yes! Best of luck to you too.

[chestnutriceeee]

All right. I personally think there is only one answer. Time.

You have already mentioned how people get readers on this site, and sub for sub is indeed futile. I checked your story and you have only been on the site for 2 days. It will take time to get anywhere, really. Get a good update schedule, so you go on fresh and get your readers from there. Maybe be active on the forums and other creators will check your work out as most of them are also readers. (Not sub for sub, dead subs hurt your growth) Give it some time and keep working hard. Better your skill, start a social media account, and invest your time in that or something. Eventually, you will grow, get readers, get engagement. It won’t right be away though. Give it time and effort, don’t give up.

It could be possible that your audience is not on Tapas. Your target audience might be on some other site, no harm in branching out. But even there, it will most certainly take a long time before you get anywhere. Writing web fiction is a long-term thing. I have seen in many discussions on other sites that people don't even bother with works less than 200 chapters long. In these situations, you can only give it time and focus on developing your skills for when the readers do come.

[MrSpy]

Thank you for displaying so many excellent points. They are definitely thought provoking for me. Even though marketing is not my forte, I'll think about it. Appreciate the effort you put on this comment and thank you for checking my work out. I've been here as a reader for a while, lurking both around the forums and the site itself. Only recently that I have decided to initiate an account. I do have one personal question to you. What kind of reader base do you think lurk here on Tapas? What type of writings do they usually read? I just want to know your experience since it seems like you have been here for a while....

[chestnutriceeee]

To be honest, I have only been here for a couple of months so I am probably not the best person to ask this, but I’ll tell you that by far, Tapas has the most diverse audience I have seen.

I have tried several other sites for my novel and most of them have a predominant genre that readers prefer. It is not the same with Tapas. There is a conception that most people prefer villainess romances here, but I didn’t find that true. Quite a good number of people also look for action or adventure works as well! Just check out the popular free-to-read page and see how diverse the content there is! Compared to the other sites, though, tapas has a small reader base, and getting views or subs might be easier on other sites (as long as your content fits the popular genre over there, though.)

I think what matters the most in getting readers is the cover and description, even the help articles say so!. Your cover is very simple, and the description is just one line long. If you can, then maybe commission an artist to make your covers. If that isn’t possible, check out some software or Canva to make your cover. (Here is a good article on covers https://tapas.io/newsfeed/107) And also, give some more details in your description. Making it mysterious is appealing in its own right, but doesn’t work well on people who know what kind of content they want.

[samiluu]

You have to be very active! and the forum totally works.
Don't see the other artists as competition but as a help, cause that's how artists grow; supporting each other - we know how hard our work is and how underrated is uses to be too, and that is what makes a community strong. I have found great friends here, I follow many works and even became patron of an artist and paid a ko-fi to another artist (and I dont have much money). Promote your work to the forums, follow other artists, make art trades or collabs, recommend their series or share their art in social media...etcetc. This way, the other artists will know you exist, and the other artists' audience will know you exist, and this is how it will all work
Also, I have found there is a lot of readers who nose arround the forums too without making comics themselves, some of them have followed me here.
This is the way I got to 121 subscriptors in the few months I started publishing Black Wings and with only 10 episodes published (counting random episodes like extra comics and cover arts)
Of course, a good schedule for posting helps too, in fact, you have to be active and regular so the other people knows you are alive.

[LadyLily]

I'm fairly new and I've learned that it does take time, even for featured writers.

Something that has helped me gain not only readers but friends here is mutual support. Posting to forums offering subs for subs and such is helpful to get yourself out there, but you have to give a little, too.

Don't just sub. Actually read people's work and get into conversations with fellow writers.

I've earned more subs and friends here in the last week because I've been more outgoing that way. I couldn't before and can't all the time because I'm writing a new novel, but when you can spare the time, definitely do it. There are so many nice people here and great writer, so it's well worth it!

[Kaydreamer]

I don't promote my Tapas mirror offsite, so for me, it's been the following:

• Posting on the forums.
• Staff picks.
• I presume the Fresh category, or algorithmic recommendations.

My comic is just big enough for Tapas that it seems to have some momentum where I don't have to do anything and it slowly accumulates subs.

Not sure if you use Webtoon, but I'll post my experience for that as well:

• Offsite promotion. (Social media and Reddit, mostly.)
• 'Newest' category.
• Front page features. (These were huge for me, they're game-changers.)
• Canvas Sci-fi Top 30 List. (I consistently float around in that on the weeks I post.)

[KennethLopezJr921]

Patience is the key with gaining traction for your series. You can't grow your audience in day, that's impossible. So if your series only has a few chapters out, not a lot of people will jump onto at first but as long you continue to make more, more people will get interested. What also helps is posting on the tapas forums and getting in touch with the community. I've only been on here since the beginning of this month but it's helped in raising my sub numbers to 17 subscribers. I've only been on this platform for since June so I cant really give you any more tips but I hope this helps.

[Ordinaryaverageguy]

Thinking about kidnapping a few, but I think it'll be hard to really make them read when they're so busy screaming for help.

[Shazic]

Im thinking about how to get reader hmm I don't think my story is going to get many reader ether lol its pretty dark please read my story
giggles

[CarltonIsaac]

Everyone here is creator and promoting to competitors seems like a bad idea to me.

Not on a platform that has content mostly free to read.

Have you been a reader, subscriber, commenter for others on here?

Make yourself known on the Tapas main site, subscribe to as many comics and novels as you can. Like and comment on the subscribed series and those creators might find your series interesting too.

[Bokyongyo]

For me its been a combination of social media posts, fresh category, and the forums that have slowly but surely started helping with trickling in new reads over time. Webtoon is the boat to, but usually I get more subs just through it appearing in the fresh category on that platform in comparison to Tapas

[SleepingPoppy]

getting featured in popular and fresh category, and staff picks are the only ways

You forgot trending! While we don't get to know the actual equation, as I understand it, the way the algorithm calculates engagement (likes, comments, subs) actually skews somewhat in favor of smaller creators. The bigger you are, the more it takes to get you in trending, but as a baby comic or novel, it just takes a little attention to pop you into trending. =)

Popular also has its own weird cycle that allows small creators to pop in at various stages down the list, so while it might be a long term goal, its accessible to pop in and out of Popular without being a powerhouse.

The site is not particularly competitive by nature. Readers are looking for as much quality content as possible, the hard part is just standing out. But someone else doing well doesn't really hurt your chances of also making it out.

NOW SPECIFICALLY FOR YOU:

How do you stand out from Fresh so you get into trending and what not? A good cover image and an interesting summary. Your cover image is dark and unreadable. I strongly suggest looking into using some free services to make a more attractive cover, or hire an artist to make you one. Novelists have a really uphill battle to getting noticed, and however unfair it may be, people will judge a book by it's cover.

Second, your series summary! This is just my opinion, and I'm not an expert, but I don't feel like one line is enough to sell me on your story. Don't assume a reader will automatically read your first chapter, assume they're being convinced to read the first chapter based only on the summery- is it enough to persuade someone to give you a chance? ((note, you can always try it one way for a month or two, and then try something more verbose later, sometimes it takes a little experimenting!))

ALSO! Welcome to the forum. Its awesome you made the switch from lurking reader to active writing. I wish you all the luck!

[dewarcomics]

Don't put the wagon before the horse. I hope the reason you're making your comic is because you want to and not for other people.

With that said, I think the only thing I can say is: if you create a good story, people will eventually find it.

[MrSpy]

Such a nice reply. Thank you.

Others replies are great too. All of them are great points and all I can do is agree to them. As a basic user, I have limited replies.

[fleurravenbooks]

sorry but i had to answer, i agree 10000%, i have around 60 subs (which is on the smaller sidee) and i have only like three or four active readers , so take your time to read their work and support them (however you can,likes,love ,etc.)