Long first chapter or multiple -- OPINIONS NEEDED

[ArthurAleksei]

I've been wondering, is it better to start off a new series by publishing multiple chapters or one extra-long chapter. The reason for not starting off with a single normal-sized chapter is that no one can really get a good idea of what the story is like from one chapter.
No wrong answers, obviously, just opinions.

EDIT: I'm specifically wondering about webcomics, and not webnovels. But webnovel advice is welcome too.

[crowstories]

I'd say go long, only depending on how you define long, you might need to split it into multiple "episodes" as tapas has a pretty short character limit for novel chapters IMO.

[Freemints30]

Well here generally there's already a small word cap of around 2K words and your only means of exposure at first is the fresh section that you can only appear in once a day. (Thus posting alot on the same day would cause no effects and wouldn't bump you up).

So generally bite sized frequently updating stories of around 900-1.5K words tend the range most suitable. Other sites may be different but that how it generally goes around here. Just make sure your episodes have a nice cap at the end

[Lahin]

You can only go 15k characters a chapter on tapas, but I'd say, make the first chapter as long as it needs to be in order to get someone hooked.

[ArthurAleksei]

@lahin @crowstories @Freemints30
I'm sorry, I should specified that I was specifically talking about the web-comic format, and not web novel.
Thanks for the responses though

[Lahin]

Ah, when I see 'chapter' I usually think in terms of novels, but cheers man. The opinion stays the same, though.

[crowstories]

Hahaha why is it that "chapter" just brings novel to mind?

But yes, in that case definitely go long. Hard to really get to the point in one short comic.

[Freemints30]

Oh okay, then same rule on fresh still applies.

If you are able to do long once a weekly updates. Long chapters are the way to go. But if you can't and can only do it monthly. It would be a hard battle with the algorithm and exposure.

If you are capable of it with a consistent schedule, go for. Those tend to do really well on webtoons

[kavaj]

What is considered long and short by average readers in webtoons? I feel like my own interpretation is kind of skewed somehow.

[Rhonder]

I'm a fan of either a longer-than-normal first episode or a few, personally! One of the biggest bummers when checking out a new series is when you check it out but then there's like... only 1 page/5-ish panels to check out. You want to hook people the first time they see the series, if possible, because a lot of people won't go back to check something out again later if they just get a luke warm first impression. There's just too many options competing for their attention otherwise. That's not to say the first episode has to be super long or anything, but trying to reach the first plot hook is a good Idea.

[ArthurAleksei]

For the purposes of this thread "long" just means longer than whatever the usual length is

[ArthurAleksei]

Yes, I've definitely seen those super-short 5-panel episodes (notice I'm calling them "episodes" now, instead of chapters :P). Whenever I need to read my episodes to get through somebody buying coffee, I usually drop the series. It's tiring to read even if it's an old series you can binge.
A super-long episode would probably be tiring to read--unless the story is insanely good.

[Eiranyx]

You can publish one extra long episode on your first episode rather than breaking it into multiple small chapters and uploading it on the same day -- because you can only appear on fresh section once in 24 hours
and also because that chapter will be enough to get the reader's interest/ impression on your webcomic.
For the next episodes, you can do normal chapters, but there's a basic rule of the thumb is don't go less than 10 panels per episode ^^

[Rhonder]

Right, balancing that length is definitely important haha. I mostly gauge by like... premium comics, I guess. I'll never have an episode longer than those (and on average, quite a bit shorter) so good to go!

But yeah, for my first series that's up on Tapas, I ended up going with a 7 page first episode, which got people all the way through the first scene. I felt like that was a good litmus test for new readers to make an informed decision about whether they wanted to read on or not. Afterwards I averaged 1-2 pages per update. I feel like it would have been a really slow start if that first bit took almost 2 months to get through.

With my new project I've switched over to vertical format with longer episodes by default so I didn't see the need to do a longer first ep. I did go back and make a new episode 1 ahead of my launch later this month though I built up 6 episodes of buffer and thought "ok! Am I good to start uploading?... Nope! Episode 1 is NOT a good introduction" lol

[ArthurAleksei]

Making a good first impression is definitely worth the extra work. Good luck on your project.

[nostalgicroxas]

Set me up for whatever I'm getting into. If you give me a long first update or several updates and all the rest after that are super short, I'll be more likely to not read and come back later maybe in a few years.

[alextsarace]

I have really long chapters, two of them basically introducing. I decided to split first two chapters in 4 pieces, so welcoming info on what's going on is not divided and easy to consume. Other chapters I'll post weekly, in small portions because otherwise you'll never get any attention here.

[nixxusnibelheim]

I think it's better to start off with the same average length of your serie. If you post a long ass chapter and then start posting short ones for the entire thing, some might just leave because they will feel mislead. However, that's the minority if the quality is good, they'll stick around regardless.

I'd say, start off with a long one but split it up into multiple parts that last about your average normal-sized chapter. And post them all up at the same time. This is roughly what they do in the webtoon industry. They post the first three episodes to hit the hook right off the bat.