Is It Just Me Or Is Promoting A Chore?

[TheLemmaLlama]

Hm, if anything, that sort of copy-pasted promotion is the one that feels like a chore to me. Spending 30 minutes to copy-paste an notification in 130 different places every time you update is less fun than spending 2 hours writing about why my comic excites me.

If your only goal with promo is to get eyes on your work, it's going to feel like a waste of time/shouting into the void if it doesn't work. But if you have a secondary motivation in addition to promotion, like having a fun discussion, then it doesn't feel like a waste of time even of no-one ends up checking out my stuff, because I got something else out of it anyway XD

[Shanny8]

I dont have an issue promoting a post on social sites like IG, Twitter, and Facebook...the area where I get irritated is how the whole process wants you to make video clips and upload multiple times per week. I dont have that type of time- I work a FT job, try to have some downtime watching stuff on TV or movie, and trying to work on my comic/material...for me the whole process of making videos to promote is right up there with making streaming sessions: it's a timesink for me and It's "devoting too much energy to too many things".

Pass...I'll just stick to the simple promotion posts.

[RedLenai]

Well, still even if you'll get something else out of it I kind of try to calculate the outcomes:

Promoting with the copy-paste method takes less time, you cover more ground and you burn your mind less, is just repeating an action.
Meanwhile, this method while seems to have a secondary goal, takes more time, doesn't cover as much ground and kind of seems another way to distract potential readers from the product considering that it seems you're using the interaction as a way to not think nor feel it's a waste of time "even if no-one ends up checking out your stuff"

So... you rather spend two hours, probably more times in a day, talking about your comic than working on your comic or having to compensate later for those hours, and while there is nothing wrong with being excited to talk about your craft... it kind of doesn't seem to be as productive or fruitful since you could passionately talk about your comic anytime and at a certain extent it could become a distraction or "daydreaming even".
Personally speaking I just promote when a new chapter has come out, for Love Quotes is weekly, for Scarlet Society is bi-weekly. Then, after those 30 minutes spent just on a single day, I have the extra hour and a half to continue working on the comics and honestly, it doesn't feel boring if you're taking advante of that time to watch/listen to something else in a Picture-In-Picture while multitasking (I work on a desk next to my boyfriend, so we're mostly chatting and watching stuff while I promote since it doesn't require concentration nor extreme focus compared to actual work) and honestly, if a task feels boring then you can either make it less boring by adding an asset to it or just... keeping things the same and continue disliking it.

As well, I believe I didn't clarify this, but the reason why I don't feel if my method works is because I have no access to the comic stats since I'm not the author so I honestly don't know, the feeling may be there, yes, but still, I kind of don't care enough to patch it by asking the stats or another method.

[Kuma]

I promote during the days I post. I do 5-10 minutes and I reach dozens of facebook groups, twitter and instagram, plus some threads here. Is not that hard

[TheLemmaLlama]

at a certain extent it could become a distraction or "daydreaming even".

You're not wrong XD I sometimes feel like one of those people who 'wants to write a story one day' but doesn't get around to it (sure, I've technically started, but it's sufficiently sporadic that one could be forgiven for thinking I won't follow through :P)

it doesn't feel boring if you're taking advante of that time to watch/listen to something else in a Picture-In-Picture while multitasking

Ahkay, so multitask :] Certainly easier to do with a repetitive task, I admit

As well, I believe I didn't clarify this, but the reason why I don't feel if my method works is because I have no access to the comic stats since I'm not the author so I honestly don't know, the feeling may be there, yes, but still, I kind of don't care enough to patch it by asking the stats or another method.

Huh, I didn't know that you weren't sure if your method worked. I do think if you're putting 30 minutes each update into promoting (and nothing else) though that you should know if it's working or not. Even if you're not the author, you should be able to see at least the number of subs, like and comments you have since everyone can see those

[RedLenai]

Yep, I can see those, like overall views, comments and likes. Personally speaking the later two kind of are meaningless since I know most of people don't care about doing those things, usually they forget or just want the quick read and go back to their rutine or consume something else.
Still I don't know if the method works since each week the flow is completely different, or even the numbers change a week or two weeks later. Not to mention that at time it seems like a "prolonged" promotion until FB groups accept the post onto the place, so I may be posting a Tuesday and while in some places the promotion stands for that day, it may be "reactivated" a later day. Another thing is that, the public stats are different from one website to another and even between Spanish and English versions, but still, everything sums up

[BlunderingAlbatross]

I suck at promoting. I made a twitter to help with this but I haven't updated it in like months

[Christy_Oshima]

Promoting myself and work has always been the worst for me, since i am not the kind of person who enjoys talking about things that i do. To be more clear; i live in the constant fear that I annoy everyone than actually doing something good for my novel. Unfortunately, at this day and age, we are able to access a great deal of platforms to showcase our work and promote it, however it will always feel like a chore at some point.
Of course it has to do whether you have actual motives or not. Example: i started my novel and i knew from the start that i want people to read it and i also want to be the beginning of my career as an author. So i had to get serious about it, set aside my irrational fears and just shove myself out there, bothering followers about updates and thinking all the time what else i can do to attract readers. IG and Twitter are a good start but im starting to believe that i also need to get on the TikTok train which i find necessary yet a bit too advanced since its based entirely on reels and not regular posts.
Promoting will never stop being a pain in the arse but if we have cleared out with ourselves what he actually want; what we are after; the amount of effort will instantly be set... I just wish it was a bit easier XD

[Caro]

@Caro Oh, that's interesting you're selling physical copies! I imagine promoting is waaay more important in that arena. I'm glad you have enough momentum to rely less on it, and I definitely understand the sentiment of "I want to create, not be a professional social media manager." And yeah! With promoting, it feels like you have to put on not only a more extroverted personality, but a charming one (whatever that entails.) I can't speak for everyone else, but it's a real drain on me personally.

Early on I definitely needed all of the social media spread I could get, for sure! But now I get real reviews and staff picked in comic shops across the country so the word-of-mouth has sorta gotten out there without me being the starting point.

Which, in a way, that’s what social media marketing is. You’re ideally making the starting point of something for other people to talk about and spread around for you— that’s kind of the only effective way to do it. You can direct people to your comic but people don’t just spread things around out of the kindness of their hearts. They do it because they want to share a genuine interest that they either think their peer group would like and/or (and more often than not) because they feel their interest says something about them that they want to present to other people as a declarative statement. Which is why a lot of people who just post “new chapter update” posts where its a random panel from the update and text on it that says “Read it on TAPAS!” end up kinda not getting that big social media momentum. Its a soulless ad that can’t really be related to in anyway.

I think people lose a lot of their natural charm trying to present in a professional way but in an actual professional setting there is LOOSENESS and people are just themselves. I don’t think you should feel like you have to put anything on when you’re promoting! I like to pretend that I’m just talking to my closest friends whenever I post.

[BoomerZ]

Here's a different take, promotion is just talking about something you love. I love art, comics and drawing in general. I can talk for days about any of it. Think about it as if you are talking to a person face to face about your passion. Now just scale that up to millions online. Here's the thing, if you are not excited enough to talk about your awesome creation, why should anyone else be excited. Promotion is like bragging but it's not just an empty boast, you have something to show them.

[rumpenstiltzkin]

Here's the thing, if you are not excited enough to talk about your awesome creation, why should anyone else be excited.

I think its a little bit unfair to say this altho its also truth in it, but it just inst so easy for everyone

It absolutly fills me with dread and anxiety spamming about my own stuff you have no idea how it drains my energy!

I do like talking about my comic and characters but only with a few close friends that I feel relaxed enough to do so with that doesnt turns my guts inside out

and therefore, I dont talk much about my comic or promote it, because I cant stop the thoughts in my head that tells me im spamming and shoving stuff in ppls face and bothers them to much... yay social anxiety and being introvert and having low self confidence

[bulgariansumo]

I've been reading all of these but haven't had much to add, but this one stood out to me! A few other people have said the equivalent of "just post your links and it'll work out" or "talk about what you like from your story." I have to wonder how well the first one works when everyone's doing the same thing, especially for a webnovel (what I'm writing), where there may not be pictures to catch people's attention. What you said kind of lines up with "talk about what you like," but I find it more helpful because it frames things from a potential reader's point of view and what would make them want to recommend it to others.

[WLHcomics]

Same, I really don't enjoy promoting either, it just takes so long to write out each promo for me. Especially if I want to link all the sites I post my comics on.

[Shanny8]

It absolutly fills me with dread and anxiety spamming about my own stuff you have no idea how it drains my energy!

Normally I'm not a person that likes to draw attention to myself...BUT- I will "toot my own horn" and scream from the mountaintop when it comes to my comic; I'm that passionate about my stuff.

[Nada]

It's terribly exhausting, I have twitter, instagram, in addition to the wall, the forums, I write the same things about 20 times, I need someone to help me urgently.

Well, but without being so dramatic, you do it for the love you have for your comic or novel, these are the consequences of your project, right?

[rumpenstiltzkin]

and thats great!!
What I wanted to say was that everyones different really, its so easy for some to say JUST DO THIS or THAT it easy if youre passionate enough but trust me, i love my project, but the anxiety takes over to much

[dhroobmanna]

Relatable. I sometimes have deja vu and constantly need to check what I posted on another social media so it's not different.

[EncryptedWriting]

At this point, I just really don't promote anymore. Obviously if a post is very specific and my story meets the requirements, I will likely promote it, but it's just such a hassle. I prefer to just let it grow naturally even if it doesn't at all.

[Nada]

Exactly, it tends to get repetitive, but how else will your readers know it's a new update?

[system]

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