How to make a hiatus less, well, hiatus-y

[punkarsenic]

So, because of college and work I'm planning on taking a hiatus to build up a strong bank of buffer pages and give myself a break. But I hate the idea of my comic sitting quietly gathering dust for that time.

So, I considered posting extras, such as character profiles or worldbuilding info I can't otherwise slot in. I'm a little stuck for what kind of things would be best appreciated, though.

What kind of things do you post during hiatus?

What kind of extras would you like to see from a webcomic you follow?

[shazzbaa]

I might be in the minority, but for me: the fewer extras, the better!

A comic taking a break on Tapastic doesn't inconvenience me as a reader in any way, because I know I'll be alerted when they start posting again. But if they're posting extras every week... that's fine for a couple weeks, but if it's a long hiatus I'm likely to become very frustrated with all these notifications for updates that are just filler.

To answer your actual question, though, I think things that give me new info about the world or characters are the most fun extras! So world-building info, character Q&As, those sorts of things can be really interesting, and could potentially feel like a bonus instead of filler.

[UzukiCheverie]

but if it's a long hiatus I'm likely to become very frustrated with all these notifications for updates that are just filler.

Totally agree with this. I can't tell you which I hate more - artists going on hiatus for an undetermined amount of time and reasoning which goes unannounced to readers (which usually ends up resulting in the comic flat-out stopping right there), or artists posting every other week with fanart and stuff that I didn't subscribe to the comic to see.

Communicate to your readers how long you will be going on hiatus. Let them know how long it could potentially be. Give them a reason if you can (but don't worry about going into detail, if you need a hiatus you need a hiatus, the reasoning shouldn't really matter). Just be like "yo I'm taking a break to build a buffer, I'm hoping to be back in [insert time here], see you then!" and your readers will understand.

Protip: Tell them you'll be back in a timeframe that works for you. Don't pressure yourself to be back in the game before you think you'll be ready. If you need a few weeks to a few months, then tell them. It's better to overshoot your guess and be ahead of time then to constrict yourself and not meet the harsh deadline you set for yourself (there's a saying for this that I can't remember rn lol)

If you do post any extras, make it interesting - like @shazzbaa said, info about the world/characters/backstories/etc. is always fun for the readers to see and it keeps them satisfied until the main story can continue again. Little side story strips are cute too, especially if they're going for a comedic effect (otherwise to delve into a character's story and shed more light on their personality). Just don't try and post filler for the sake of filler - readers pick up on that insanely fast and it could result in some poor viewcounts when the main story actually begins again (readers think: "Why click on this if it's been filler for 2 months now? It's probably just more filler" <<< when it's actually the main story updating).

[gateofselidor]

I might post a WIP or note to my wall or social media when I'm on a break, but beyond that, no extra content at all. I take breaks because I either don't have time to work on pages, or because of health reasons, so the last thing I'm going to be doing during that break is drawing extra content related to my comic.

[Kamikaze]

I've had a lot of success with dossiers for characters. They're easy to make, and the fans love to pick them apart. There's a lot of speculation with them if you withhold juuuuust enough information.

We head into a two week hiatus soon, and our filler for that is going to be pointing readers to other comics we love to read! A little fanart doodle of the main characters in our style and then throw the link their way. Haven't done it yet, but excited to see what folks will think about it. :3

[agentfink]

I was on a 3 month hiatus and didn't post any episodes during that time. To let them know I was still around, I posted comic related stuff to my wall. For example, when the comic website was finished or if there was an interview, I posted the date and time to my wall. Just to let them know I haven't abandoned the comic (because I have seen some loooooong hiatus on comics that have been abandoned-- and that's just annoying to see).

I try to keep the episodes comic related as much as possible (and for other important information I don't want readers to miss out on). Don't mind the extra stuff so much, it's just something I'd rather not have on my comic's Tapastic presence. I do have extras on my website and patreon.

You'll find readers to be very understanding if you just let them know you'll be back soon.

[Aspie_Gamer]

Keep your readers engaged. My comic Life of an Aspie has a sister series called Susan's Secret Stash which serves as a fanart/Q&A/beta content all in one package to help further flesh out the world of LoaA. I also run a fictional Instagram account for my main OC Susan Graham the aforementioned Aspie of the comic where I post things related to her character in some way like her interests or how she perceives the world as somebody on the spectrum.

[Emma]

I haven't had large hiatuses (my bigget hiatus was a week), so I haven't done "extras" yet. However, things that could be interesting is stuff like character info/world building! Also...

We head into a two week hiatus soon, and our filler for that is going to be pointing readers to other comics we love to read! A little fanart doodle of the main characters in our style and then throw the link their way. Haven't done it yet, but excited to see what folks will think about it. :3

That idea sounds super cool!

[punkarsenic]

what if the extras were posting on my page, possibly without alerts, instead of as comic updates?

[Quinineer]

I haven't taken a hiatus yet (my comic is pretty new), but I just have a question:

I've had a lot of success with dossiers for characters. They're easy to make, and the fans love to pick them apart. There's a lot of speculation with them if you withhold juuuuust enough information.

How would one go about making some of these? Dossiers would probably not fit into my story, but I'm a sucker for these kinds of things. Sorry if this is a bit off-topic.

[shazzbaa]

I feel like that's up to you! I don't know how much feedback you generally get on wall posts, or if your readers are accustomed to you sharing art there. I guess the main question would be whether the number of people who would come across them on your wall is worth the time you'd spend on them!

[TheDJTC]

What's a dossier? All I got for search was journal and criminal, neither make any sense.

[ryoko]

Sort of depends on how long a hiatus you need to take. I know class loads for semesters can be brutal. I think you'd be best served to use character profiles and posting extras like you've suggested maybe weekly or bi-weekly to keep a 'presence' on Tapastic. That way, you'll keep getting views and stay fresh in people's minds until you have the time to update regularly with your buffer pages.

If you only post on your page/wall, the only people who'll be alerted will be your subscribers. The general readers on Tapastic wouldn't see them. We had an unexpected trip last month and I had just enough time to put together pages to last while we were gone for three weeks, but at a reduced rate of release. I don't know if you'll have time for that given that you said you needed to make buffer pages, but even if you're only releasing a page a week, you could do a smaller buffer to give you time to make a larger one? ( if that makes sense ^_^')

[mkrenez]

I hate going on hiatus. I just recently did, but that's because my only laptop died so I had to get a replacement.

The best way to avoid hiatus is to have a three-six week buffer. That way, you can work on more pages while uploading what you have ready. You just have to keep up with your upload schedule. I'm sure bi-weekly publishers have it real easy. Weekly publishers who do 1 page/wk, depends on many pages you wanna upload per week.

Now daily folks, them peeps just insane!

[Kamikaze]

To answer @Quinineer and @TheDJTC's questions on Dossiers...

1. A dossier is a file. Think about the file folders you see investigators get in spy or cop movies on 'the bad guys'. They're full of photos, and different information on the suspect/subject. Basically, a dossier is almost like a role play sheet for a character.
2. How to make a Dossier:
   • Decide what angle you're going from. With my comic, we're in a sci-fi world and our characters often hack into systems to find information about people. So we decided to cover what 'public information' a hacker might find (birthdays, medical information, work history, online handles, etc)
   • Include anything you might not have the chance to talk about in your story.
   • Any hints to past altercations that might come up later in your story as foreshadowing (example: Kyle seems normal, but digging into his background you find there's no birth certificate, no medical history, no parentage and no work history...it's like the guy just showed up out of no where).
   • Think about WHO is looking at the dossier in your story. What does their desk, or computer surroundings look like? Are they messy? Are they neat? What's the environment around them like?

Here's some examples of the Dossiers we did for our hiatus'.

The first is seen from the point of view of a character in our story named Link. He works for an undercover operation in a run down part of town. This place is not the ritz. Our world is scifi so we have holographic interfaces used, and make them opaque so you have a better idea of the surroundings Link is working in (see this page for reference).

To see larger version head here.

During another hiatus we took the same idea, but thought about who would be looking at the core team we have. Like...our guy Link, wouldn't be making a dossier on himself or his team. He'd know all that stuff. So we shifted the idea to "what if someone inside the nicer part of town was onto them?" The background is cleaned up, it's a more elegant environment. Even the user interface on the page is more polished and pretty - less utilitarian like Links. So this person is in a nicer place, and has some kind of power which gives these dossiers a more threatening undertone.

To see a larger version head here.

This one our readers absolutely LOVED. We decided to fastforward time a bit, and let them see what the world thought of our title character from an outside perspective. This one being a security file our 'powerful' person is looking at. Since we wanted to keep an air of mystery around the character and power-set we made the photo a crappy CCTV screenshot, and all of the information is based on what they know through reports of interviewed people from different areas of the city.

Larger version can be seen here.

I hope that answers y'alls questions at least a little.

[Shanny8]

Planning on taking a 1 to 2 month hiatus once Ray Thunder Ch 1 ends; will be actually making sure that I have enough pages to hit the ground running with Ch 2. Didnt want to take that long of a hiatus because of losing readers, but I'm not gonna run myself ragged, trying to not take a break.

[AtaraxiaStudios]

Awesome suggestions, comrades!

Here's a suggestion that can work in conjunction with a lot of these advice's: Make a buffer for yourself.

It seems a bit obvious, and it is likley that many of you are doing this but you could set times where you really want to focus on making a buffer.

The first time of course is before you launch your comic. I'd recommend having as much of buffer as possible before you launch. Of course, having too much could prevent you from making changes from feedback, if that is what you want to do. I'd recommend at least a month of buffer.

Other times to buffer up would be when you just feel like working on your comic more than anything else. If you go to school, then this could be during your breaks.

If you know you are going to have a hiatus in the future, plan for it. Either buffer up way ahead of time OR start the hiatus at a heated part of the story. If you do that, you can tease the audience of what is to come when you return. They can look forward to your return.

During your hiatus, you could also try getting new readers for your comic. They can catch up with your old readers. That way, when you launch again, you will have more of an audience.

Whatever you do, make the best out of it. Even if it is a hiatus