How does a story even reach 500 subs?

[jmccubbins]

Like genuinely I'm curious. Is there some secret or something to it. I didn't even know the stories could reach that high. Do you gain anything from being that high on subs? Is it all about readers or sub for sub? Do the paid stories even reach this?

[Ranty-cat]

Begging and spamming to promotional threads and even in threads that are not promotional will do. Just kidding. Idk. Perhaps with the help of "Staff pick", I assume.

[jmccubbins]

Maybe? I mean there are a bunch of those accounts that only use the app meaning they probably aren't aware of the threads. I mean if you look into free to read when you're story is doing better than the previous day I've noticed you're story might be in there but beyond that. Idk

[BOMB]

I'm asking this same exact question. I'm happy for everyone who has started watching me so far, but honestly I just don't get how I'm supposed to reach more people. It almost feels like tapas puts all their picks so far before everyone else's that I likely don't even come up in a search. And I have almost a dozen different stories. Then again it could be that I do novels and this is more of a comic platform?

Idk

Check out my story lol

Pitch The Adventures of Danger Rabbit | Tapas

[Ranty-cat]

Some people already have their own fanbase in other sites.

[jmccubbins]

Oh true! So then maybe its about setting up in a place where there are more readers?

[jmccubbins]

EXACTLY!! Like it feels impossible to even reach that.

[allenthomas]

Considering my comic has 14 subs, hearing 500 just makes my head explode.

[jmccubbins]

Yeah like i had seen something on the forum talking about it and i was just like is.... is that possible!????

[SleepingPoppy]

Do you mean any story (comics and novels), or are you specifically talking about novels? 'cause I imagine it's a little different for each, but especially a difficult slog for novels.

Generally, though, an attractive thumbnail and interesting description are the best place to start in terms of getting people in the door. Then the quality of the writing or art will keep them coming back.

Luck, trends, and promotion also obviously play their part, though. And sometimes they play a BIG part.

Do you gain anything from being that high on subs?

Mm, just part of building an audience. 500 subs won't get you much in terms of ad rev or anything. I think it's just about the next relevant goal. You always want to focus on a number that feels attainable for where you're at, though. Like 25 subs is a huge achievement. 25 individual people are reading something you made! And then you aim for 50, and then 100, and you keep plugging along. Your goals might shift depending upon your long term interest (hobby, fun, professional, popular, etc)

Is it all about readers or sub for sub?

Nah, sub for sub is not the best approach, as it has a high chance of people subbing but not actually reading or interacting with the story. It's the regular interaction that helps boost a story into trending and such. An inactive sub might weigh you down instead. Though it's not terrible to work with a few other small authors when you're first getting off the ground. ^^

Do the paid stories even reach this?

Uh, probably? It varies. But assuming you mean premium, they get a lot more promotion by tapas on the front page, so they have an advantage to gaining readership. I've only really read one premium novel that I was gaga for.

[SleepingPoppy]

@jmccubbins and @Ranty-cat an easy promotional tip is to put a link to your project in your forum description. It's a bit of passive promotion that happens while you just interact on the forums. People will check your desctiption for the link if you catch their interest in some way. And it's way less awkward then constantly trying to toss the link into random conversations.

[jmccubbins]

Ah ok! The only reason I even noticed or asked is because recently I reached pas on hundred and I was trying to think if I could even reach that. Thank you!

[SleepingPoppy]

If you made it to 100, then you'll probably eventually make it to 500. And if you don't on this project, there's always the next. We only grow and get better from practice.

[jmccubbins]

Isn't that true! Thank you for these tips I'm going to take them to heart! I mostly focus on my writing quality. Because I feel its about quality not quantity! Just recently i rebooted the beginning so i could make it better.

[SleepingPoppy]

You're welcome! I know I sound cheesy, and my way isn't the only way to think about these things, but it works for me.

[Kaydreamer]

Novels have a harder time here, because Tapas is predominantly a comic platform. It's also got a smaller active audience than other places. It takes a lot of time to build up a sizeable audience, so you need to be patient, and just promote your story broadly so people who may be interested in it can find it and read it!

Sub for sub is actually really bad. If you have a lot of dead subs who aren't reading, liking, or commenting on your story, the algorithm will assume your story isn't very good. Whereas with a small but active readership, with people who like and comment often, that same algorithm will assume your story is actually really engaging relative to its size, and you'll be more likely to show up in 'recommended series', or in the algorithmically selected sections on the front page.

The main thing, over anything else, is to just have really good work. Compelling characters, an engaging plot, and clear, immersive writing skills will take you far. Make good work, and people will want to read it.

[Eiranyx]

Hmm... is this for comic or novels? because I know the growth for both of it are a little different and I'm from the comic side so I'm gonna share my thoughts based on my experience.

1. You have attractive assets - like thumbnail, cover, banner, and an interesting description it helps A LOT. Most people tend to click on a thumbnail that interests them at first before reading the description and if you're making a comic, they gonna look for good art (most of the time)
2. If your comic matches with your cover art- of course its because people expect that your art is as good as your cover art -- they like it more consistent. --- now you don't have to be good at art but at least when someone reads it, they can still make out what's actually happening in the story.
3. Your first few chapters can hook the reader - Art isn't enough, your story must have something going on with it that can get them hooked. I know some stories takes time to build up to the good part but it will be helpful if you can execute it in a way that it won't be dragging for the readers to actually has an idea on the plot.
4. Marketing - Sometimes you have to think out of the box to market it, you can't just promote your work in one place, I'll be honest here, the forums is very limited, you have to get yourself out there because there are other people outside the forums that are potential readers.
5. Timing- The trends are there for a reason, make use of it, trends tend to move fast as well so take advantage of it while you can.-- My work has vampires on it, and spooky halloween themed works are promoted so of course I marketed my work on Halloween and released it on that time.
6. Connections- Making connections really help a lot.

Do you gain anything from being that high on subs?
I say not much on the ad revenue but I noticed my growth is slowly and steady -- for me it's more like a first hurdle to indicate if my work is marketable on a specific site, it's a good information to have because publishing platforms differ in their own way. That way I can familiarize myself with that sites the next time I release my next work.

Is it all about readers or sub for sub?
I can't really tell since I didn't joined sub for sub threads but most people are saying there's not much on sub for sub -- the good side, you gain subs but most likely its gonna be a dead sub that won't do much interaction with your work. It's good if the sub for sub are works with the same theme as your work because chances are those people will check it out more since you have the same interest(?)

Do the paid stories even reach this?
My work is actually pay to read on another platform (it's non exclusive for that platform btw) and I would say it has waaay more subs on that platform. The advantage is that they promote your work so it has an advantage on gaining readership plus you have an editor you can consult with as well. ^^

[rajillustration]

I think it's fully possible (like in the big scheme of things 500 is not nearly enough to make a living from passive income alone, you need tens of thousands for that. But, 500 would be enough for some patreon donations or ink donations to help out along the way.) It just takes time, and it may not be feasible for every type of story out there. Some stories and art styles just struggle on this website and that's really all there is to it (speaking as a person who has written that type of story before, you gotta find the right place for your story and not take it personally if it doesn't take off)

We don't really see how many comics and novels someone has done before they come to this site, and even those on this site may have done dozens of overlooked stories one by one before they hit one that started being successful. Some types of stories hit the algorithm sweet spot better than others (so a gag comic posting once a day is going to have a huge advantage over a comic posting 2 times a month) and having the skills in order to meet the demand of your audience takes time to develop and figure out.

But Tapas itself is just a hosting site. They really don't have good tools to be seen posting on this website alone, even if your work were perfect. You can wait for front page, but those opportunities are few and far between: it's easier to do steady promotion on social media sites and organically develop a viewership over time (and so far I've not hit 500, in all the comics and years I've been here despite being a professional illustrator. So when I make goals, they're more about my own development than a sub number.)

[jmccubbins]

Ah ok!
Thank you very much!!

[ratscout]

Through hard, hard work my friend. If you're like me, anyway. XD I have to really struggle for every sub I have through managing to make my story trend on the landing page via and through read-for-reads. Other people are little bit luckier since they often utilize popular genres or just have really good art in the case of comics.