How to get your subscribers to talk?

[Vikiro_Hop]

I do think some content promotes conversation better than others. To be honest this is a bit of a tough question, for a lot of people I feel like they comment when they find something relatable. Probably why slice of life gets so popular. For story driven stuff, people usually need to get pretty invested before any real convo starts.

As others have said you can use the description box to try and generate a bit of buzz, but at the same time don't fret too much. I'd say just work on perfecting the content and eventually you will get more feedback, and don't get discouraged if people aren't immediately receptive.

[Bii0]

Wouldn't know, only have one sub, but on the other site it depends. It's like pulling teeth to get people to comment, usually I'm chill with it, but when I really want feedback on something it's a pain and when someone does comment it has nothing to do with what I asked. But at least it's a comment, better than nothing.

My best bet is to be super active and friendly? Like do character polls, and contests, and all that jazz. I've noticed the more interactive things you do with readers the more active they'll be with you, not sure how well that would work on this site though.

[ratique]

I feel like there are multiple issues here. Am I correct when I am guessing you are the user Sourcandy on the tapastic website?

If you are, then your biggest issue is that you have over 100 subscribers split between 17 comic series. It takes some time for readers to get invested in your stories. They have to get to know your characters and the story you are telling. For that to happen, a series has to be updated regularly - or a lot of content has to be posted.

Would you comment on a series with 3 pages to read? Probably not. Instead you might subscribe, continue reading and one day you might feel like leaving a comment to a particular scene. That is at least how it works for me and it seems to be similar for many of my subscribers.

I would concentrate on one or two of your most favorite comics and build a community around them. Eventually you will see more responses from your subscribers.

[calitart]

Woah! How did you know that? Dang it, and here I thought having a different username would help protect my identity... Thank you for the fast feedback, ratified; I appreciate that... Now, it's time for me to find a new username

Please don't expose me next time.

[yartzanaserenade]

She didn't expose you, you can see the Tapastic username when you click on your forum profile.
But actually there's no point in hiding since the forums area good way to get subscribers

[calitart]

Haha! Thanks; I honestly didn't know that? Okay; I'm just going to make a brand new account just for gossip and stalking other people then.

[yartzanaserenade]

@calitart HAHAHA! That sounds great!

[ErithEl]

I think I need to reevaluate some stuff because when I read the title of his thread my mind immediately went to torture: "How to get your subscribers to talk...they have information we need and we will use any methods possible to get it." O_O

But, that aside, do any of your subscribers have series of their own? Because I've found that my subscribers who comment the most are the ones whose comics I comment on, as well.

The forums do help as well, as @yartzanaserenade said. They are not only a way to gain new subscribers, but I've often gotten comments on my pages that are like "Hey, I found your comic in so-and-so thread!" and then if you reply promptly and in a welcoming way, that person is more likely to comment on a future page!

[zwebb90]

aww they don't gotta talk if they don't want to XD XD

[scythe]

Easy. I just bribe my subscribers to love me.

[zelkats]

Just write "One Direction is better than The Beatles," in your episode description and grab some popcorn.

[PotooGryphon]

Why are you wanting to remain anonymous? Isn't the whole point of asking questions on the forums to evaluate what you can do better with your comic series and introduce your series to people on the forums? Or did you already know the answer and was just trolling us?

[getsuart]

I give them chocolate. They follow and comment easily after this, because no one can resist a Leonidas.

I agree with everyone : ask, make jokes, jsut show that you are there. Maybe your readers will begin to say something too by seeing you talking in the page description.
And if you are talking via your profile page, don't forget to turn on the notification. Without it, your post will never be seen by your subscribers.

And wear a Zorro mask if you want to be anonymous. It works great! ;D

[Kura]

My readers tend to be very quiet most of the time and I have a decent amount of subscribers (but I know they are reading via view stats) some pages will get them talking though, while others will never see a comment.

[GlanceReviver]

I find if I show my character's butt in a panel, I get a lot of comments.

[UzukiCheverie]

to make sure I'm not being trolled by 100 people or that there is, in fact, a glitch in Tapastic system... Idk, any suggestions?

I find that for every 100-200 readers, there's about 1 commenter. And even then, there are only a few dedicated commenters on the site who make an effort to discuss, joke, chat, etc. (I can list off a quick list; Hobbes, Amet, TristanJensen, hyena, etcetc.)

I've got 2k on Time Gate but only around 10-12 regular commenters who, well, always comment lol everyone else is either a suscribe-and-runner (which happens yes; if you check your stats page and look at your daily viewcounts, or at least the view counts each time you update, you'll see that on average, maybe only 50-75 people actually regularly check back to read your comic more and don't just subscribe and take off, which is another thing you have to take into account).

I'd say promote discussion where you can, but don't force it. Some people just don't comment, and prefer the typical lurking; others might just not have anything to say about your comic yet, especially if it's still just starting out and not much has been established. Maybe post a question in the comments section every few new episodes or so (don't overdue it is what I'm saying) to promote some discussion. But don't force it. I know this sounds like I'm shooting you down, but you only have about 100 subs so far, and as pointed out above, probably only 50-75 of those subs are dedicated readers, possibly less, possibly more, and those readers might just not like commenting, or it might just not be the right "time" to comment because they simply have nothing to say. And TBH, if there's simply nothing to say, then I'd rather have 5 well-thought out and good comments on an episode than 100 spammy ones.

So yeah, give it time. Those comments will come in soon!

[mappypaint]

I only have 40 subscribers. But one of them, as @UzukiCheverie mentioned, is one of the few dedicated ones named Hobbes. This guy will almost always comment on every episode/page, will wanna discuss things that happened in the story, will tell me what he could've said or done if he was my character, laugh with or laugh at my characters, etc. He even gave me my first Fan Art from Tapastic (awesome fan). As of now, I have 2-4 regular commenters in my series. I can't exactly pinpoint how or why they comment so lets see...

based on the stats, the episodes/pages that got most comments are:
1. Where something significant happened in the story.
2. End of the chapter/part (comments like "I can't wait to see what happens next")
3. An episode where there's conflict brewing between the characters.
4. Pages where one of my characters said/did something stupid.
5. And where they can see heartwarming or romantic scenes (mostly awwww and squeee <3 comments)

It maybe luck that talkative subscribers stumbled upon my series. So i'll try to keep them interested for as long as possible. I'll do my best to update regularly, ask them questions (even a "What do you think will happen next?" will do), reply to their comments so they don't feel that they were ignored, etc. And most importantly, just be patient because they will come eventually.

[winglesscomic]

I generally don't comment on series where I feel disconnected to the author. Like, if I don't even know they are there or even read my comments, why would I waste my time posting them? It is like posting to a void. Who cares then.

On the contrary, I always try to comment on series where I know the author responds or interacts with their fans because I know they are reading what I wrote and it makes them happy.

Lately I have been trying to get better at replying to everyone's comments, i think it helps.

@GlanceReviver Who doesn't love butts though?

[joannekwan]

This is true, when I comment usually the author is pretty active either replying to comments or talking to people on their wall or I see them around on the forums. I know that they're looking and they care.

And yes, comments usually spike when I introduce an attractive character.

[Aspie_Gamer]

Pretty much what everyone else said. Take like an hour or even 30 minutes out of your day to talk to fans, comment on their stuff, and reply to forum topics that interest you. Heck, get some social media accounts if you think they will help bring in new readers.