Overwhelming Anxiety on Posting Day

I suffer from the exact same feeling. Normally after I post my comic, I'll take a break from all things pertaining to my comic. I also upload in the action genre and while I'm not sure if it's like this for anyone else but it is definitely difficult to attract new fans. It's funny to hear you say that you upload your comic and then it'll lose exposure once new comics get posted. I've always thought the same thing. The key is to not get discouraged though. Trust me, I have only been on here for two years and my comic has still gone through plenty of lulls, lost subscribers, low viewership, and the like. These things happen and it's hard. You just have to find ways to chill and keep creating your art and trying to push it out to as many people as you can. Even when it feels like no one is interested in your comic but you.

I have horrible anxiety issues so I'm usually overwhelmed on posting day, but that's not saying much as I'm usually overwhelmed the rest of the time anyways. ;v; I find putting the pages on scheduled updates really helps cut the tension I feel. I don't know why, I guess it's just one less thing to worry about.
But for the most part I'm in the same boat as you, feeling pressured to do more, do better and get there faster while having basically no time. All I can say is don't let your feelings of anxiety corrupt your view, and kill the joy you feel for your comic. I think you're being overly critical of yourself and your work. You're usually your own biggest critic, and while that's not a bad thing as looking at your work in a critical way can help improve it, its also easy to go too far in the opposite direction and cripple your work.

It takes a long time to garner an audience and while there are some things you can do to speed up the process, you can basically expect 3-5 years as the amount of time your going to have to put into a comic before it starts really taken off. So the best thing you can do is be patience and enjoy the journey, don't worry about the destination too much.

I hope any of this helps, rest assured a lot of people are feeling the slow traffic of this time of year and it doesn't reflect the quality of your comic. In my opinion your comic has been getting better and better each update.

I got more important things to be anxious over and lose sleep over than comics lol I've been making comics for 10 years and whatever problems I encountered when I was first doing it I've long forgotten since I was 12 since i'm used to it by now. You are probably never going to get the feedback you want, you have to accept that. Focus on your life first, irrelevant things only make you worry about nothing.

I know this sort of anxiety very, very well. The best thing to do when this beast rears its ugly head is to wrestle it into submission. It sounds easier said than done, but hear me out.

I've been doing this to my other anxieties and it's been working for me. I address all my anxious thoughts and subconsciously tell them, "No! You can't stop me from doing this! I want to do this!" The real reason to write a webcomic should not be to make money or get popular, that's how you crash and burn. You're making this because you want to make it. Let your passion guide you and you will feel satisfied in just getting something done.

Keep in mind that you will fall and succumb to the anxiety sometimes, but the most important part is to stand back up and fight back. And it does seem like you already have people who like what you do. Be happy about that. Think of them cheering you on as you go. Though growth is nice, getting your story told is your top priority. Feel proud that you've committed yourself as far as you have without giving up. Feel even prouder as you make more pages in your story.

I've been doing fairly well this month of November. From the day I post my comic, to the next following week, I'm usually screaming my head off on various social platforms to generate reads for my comic. I'm pretty okay when it comes to posting a new page; for me the 1st day is always the best day- the best part is that I ride the wave of New Comic Book Day(since I post on Tuesdays) on Wednesdays; the momentum of "Indie Comic Thursdays' and by Friday I'm planting seeds in everyone's heads to read my comic while they're resting on the weekend. Monday is the only day where it seems like I dont do or say much coz I'm usually transitioning myself to get ready for the new page on Tuesday.

It's gonna suck when I finally have a lull between this chapter and the next.

And @Greg_Dickson- you have FAR more readers & subs than I have! You're moving at a good pace; you just need to start figuring how to make better usage of your time- which I know is hard, coz you have a fam & all. I think you're doing okay so far...if you feel you're overwhelmed maybe you might want to A) take a break and get caught up/get ahead art wise or B) make shorter chapters/episodes. Try looking at promoting on various other social platforms besides Twitter. If I took pics like nobody's business and had an Instagram account, I'd be promoting there..!

I praise your comic, because you put a lot of effort into it, and you've made leaps of improvement over months. It's fun to read, and I enjoy the characters.

It's a good thing to practice. I got the idea as I was getting treated for my anxiety via therapy. Basically, my therapist explained that the anxiety was caused by distorted thinking. I was thinking a lot of the same stuff you were down to the point of "I'm the worst person" and "Everyone should hate me". I knew somewhere that those thoughts weren't true, but it still sent me into a fearful downward spiral.

Once I had a name for these types thoughts, I realized I had strength over them. They were false, negative things gnawing at my emotions. Using rational thinking and putting myself back on the right path has helped me tame these thoughts. And at least this experience helped me come up with the plot in my own comic. In essence, it's about overcoming fears and anxieties and not letting them control you. I've also committed myself to practice what I preach and help others with their anxieties as well. Be strong and good luck to you!

I'm going to start off by saying (if you don't already know )I FREAKING LOVE YOUR WORK! So at the very least you have a diehard fan in me.

As for the anxiety, I get it pretty bad as well. And not just during the "lull" (which is practically the day after my update). I get it when just before I read comments, after I finish a page, when I get a new sub and I'm a complete mess the day I introduce a new character (was freaking out hard when I introduced Cairo, afraid no one would like him). What I ask myself when I feel like that is "what are going to do? Quit? Then what? Are you going to give up your hobby?" The answer is always "no". I love drawing and I've been wanting to make a comic long before I even knew webcomics were a thing. Remembering that really helps me get pass those feelings.

I post every day, but I'm going to be honest and say the main reason I do that is because of that anxiety. One of my comics only updated once a week, but it was making me really nervous, so I cut the number of pages for one of them down to three a week, so I could up the other to two a week. Those slumps terrify me, so I spit out pages like crazy so I can cover them up as best I can, leaving my weekends free because I have enough going up that I'll still get some hits here and there. I mean, there are other reasons as well as to why I keep my update schedule really hardcore and honestly a little unrealistic, but that is the main one. I can't focus and definitely will talk myself out of working if I don't keep things so fast I can't complain about it.

(that being said, I know you didn't make this post as a cry for attention, but I just wanted to say I have been meaning to take a look at your comic. I see you around a lot and have been wanting to give it a look. I'm hoping I'll have some spare time later this week to fit some of these comics that are sitting on my backburner in)

I only post once a fortnight, so my dry spells seem to take forever and often when you do get to that post day it's not what you expected. I've heard some people say it takes years to get any real following or recognition. I'd jus like to point out that it's not necessarily years it takes, but also pages. Yes, I've already been doing this for a year and more, but my story has barely begun, so it's silly of me to think I'd have some huge following when there's so little of a story to follow.

Anxiety probably just means you care, and that's better than ambivalence in my book.

I haven't gotten to the meat of my story yet, but it'll happen. Thanks for checking me out!

I also know how embarrassing it is to feel that way for seemingly no reason. I have been there and it put me into a deeper and deeper hole of despair. The most important thing to remember is that you are the master of your own mind. Another thing that helps is more vitamin D as negative thoughts get worse this time of year because of lack of sunlight. (Unless you live in the other hemisphere and it's summer right now, then ignore that last part.)

@Greg_Dickson

To be honest, I too have noticed that I have days where practically nobody reads my comic, but then on update day its like a rocket boom! Honestly, I wouldn't stress too much about how many views your comic gets per week so long as you are updating consistently. The ones who actually read your comic will still read your comic and the ones who have something to say will still probably have something to say with each new page. Remember, we are all in this together.

I dont really suffer any anxiety from posting pages seeing as I don't post them - they're all scheduled to post. I often forget when my comic updates in fact..

however! I love it when people comment and even if I only get like 2-3 comments per page from dedicated readers, it's enough for me! I always look towards the future of things, like - "yess I can't WAIT to see how people will react to this page!" or even just new readers stumbling upon my comic for the first time - I've gotten a lot of comments that way in fact! Even people just replying to old comment threads left by other people.

then again my advice should be taken with a grain of salt because I deal with my general anxiety by spacing the hell out....so.

I'm actually quite the opposite. No matter how many readers I have, every time I upload something online, I always feel this little feeling of excitement, wanting to see people's reaction to my work. I think I'm just used to sharing my arts and stories in the past that it no longer bothers me anymore. (Then again, I'm not one who get anxious that easily, unless you are forcing me to give a speech in front of a large group of audience irl)

I'm pretty new here, and I haven't started a weekly comic until now. I'm not really into promotions, so I know what to expect when it comes to traffic (aka. I'm not gonna get that many reads yet, much less comments and likes and they're gonna stop until I post another page). Still, I got pretty anxious around the posting of the first page (like, what time does it have to be here in the Philippines for it to be 8 AM PST, etc.)

I sort of calmed down (believe me, I actually have no chill) when I found that I could just take the time to interact with people here, do work (I have a job), and make more comics to post while waiting for stats to eventually rise. Also, what's important, anyway? Why am I making comics? Is it really the popularity that comes with it, or is it the fact that I can express ideas the way I want to? Maybe it's either, maybe it's both.

But you know what I like about the weekly setup? I have something to look forward to every week.

Oh yes I feel this stress. I have been here a bit over a year now and I've started to recognize the traffic slump -months. Knowing they come makes it easier to not fall into desperation but it still sucks. The worst thing is that I get it. I make longfrom mystery comic so weekly updates kinda slump the pacing. But that's the sacrifice I have to make .___.

What does help me is that I got some active readers who comment pretty often, it always reassures me that someone is actually out there reading my comic. Also, I used to have this bad habit to keep way too close watch on my stats and sub count and hung up to it. But when you let go of the pressure of getting an audience and just focus on doing the story you want to do it gets lot more fun. But I do let myself slip back to it sometimes.. :'D

I have this every time I post a comic page or a Youtube video. ;w; I'm always scared that everyone's going to be disappointed or unsubscribe or leave a rude comment, even though it so rarely happens for some reason I always worry about it. ;x;

@haleymewsome

With your art, I'm not sure why anybody would want leave a rude comment, but the nice thing about having a YouTube channel is that you can mod the comments section of your vids anytime some jerk shows up to say something mean.