Is the current Tapas app less friendly to independent creators?

[beingbears]

As the title mentions, I've been feeling lately that the current trend in Tapas isn't very friendly towards independent creators like myself. I can't even find my comic using the app (unless I go to my dashboard!). It seems that Tapas is pushing independent creators to the back, hidden and out of sight, while promoting the Tapas exclusive/premium etc comics. I wanted to ask others what they think. Am I crazy or are others feeling the same? I know you can find the independent comics via the website, but aren''t the majority of readers using app? This is making me consider moving my comics to another hosting/website.

H.

[laiscnogueira]

Uhn I think it's harder to find non-premium comics and novels, but they all show on the search result, tho if it's an unespecific name it might be way down on the list. But last I checked if you type the entire name of your comic/novel on the app it will appear after some popular and premium ones.

But at the end of the day, yeah, it has been discussed over and over again that Tapas is (for good or for bad) a business, so they massively promote their paid content on the main page and collections and via messages to the users, and give a little less attention to the rest of the community (if you have been checking the forums you might have seen the discussion over the current writers contest that is kinda on the shadows).

Now about changing websites, I suppose that's an option, but quite frankly, even with all of its flaws, Tapas is still one of the best IMO.
If you disagree there is always webtoons and others, but they also have issues the users report about.

[LordVincent]

If finding an audience is your intention then keeping yourself exclusive to any site, no matter which one, is counterproductive to your goal unless your comic is tied into a contract with a specific publisher/site.

My suggestion would be to stay on tapas AND mirror your comic on more hosting sites.

[Testaccount]

I've already stated my feelings on the subject in other threads, but yes, it does feel that way. If Tapas is trying to be just paid content only, then I wish they would be upfront and just tell creators that, but who knows.

[grimnir]

Yeah, it's taking progressively more effort to get to the community comics/novels on the app. The link used to be at the top and very prominent. Now it's gotten pushed down to an afterthought at the bottom.

Which is a shame, because most of the premium content looks just awful to me. But Tapas has a really amazing and supportive community, which is the reason I'm still here in spite of their best efforts.

[LordVincent]

If Tapas is trying to be just paid content only, then I wish they would be upfront and just tell creators that, but who knows.

Yeah, it's taking progressively more effort to get to the community comics/novels on the app. The link used to be at the top and very prominent. Now it's gotten pushed down to an afterthought at the bottom.

Tapas staff have already expressed on these forums that the site and app structure is a work in progress and that they intend to figure out a way for community creators to keep being noticed. So no, their intention is not to go premium only or push away community creators.

[OneHappyChap]

I also doubt they'd make contests that encourage non-premium artists/writers to post their work if it was to go premium-only.

[Testaccount]

I don't know or speak with any of the staff, so I can't say what they are doing. However, I have noticed that some of the writers who entered the Writing Camp are upset about the lack of promotion. I know they are running contests to find more stories to make premium, so it seems the end goal is to get more premium content for the website. Anyway, I can only base things on the actions I see.

Regardless, it doesn't matter what I think or feel. This is their website and they can run it how they want. Since I plan, hopefully, to create a new writing website in the future, it helps me to learn what novel writers need and want so I can adjust my own business model accordingly.

[OneHappyChap]

I understand where you're coming from, but if they weren't interested in having non-premium content, they could simply have opened submissions for premium content during the month of July instead of making a contest for non-premium users to post on the site.

Let's be realistic here for a second though, of course Tapas would want to get more premium content, because premium content is what's keeping the site alive. It takes a lot of money to publish a series/pay editors etc. and without revenue I don't see how it would be possible to keep going. (Not to mention paying for hosting etc.)

I personally am thankful for all that they are doing and trying to do. So far out of all the writing sites I've tried, they definitely offer the most exposure (imo) for new creators and non-premium creators. The staff picks are often non-premium creators, as are the daily-snacks. The front page spotlights are also shared between non-premium and premium creators. And I've yet to participate, but I've heard tipping events are great, and also not premium exclusive. I'm sure I've left some stuff out, but you get the idea.

Sure, not everything is perfect, just like on other websites where you will always find positives and negatives, but I feel like there have been a lot of complaints about Tapas lately without people looking at the bigger picture. Tapas gives attention to both non-premium and premium creators, not only that, but they are very accepting of diverse comics and stories that would get censored/banned on other sites (e.g just for being LGBTQ+ for example like what recently happened with Youtube).

You can tell Tapas are trying hard to make this website/app great as they listen to suggestions from users. I don't know many websites that care this much about their creators. Even if certain suggestions haven't yet been put into place, they are a small team (as they have revealed in a newsfeed post recently), and this stuff takes time. Imagine trying to balance your livelihood (premium content) and giving attention to independant creators all the same; it's difficult stuff, and I can understand why it'd take some experimentation to find a good formula that works.

I'm not currently a premium creator, so I get where you're coming from, but Tapas have already made a pretty great platform so far and I trust they will make it even better as time goes on. We should be looking at the bigger picture and giving them our support instead of being negative about this, if something displeases you, remember that there is a suggestion thread where they are willing to listen.

Sorry this turned into an essay, I just feel like there's been a lot of posts about how 'bad' Tapas is doing lately, and I wanted to bring a different view into perspective because to me they've just been a really great site that I don't believe deserve all this backlash.

[Testaccount]

Like I said, they can run the website how they want, it makes no difference to me. I'm simply observing what I see so I can make something new. The major issue in the writing community is finding readership for our work. There are no easy fixes for that, but if I can learn from what other companies are already trying to do and improve upon on it, then that's my plan.

As for Tapas, I get what you mean - there are positives and negatives like with everything. In the end, they still created a website where people can post their work, which is always good. Finding balance in everything is hard, and hopefully, one day Tapas will find that middle ground.

[OneHappyChap]

Sure, not trying to change your opinion, just wanted to state my own personal perspective! As for readership, the forums are always a good place to advertise, I think someone even made a thread about advertising techniques but I'm afraid I'm unable to find it at the moment (perhaps you know which one I'm talking about).

If you have a link to your stuff though, I'd love to check it out.

[nascentechuva]

My opinion is neither here nor there, honestly. I don't mind having the premium comics/novels take up the majority of the front page, even if I would want my own content to be seen as well.

I think it not only brings revenue, but a much needed reading audience. A lot of the premium and popular comics cater to a younger, money spending readership (despite the Mature content, let's face it, most of the people reading NSFW are curious teens and kids.) These people eventually grow tired of the same content and look for new independent creators. I got into YouTube by watching Minecraft Let's Plays, but now I watch a lot of commentator channels and docuseries.

That being said, I do hope they make it a taaad bit easier to find fresh comics on the app, but as mentioned before, they're working on it.

[Testaccount]

It's all good I love friendly, respectful discussions with no drama and reading other people's opinions. In the end, it's people like you that are going to be my target user base for my future website, so reading what fellow writers have to say is important to me.

Thanks! I've seen the threads, but I have no intention of promoting my work here anymore. It was nice chatting with you, though

I'll check out your work and leave some comments.

[OneHappyChap]

Thanks! Same here, glad everything stayed politically correct (not always the case on the interwebs unfortunately...), it's always interesting to discuss these things with open-minded people that are willing to listen.

All right, do let me know if you change your mind though, and thank you in advance for your interest!

[beingbears]

Thanks everyone for the comments and interesting (and surprisingly civil) discussions. Don't get me wrong, I do understand why Tapas will want to push the premium stuff - that pays the bills! T really wanted to get a feel for the thoughts and views of the community before deciding on the future of my comics.

I also don't know if Tapas does worse or better than others, as my only experience in my short time as a creator has been through Tapas. That being said, I still wish the independent comics (just realised they were called "Community comics"!) were more visible. Personally I don't think I'll be jumping ship, as I really like the Tapas community, but do as LordVincent suggested - mirror my comics.

[ratique]

Tapas is a platform that is free to use for all of us creators and has a potential for readers are already here. They aren't required to provide advertisement or exposure, although they are definitely trying to. It all gets a little complicated with the large amount of comics and stories on this site.

Don't forget that the app is still under constant construction and improvement. You can see some good feedback from Michael on this topic when we recently discussed the new Discover Tab.

Hello! Thanks for all of the constructive feedback, we are taking a lot of this into consideration and will try to apply it to future updates of the app. I will try my best to address as many questions, comments and concerns as possible. I'd like to clarify that this update is the first of a series of updates that will gradually change the app experience. We wanted to roll out this first update to collect some information on how readers use the various modules in the Discover tab to see whi…

[OneHappyChap]

This is awesome, hadn't seen this thread or his replies but def' looking forward to all those new features now!!

[djwaglmuffin]

They said they were going to fix it as time went on but what that means, I have no idea.

personally? I think they should hire more staff or something to sift through (novels especially) to find new gems to promote.

You gotta remember, Tapas is still relatively new.

[GesuGesu]

Which is a shame, because most of the premium content looks just awful to me. But Tapas has a really amazing and supportive community, which is the reason I'm still here in spite of their best efforts.

I actually think the premium content is pretty good? The authors and artists did their best to get to where they are now.

[grimnir]

The art is good, I just don't care for the stories. It's a matter of personal preference; presumably I'm not the target audience here.

That's the nice thing about having a huge, varied community of creators like Tapas does. There's something for everyone.

I probably could have phrased that better, but I do believe that the best content on Tapas is in the community works, not the premium ones.