I Miss the Old Tapastic

[VibrantFox]

I can totally get this viewpoint but one thing that I think isn't taken into consideration (at least by the traditional publishing crowd) is that what's popular in online publishing can change on a dime o slowly over time.

Yes romance is making big bucks but there's still other genres with pull. If instead of looking at the traditional market and focus on other online publishing platforms it's a little easier to see where trends are moving. Getting to my point though, I'm referring specifically to one of Tapas main rivals (whose partner is a megacorp loaded with money and thus able to freely take a bit more risk) Webtoons. Presently that I've noticed on WT is that aside from romance they've also got a readerbase with strong interest in fantasy and action comics. They're still fairly dominated by romance but it's close enough that sometimes the lovey dovey is winning and sometimes action punchy stuff is winning

One series I watch a lot is Freaking Romance (haven't caught up on the reading but I follow the artist/writer) and he's found a way to mix the two and the readers are still hooked. Literally the big twist that I heard was it's drastic shift from romance to paranormal/thriller. But it worked and he's still got 2M loyal readers.

Romance is trending but there's definitely other genres making waves. It's just worth noting that possibly due to cost Tapas probably can't take as much risk and thus is sticking to it's guns. No not everyone's happy with is but like my other reply mentions there's still probably ways for us to make waves ourselves. It's just gonna take work to get there.

[Doubtcent]

In all honesty, I'm still going to update on here, but my engagement has actually gone down months after I started making dailies. While on other sites, I've been slowly growing. I just feel like this isn't it for me anymore.

Even if the genre shifts, there's nothing on the website to help dedicated creators to grow an audience other than, as I see it, moving to another website. Which I have, and it's not bad.
I feel something needs to change, but I don't have the best idea on how, so I'm not worrying about it anymore and moving on.
Unless they add an "upincoming creator" tab or a "daily" tab like thing, I'm just going to slowly move away my focus to other sites.

[IndigoShirtProd]

I can understand the feeling of needing to move on. Sometimes it's the better and healthier option. Hopefully, you'll still hang around in the forums though.

They do have a "new and noteworthy" tab on the front page which is comparable to an "up in coming creator section." Though I think the main issue with "getting exposure" is when you've been on the site for a while, maybe a few years, and you still only have minimal growth. Maybe your story's fine and your art is good, but you still hang around the same amount of subs and you don't really know how to break out and it feels like the site isn't really helping you, in a general sense.

[snowy]

So what other sites would you recommend for all of us who aren't doing the romance thing and would still like to build an audience ?

Asking for a lot of friends (and me).

[snailienz]

I feel this way too. Back when it was in the "indie hayday" i was too busy and stressed to be making a comic. I chose to come here because of the reputation and it's slowly become apparent that's not what they want anymore, sadly.

[Doubtcent]

Here's what I use:

Webtoons
Pros: Clean interface and an active audience. Slow but steady growth for daily uploads.
Cons: A rating system that can change you from a 9.5 to a 6.5 in an instant. Also no way of seeing stats like comments and likes. (as far as I know)

Twitter
Pros: A decent enough audience who might like and retweet your stuff.
Cons: It's twitter. Good luck keeping your sanity. I only stay there for a few minutes a day to post and leave.

Instagram
Pros: A great way to see content and read backlogs
Cons: Not much traction since it's huge. Slower and steadier than Webtoons.

Tapas
Pros: Excellent notification system and format for reading.
Cons: Well, I've basically already said it.

Website
Pros: Full control over the format and content
Cons: Low interaction and a big learning curve.

Twitch (for streaming while drawing)
Pros: Great way to interact with people and get them to see your content
Cons: It's mainly for gaming and chatting, so... good luck! (also has a learning curve)

[snowy]

Thanks !
My webtoons stats are even worse than they are on tapas though.
Also appear to be hitting all the cons on the other ones, except for the own website, which I haven't tried yet.
Maybe I just need to "git gud", lol.

[WhoDrew]

@Doubtcent

I'm sorry to hear that dude,

I'm fairly new here but slowly started to grow my audience with my video game parody comics,

Even with everything that you mentioned, I still have hope that I can make it big here and I am willing to do what ever it takes.

[cookieroach]

I think this is a common pattern for most platforms, or even media, like radio/tv/internet etc. In the beginning its more experimental and easier for smaller creators to get noticed, and with time it grows more and more controlled by the market (or audience). If your not catering to the market, by making romance in this case, but still want to grow a following, I think the best solution is to find newer platforms or hustle more on social media, or both. If you're just making your comic because you love it, then keep uploading it and don't mind the numbers!

I understand your frustraton though, my comic isn't romance and it's buried really deep down in the feed. But if people prefer a love story before my stuff that's completely fine to me.

Keep uploading your story, you never know when the trends change again!

[WhoDrew]

@Doubtcent

I wish I was able to have seen what Tapas was like back then?

[ratique]

Hola!

I've also been around during Tapastic times. We've gone through many changes with the platform, have grown in the number of readers as well as creators. I personally have been on the forums as moderator for many years, am a Tapas Original creator and am happy that I was able to join the team as a full time member this year.

In my position as Creator Happiness Manager I'm responsible for all current and future creator facing initiatives. This includes Inksgiving and some other projects that are currently brewing in my to-do list.

Having been on Tapas for so long, I know that it currently looks as though the platform is moving away from their community, focusing on imported titles which are mainly Romance. I understand that this can feel very concerning, and because of that I'll share some additional information.

The future of Tapas is the Community.

This doesn't come from me, but from our CEO. Long term, our goals are to empower creators, find more talents and do our best for them to be paid for their work. In order to be able to do so, we are working hard to grow the number of readers on our platform. Some of the things you are seeing are the result of that hard work.

What does Tapas do right now to work towards this future?

A dedicated Community team has been formed very recently, which is comprised of me as well as a number of wonderful, dedicated team members, some of which have also been part of this community for a long time. Our team's goals aren't focused around revenue, so this is an investment by the company into working towards our future. I've been given an incredibly amount of trust by the leadership in order to hire and make decisions that will bring us closer to our goals. This is expensive and wouldn't happen if Tapas wanted to sell romance comics only long term.

Some of the first things we do are some needed changes to our site/app that overhaul some existing features to make creator's lives easier. I'm expecting these changes to be developed and shared around mid to end of next year (will I regret giving this timeline? PROBABLY LOL).
We are also working on more community events as well as hiring additions members for the creator happiness team for comics AND novels in the next 3 to 6 months.
Meanwhile, I'm working on ways to ensure our internal structure is built for growth and able to support as many creators as possible.

I'm not providing many details here, as I hesitate to share projects when I have nothing substantial to show as of yet, but also want to become more transparent in some of the things that are going on internally and hopefully remove some of your fears and worries. Because many of our projects take time, I understand if not everyone is willing to stick around - that's absolutely fine and I'm sorry that we've not moved quickly enough.

As a creator and long time Tapas fan I'm looking forward to the opportunities we are given.

Also, if you don't like what's happening you can always yell at me, so that's a plus.

[crosswarrior7]

This. This right here is exactly what I love to see in a community. Care for the creators and care for actually making them feel seen and like their worries are heard.

Some other places could seriously learn from this.... looks at Wattpad

Not really the main audience of who this entire thread was directed toward so not much say, but just wanted to commend you on a wonderful job as Creator Happiness Manager

[ratscout]

I actually really agree with you that I wish Tapas wouldn't favor romance so darned much, but, y'know, Tapas IS a business. They gotta make that sweet money. Lately, I've really been prizing hard work rather than just blaming the market, because it ain't gonna get me anywhere. And it's been working! I've gotten my story to trend several times just by offering read-for-reads and critiques (I've also found some great stories in the process). If you're just on Tapas to have fun and make friends, there's no need to work at it, but if you want to get readers and make something more out of your story, you have to treat it like a job. I love my actual job and am constantly thinking about how I can be a better employee; you have to think the same way with your writing if you want to make a career out of it.

[crosswarrior7]

I believe you were the one who gave me the idea to offer read for reads to try to get traction xD Great method (ignore the fact the writing bug has me failing to read anything lately)

[ratscout]

That's awesome! I actually saw two more threads like mine crop up after I made that one which I absolutely love because it inspires a change in the way the Tapas community is currently operating by encouraging likes and comments rather than just subbing and never actually reading the work.

[ble]

Well, I made some romance comics (in my mind they are more action than romance), but even then is not a guarantee you will grow on tapas. Those comics made over 1k subs on webtoons, but those same comics couldn't even reach 100 subs on tapas.

The main problem I have compared to the old site, is the name change from Tapastic to Tapas, Tapastic was at least a more unique name, tapas is Spanish food, wasn't Paella available? Or at least name this place "Tacos", that way it may bring more audience (yes, I know tacos is Mexican, but is a far more popular food than tapas).

[Dane_Sherbet]

It's a platform not a publishing company. Tapas isn't going to organize your book tour or find you guest slots on the talk-show circuit. Even the publishing houses themselves are being a lot more hands-off. The market is simply too segmented and the output of new literature simply too huge for the old-fashioned way of doing things.

Posts like these are like finding a theater in the park that anyone can use, then grumbling that it doesn't come with free flyer service.

[irresponsiblepics]

I'm fairly new here and initially felt Tapas is a bit like a Manga/Manhwa (whatever) version of Mills and Boon.
I just click fresh and comedy and ignore anything Duke and the Chambermaid related.

[mlocik97]

Old Tapas vs New Tapas,... hmm,... I must say, there are things that are better, and that are worse, but I think, it's not that bad now, so I would not change it back...

[domisotto]

I am a writer, and after almost three years of having no luck of finding audience on Wattpad with seven novels, I finally had people reading one of my stories here on Tapas. I wrote both romantic and non romantic stories, and will continue to do so.

I started posting my stories in July 2018, so I came to the Internet after the golden times were over. So, I’ve never taken success as something owed to me, or as a necessary reward for hard work.

If I had the tiniest delusions, Wattpad broke them.

Internet is oversaturated by the creative works, so, obviously, it’s hard to break out and find the readers who want to read you, specifically, no matter what you write. Success in the creative world is hard to come by, it’s just how it is, but at least I feel I have a fighting chance here.

Some of my books will succeed, some of them will fail. I accept this.

As for blaming romance for being popular, that’s weird. It’s what people want to read. They always did, they always will.