I don’t get how someone can make a comic just for views/clout

I think people just like romance as a genre, be it straight or gay. I heard some people are drawn to BL as a genre because they don't really see those types of stories in other media. So it has sort of carved out it's own niche on the webcomic scene. It's not really a new trend or anything, I remember see them when I started out 10 years ago. It is a genre that does have some issues but so does straight romance.

I almost have no subs and likes but I love my comic regardless, not just the main story itself but also the characters and their own backstories too. I love my MCs of course but I also love sides and even some mobs lol EVEN the ones I (will or did) kill

If you dont love your comic yourself how can you expect others to like it??

I'm a novelist, not a comic creator, but I agree 100%.

I recently saw a published author go on a Twitter tirade about writers who write solely for themselves rather than money. She posted, "A novel is not your passion project. It's a product. 'Authors' who publish their passion projects are hurting real writers."

Do you sense the rage I felt when reading that? Saddest part was the people who agreed with her. The mind-boggling part was that she couldn't get 100 sales on Amazon, yet she felt godly enough to give advice to new writers.

If you don't feel it in your heart, the reader won't, either. That "passion project" makes us work harder because it's part of us we're putting out to the world. That "product" is the influence of editors and publishers and society that you obey above your own creativity.

I may not make money (yes, it would be nice if I could), but I'm not selling my heart and soul for ratings.

BL is hugely popular. The genre doesn't get as much attention during Tapas promotions, but it is quite a draw for subscribers. I wrote a short BL among my other non-gay romance novels. The subs were double digits by the end of the day when I'm still struggling with my straight romances LOL. It's funny because I write straight novels but read BL webtoons.

I agree. Write what you wish! There will always be an audience for it. (Except, of course, the obvious illegal topics lol.)

Comics have been paying my rent and bills for the last few years an saving up for my first house and I honestly cannot imagine doing this job and putting in the amount of effort it takes for a project you don’t have some personal investment in. I have a theory that’s why there might be a lot of people who quickly pick up some heat who within the span of a year or two just completely disappear from the industry (though I can think of a slew of other reasons why this is the case— I just wonder if that’s a contributing factor).

And yes, I did work very hard to develop things that would be popular but only within the confines of my tastes and I don’t regret it at all. My more niche work now has tens of thousands of eyes on it and has gotten more interest from publishers than it did before and I wouldn’t change my course of action for anything. I’m in a very good position right now where I can pitch some wild stuff and get approval because the work is tried and true.

In the years that I’ve attended conventions as an industry professional, I can’t actually think of a single high level creator who ever felt like they were clout chasing—they all seem pretty passionate about their projects which you kinda have to be or the work isn’t worth it. There ARE some people who extend the life of their projects because of financial obligation but even then there’s usually still love to there.

And, of course, if you do anything hard enough and seriously enough it does become WORK but its clearly not limited to industry pros. I see hobbyists in discords and forums all day talk about burnout with much smaller outputs. Its a universal feeling whether the income is there or not. Every single path in is grueling work.

If you're going into art just to gain popularity, you're doing it for the wrong reason.

Art needs to have soul. Fans will like what they like, and if they like the stuff you make, that's fine, but most of them aren't going to look at something with only the minimum amount of effort and passion put into it.

On the other hand, it is nice to know that people are enjoying what you make. You don't want to feel like you're giving to the void.

Well... personally speaking while I like to draw, I mostly do comics because it's like doing a long term commission and I need the money, while at the same time of course I work in stories based if I'm interested and it's on my abilities. I don't think that any of the stories that I work for is going to be the best next thing, or that we'll get famous or anything, that's asking for quite too much luck and sometimes, a lot of attention can be exhausting. I know, with more views you can even increase someone's pay but while I don't call myself a pessimist, I would say I'm realistic, effort and passion doesn't always guarantee life-changing success neither stucking with the popular on demand things, because just like you, millions are jumping into it everyday.

While I don't deny I have a few stories of my own, I'm not interested enough to turn them into comics, and if I do, I would probably do the first chapter and leave it forgotten for around a year or more.

What I see first is that a lot of people are not only hungry for attention, validation and compliments. But what I can tell is that they also seem to be from... bubbles, where they are a peculiar individual who exceeds in a talent inside that bubble or social group, however, once they begin to interact or to finally go beyond what they've known their entire lives they get frustrated because they notice they aren't actually especial... but another one of a majority that they didn't see nor knew about, and that's upsetting.

You also have, among those individuals those that are not used to failure or that things don't go the way they desire, therefore, they are very analytical about what to do, and since they also have a narcissism and quite the people pleaser behavior (But of course, with the goal to obtain recognition and receive once again that feeling of being unique) they try to do content focused on popular things because they believe they'll succeed with that (And that honestly, that's not true, with popularity also comes competition and overload).

The goal may vary from one another, some want popularity, increase their numbers in one form or another (followers, likes, views, comments, etc), self-steem, validation, have a "not-failure" comic to be proud about to later presume on portfolios (Prob to get better jobs, recommendations, be hired by a company or person, etc)

The only thing that I still gotta mention is that whenever some of these... superficial goals is not met, you'll have this people asking if it's better to cancel their story or abruptly finish it because "it's being ignored, I love my series but people not caring about it hurts me so much" (And this can be because of the art, the flow, the style, the genre, the execution, characters, etc, anything that may be the thing that is not working, even promotion)... And honestly, my mindset is quite simple, if you tell a story you gotta ask yourself why, it is for yourself or for someone else? And if you drop it... then, I think you didn't love your story enough if you have to ditch it away because it's not bringing you desired results.

Sometimes people have too much ego, or believe that just because you do Isekai, BL or NSFW you're going to solve all your problems and gain a lot of money, while the reality is that there is a lot of competition, a lot of times you need to produce more than what you're capable of just to get noticed or to get paid faster, or the harsh reality is that it takes years to build a fanbase to then have less than 10% of your followers to actually support you.

My novel is a passion project, but I wouldn't mind getting paid for it.

I think, like all things in life, there is a in-between point balancing creative freedom and savage capitalism. Maybe I'm biased because my day job involves writing for video-games, so my mentality about writing tends to veer towards professionalism and the creation of a functioning product at times, because I need to balance resources and time.

I started Centris as a place to write without the constrictions of a schedule, but if you give me the chance of monetizing it I would. I wouldn't sacrifice the creative vision I have for it, but I would look to increase views if it helped my story to reach more people and I could get something monetary for my time working on it.

I do share the disgust about people who only do creative endeavors for fame or monetary purposes. I think you can find a happy middle between flights of fancy and wild consumerism.

Sometimes it can be discouraging when people flock to what's popular. I make what I'd like to read myself, so I enjoy going back and reading my own stories. I love throwing myself in a comic project. That's the whole reason I can finish comics.

There is a massive downside to making things for clout. People will notice if heart is put into a story. The isekai genre is so full of just stories for clout. I can't even count how many exist on the internet right now, but there are defiitely stories that stand out. Most can be grouped together under one name. Those stories don't really change anything. This goes with any popular genre.

There will always be ups and downs with these kinds of things.

That's a good piece of advice. Searching for what's missing, rather than what's popular.

I should've taken that advice, because my novel is just a flat fantasy novel... maybe I did, considering most of the fantasy stuff are isekai, reincarnations or just have systems.

Yeah, making comics is defo a labor of love for sure. I used to do a lot of commissions and collaborations thinking that's what I needed to do to make it as an artist, but then I almost died and started thinking about what I was doing with my time and realized I didn't want to do any of that. I wanted to make and tell my own stories, and create art I wanted to see more of. Be darned the popularity contest bc that was just stressing me out and I wasn't making anything I cared about as I worked for change making other's characters, logos, and designs come to life and dealing with crappy attitudes, hagglers on my prices, and folks that didn't want to pay. I still occasionally accept commissions, but I can be way choosier now about them since I don't have to rely on them to keep a roof over my head (and people actually look at my gallery before asking me to draw something before asking me for art, yeesh).

I love art and comics, but growing up poor I can really see how and why folks can look at art as a way to hustle and fixate on doing what's popular. Validation, fame, money, it's pretty tempting when you don't have it and crave it all. So I can see wanting to try and make a dollar holler off your skills bc money makes the world go round (unfortunately). I was fortunate enough to get a day job that doesn't stress me out a ton, provided benefits, and I'm left alone to do my work and not constantly middle managed so I can breathe better these days and focus on doing what I want on my downtime.

I'd love to make buckets of money for my love of weird and funky art style, but I also know that it would require chasing trends, constant output, changing body types, Adjusting my style, going pg, (maybe living in a different era) and reformating. One of those I'm willing to do down the line, but like the rest can go to pasture. In 10 years I might have 1000 followers or I might have 500 who knows, but for as long as I can I'll be making my comics and art for myself and those who dig them. Maybe someday my partner and I will be at a point I can focus solely on art, but I'm too much of a pragmatist. I know what I like to make and I know making money from just doing what I like isn't going to net much, but I've found a happy medium and that's pretty dang fulfilling for me atm.

I would like to get on my targeted advertising game on point though, bc it's also true that there are people who totally would love what I do if they knew I existed, but like that's a whole other bag of squirms in itself :V

I honestly have no idea why people go to art to get popular or to get money fast, its baffling to me cause I've been doing this shit for years and i know it's almost always down to luck or in rare cases nepotism. It also takes YEARS to make a comic, and no one gets popular overnight in comics the majority of people barely make money off this shit, even if you're working for a bigger publishing company like darkhorse you'll get your paycheck then try to look for your next gig with a different company.
I'm my case I only have 56 readers but I like the story I'm telling too much to let the numbers get me down. it's my story it's kind of a niche and I'm still at the beginning of it.