Is there a rough estimate when you're supposed to reach what subscriber milestones?

[Darth_Biomech]

Nothing too precise but something along the lines "no less than a hundred subs by the end of the first year of posting" maybe?
I suppose there should be some hazy vague average estimates, right?
That's assuming that this averaged out comic is not too terrible or too brilliant, obviously, lol.

[Wocalich]

That's a good question. I think it depends on several factors, such as the quality of your work, how much you advertise, and most importantly: luck.

[DiscountedArtist]

Everyone grows at a different pace, probably because of upload schedule. I think people like to see a big backlog of pages, so for some series it can take months to get some kind of recognition. But even then, there is a rough estimate for the subscriber milestone.

So basically, I don't know.

[kmlangleyauthor]

We could all tell you when we reached each milestone, but it’s going to be different for everyone. And there’s are so many factors - how often you upload, genre, what time you post, how much (and where) you advertise, how consistently you update, etc. If you’re concerned about slow growth, maybe try posting your episodes at different times and seeing if there’s a better time for you? Or change your upload days? There’s really not a single “right way” of doing anything here.

[WillowTree]

It seems to be really, really varied on this site. Someone posted not too long ago about 200 subscribers in their first month and some people have posting regularly for months and haven't reached it yet.

Quality of work and consistency would probably be your important factors on this site. I'm trying to post around 5 pm my time from here on out and trying to keep it daily for my first story. I managed to get to 100 within in my two weeks and I credit that to being able to post as often as I do as well having decent writing skills.

Do you have a personal timeline goal for your milestones? I'd like to have 250 subscribers within 3 months hopefully

[Darth_Biomech]

I think people like to see a big backlog of pages, so for some series it can take months to get some kind of recognition.

Well my comic is on the site for three an a half years already, haven't breached the 100 subs yet. And I don't even know what sort of performance this displays. Is it ok? is it bad? Is it a bright neon letters shining "just stop already, it's getting pathetic" that I don't see?
Of course there were major issues for nearly the entire run, and I managed to get the pages be releasing weekly only in the last summer (and then at the end of it funerals thew wrench again for the remainder of the year, but for nearly the entirety of 2020 I managed to post regularly with just one small hiccup in April), and so far I managed to release only 59 pages, but I still paranoidally think - is that just the schedule issue? Or there's some underlying global flaw with my comic that prevents people from becoming invested, besides the unpopular twist on an already unpopular genre?

[rajillustration]

I think it depends on the type of comic. If it were a scroll format, full color, currently visable genre, you would expect more subs than something that wasn't. So I think those milestones are just something you have to judge for yourself. Most of the milestones we see from other people, we don't know how many of those subs came from being trending or front page, or which were tons of sub4subs, or which were slow growth over a long time on their own social networks. I'm not quite sure which numbers to trust even for myself. Numbers is fake.

[jcmraz]

Not in the least. You can do a lot to help people look at your content. And if it's good people will stick around. But there is a LOT of luck involved too. You could be very good, doing it for years for a tiny audience and then suddenly it explodes. Or you could build slowly over time. Or you could get out of the gate running with some crazy lucky views or bumps from other popular creators somewhere. Or you could work your entirely life for a few people that enjoy your work and never make a dime. There isn't even a vague estimate or guideline. Maybe you could look at averags but that wouldn't tell you anything except make you feel bad if you're under the average. If the number is the most important thing for you then stop creating. Otherwise keep working and keep sharing your work wherever you can

[Darth_Biomech]

f the number is the most important thing for you then stop creating.

I fell these sort of opinions are at best disingenuous. There wouldn't be so many celebrations of subscriber milestones all around the creator's world if they didn't care about how many people are enjoying their work, yet they constantly are giving advices like "don't worry about your sub count".
You exist only till there are people who are aware of your existence, and same goes for your art. I have a couple of things that I really don't care how many people know about them, so I never even bothered to upload them online (and some - didn't even bother to create them in the first place... They're already as best as they can be inside of my head), but for things like my comics, yeah, I aren't creating for myself. That would be almost self-fellational, if you'll excuse my choice of words. I create them so that other people could interact with these pieces, and thru these pieces, with my imagination. If there's nobody to interact, there's a problem.
I sure there are people who are really write only for themselves without care about who might observe their art. But I also suspect that these people are also the ones who tend to just shelf their finished pieces, where they will sit until somebody decides to finally clear out this decades-old pile of paper left from the previous owner. Really the only moment these pieces of art have any hope on obtaining any audience.

[darthmongoose]

What are you trying to achieve? Like what's your end-goal here?

If you want to eventually make money off your comic, then yeah, not having even hit a hundred by the end of the year would suggest it's not a highly marketable concept, or something is definitely off with your marketing strategy and you may need to make changes.

[Kelheor]

I see you don't post on Tapas or Webtoons. I think that it's pretty hard to breach 100 subs on these sites, while you are trying to do it on your own site. Do you promote it on Twitter or Instagram? If you don't, how can anyone actually find you?

Also 59 pages over the course of 4 years is a pretty small amount. It may have nothing to do with it, but people still prefer to read much more than this.

[jcmraz]

No that's entirely not what I said. I did not at all say that people couldn't like and be proud of numbers. And I didn't say you shouldn't think about them. Reread what I said. Note the words "most important". Particularly the word "most". Because they're pretty important to that sentence. You're responding to me as though that word wasn't there. Words are important so that you don't decide to erect a strawman of my point.

[writercynknapp]

I only have three years to judge against.

This is poor time of year. A minimum. Just around the new year is low too.

Some genres have fans that actively seek out new stories.

Comics collect more subs than novels.

Be sure to post in the regular threads in the forum.