How much to post at the start?

[CandiChaos]

Hi! So I’ve fully completed my novel (minus my impulsive edits) and plan to publish it in September. How I’m gonna market it is that I sell sweats and shirts at comic con so I’m also going to give out a card with a QR code and the book description to bring them here if they’re interested. Anyways my original plan was to upload 3 chapters at once (6 total because they’re split into the two pages) but I’m not entirely certain of how Tapas algorithm works in mass publishing. Would it be better if I started publishing now at my original schedule (twice a week) so it’s a few chapters in by the time my show comes along or just do it all at once?

If that makes any sense at all lol.

[BlairFujin]

when it comes to how often to publish on tapas, you should keep in mind that your work can get a bump in the fresh section once a day, so there's no gain in posting multiple updates on the same day

[RedLenai]

I believe you should keep in mind how most of Tapas Originals sell themselves, and about what the public actually looks for.

Tapas userbase prefers shorter chapters that update once a week, not only it is easier for them to consume especially on public transport or during breaks, but by limiting once a week you also give the reader the chance to rest from you, yes some people would want an update asap, but others would likely want to read and don't feel it becomes a task or be reminded of how much they missed through the week if they don't have time (2-3 chapters)

Of course, twice a week is not bad especially if you've already completed your novel, people usually recommend to post once a week or every two weeks in case they have setbacks, need to build a buffer and such

[CandiChaos]

It's twice a week but only one chapter a week (split into two parts cause of the length lol) my main question is if I should post 3 chapters immediately then do my schedule or just start the schedule right off the bat. I've read places where people like to be a few chapters in before reading but I'm not sure about tapas algorithm wise

[ThunderChicken]

Keep in mind that building an audience on Tapas can take a long time, especially for novels. I am approaching the one year anniversary of Wild Nights, Hot & Crazy Days and just hit 83 subscribers. But I made a mistake: I, too, had the whole thing written before uploading any of it, and when I started publishing it I got excited, got ahead of myself, and dumped the whole thing over two or three months. It is not a short novel, either - it is 183,000 words. The problem was that once I had the whole thing published I no longer had updates to offer, so no reason for people to subscribe.

I didn't make that same mistake with Finding Daecon's Way. This one was also fully written before publishing any of it, but I've limited publishing to one update a week except for special features (character bios, holiday specials, etc), which come in between the regular Saturday updates.

My advice would be to start out with a few chapters to get readers hooked (let them binge the first bit), then do weekly updates to keep them coming back.