Posting per page

[MelJam]

hi there
it's not like a complaint, but I'm just curious.. I see a lot of people posting their comics per page and I'm just wondering why..
while I do understand that it can take a long time to finish a chapter, it really takes away from the experience when reading if you have to either reread or remember everything to read a single chapter..
as a reader (for me at least) it really takes away from the immersiveness (if that's a word ), though as I'm finishing a project (my first, well would be finished one anyway ) I can really see the appeal of doing it that way...
anyway just interested in your opinions

[shade277]

the idea is to get much more views and likes per sires =) It`s not quite fair as I think. Sometimes artist do not have possibility to finish the chapter at once so they show finished content to maintain interest to theres creation. Thats my opinion.
,

[wrentemple]

(post withdrawn by author, will be automatically deleted in 24 hours unless flagged)

[BladeRabbit]

Okay, this is something I've been thinking a lot about, too. I read in spurts usually, rather then a page at a time.
I'm experimenting with updating with segments of story (around 2-7 pages worth) rather then a single page.

I'd like to hear more about what readers think of this.

[MelJam]

I mainly brought this up because I'm working on a comic myself that I really want release per chapter, but the size of the chapters would probably make it too much to finish in time, so it's not like I cannot see the point..
on the other hand I'm worried it would really kill the experience, though that was mainly from my own experiences reading it like that, so I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this way about it

[SpavVy]

I personally don't have an issue with it because in the feed the updated comics will show up and that helps bring in more readers but I can see how it may make other readers feel ehh...

[myung]

I agree with you, that a break between each page does interrupt the experience for me, especially with this kind of vertical scrolling format . Also, I do see some artist's trying to exploit the numbers here. However, most of the time the artist can only manage one page a week due their schedule. But on a more interesting level, a reader posted somewhere that if your chapter is too long, it becomes overwhelming and they tend to stop reading.

The threshold for keeping a reader's attention totally varies depending on the type of comic and what point of the story they're in (a suspenseful moment or a lull), and of course who the reader is. I used to post a whole chapter in one go because I was new here and needed to get my archives up fast. Now I try to measure my posts by what feels like a satisfying progress in the story. Like the end of a conversation, a meaningful cliff hanger, or the resolution of a plot point. Of course this makes more sense for long form comics.

[PotooGryphon]

It comes down to preferences. As a reader I find it hard to spend time reading large update posts, and will actually feel overwhelmed if it's too much. I don't have much spare time these days, so being able to read a page and carry on to the next comic update (i follow a lot of series) works for me.

As a creator, I cringed reading that it's for the page views and reader activity. Yeeesssss... sort of. That's partially right but not fully.

In fact, I rather reword that to, it's good to post often to keep the series recent. Comics tend to fade into the void if they take too long to update, and the creator's hands are tied to how much time it takes them to create a page. So if it takes a week to create a page, it'll take upwards of 2 weeks and on to have multiple pages for a post. By the time the artist has a complete scene to post the internet could have forgotten about the series, meaning they'll have to spend more time self promoting to become relevant again.

And sure the artist could wait till the whole chapter, issue, book is done before posting, but is that really ideal? Isn't it better to try to gain popularity and a following as you create than to create in obscurity and post when done? Isn't seeing the fan reactions and receiving love for the series part of the motivation to keep going for a creator?

It's all preference though and both the reader and creator are free to read and create at the level they're comfortable with. Readers can wait till there's a back log to read whole chapters and creators can build buffers to help post multiple pages, or lump chapters together after all the pages are posted, or post one at a time to get that fix of motivation to continue. Both are A okay!

[shade277]

Maybe someone more experienced than I am can tell me what to do? It takes about 21-27 days to create an episode
And until release team is working. Script for second episode contains twice more storyline than ep1.

And some scenes take much more than one page to conclude.

Should I post per page or keep posting the whole episode?

[Raven_C]

Comics tend to fade into the void if they take too long to update, and the creator's hands are tied to how much time it takes them to create a page. So if it takes a week to create a page, it'll take upwards of 2 weeks and on to have multiple pages for a post. By the time the artist has a complete scene to post the internet could have forgotten about the series, meaning they'll have to spend more time self promoting to become relevant again.

I completely agree. Especially as a reader.

Now I try to measure my posts by what feels like a satisfying progress in the story. Like the end of a conversation, a meaningful cliff hanger, or the resolution of a plot point.

Yep, I try to do this, too, since I don't like updating in huge chunks/chapters. (Or at least leave each page with some sort of cliffhanger. Doesn't have to be a huge one, just a reason for a reader to keep turning the page or look forward to the next update).

[myung]

To be honest, the graphic info on your pages are dense relative to most comics on Tapastic. If it were me, I wouldn't wait to post a whole chapter, and I wouldn't post it in one episode.

You are totally free to do as you see fit, but I'd try maybe 2 or 3 pages a week. If you still want to post in one long episode, remember now you can notify reader's when an episode is updated. So, if it's all going in one episode, at least update a few pages a week.

[elixiadragmire]

I can only draw up a page a week. full time job, long commute, house to run, so now my update schedule is every fortnight with 2 pages. I agree with what @CyndiFoster said that too long of a lull means you've lost pace on the web and readers have forgotten about you (I've done it myself)

As for updating an espiode, I want this feature at first but in practise, it doesnt work out for me, to re-scrolling over pages I've already read to get to the new update rubs me the wrong way.

Also real time feedback, I kinda like that, knowing what works and what doesn't in the pages or what people are thinking. I wish I wish I could create more pages a week but I just can't

[shade277]

I`ll take think about it! Thanks! And say, what do you think about teaser posters or something? Are they useful?

[Kura]

For me it has nothing to do with accumulating page views / likes / whatever the hell people are saying artists do that for. For ME it's just easier to read.

As a reader I don't always have time to sit down and read a whole chapter or a designated number of pages. I want to be able to stop reading at ANY point in the story and be able to pick off WITHOUT much trouble finding where it is that I left off. When comics are uploaded page by page I can do this. When they are not... well I tend to not go back to them and put them off for another day AGAIN because I don't like hunting down where it was I was. It's like not being able to bookmark your page in a novel if you're unable to finish the chapter, and it's infuriating.

It reads much better page by page upload on the tapastic app. Seriously you literally just swipe up to get to the next page, when it's more than one page you have to scroll and sometimes depending on phone sensitivity (or your own twitchy fingers) you can scroll past stuff (This is a problem for page formatted comics because comic pages are made with the method of condensing panels onto a page. While longform scrolling comics (proper ones anyway) are made differently by spacing out the panels from each other and giving them breathing room because they are not confined to limited size page restraints. So it's very easy to accidentally twitch scroll past a shitload f information when the panels are condensed like that, and then you have to play the ' jump around the comic reading random lines to see if I can remember this / is this where I left off' game, and **** that game.

The loading for this website on the computer is sometimes really wonky. Some days it will look just fine, while others I'll be reading through a chapter and random pages will be missing, I will not notice until I read the next page and then get thoroughly confused on wtf is suddenly going on. 'Why is this chick suddenly yelling at the MC and threatening never to speak to him again? They were getting along just fine in the panel before." "Wait... where did the flying **** did this monster come from and why does the main character have a sword now???? What???" "WHEN THE HELL DID THAT CHICK DIE?????" When it's uploaded page by page it's pretty easy to catch when the page is taking it's time to load.

It's way easier for readers to help you out by pointing out spelling mistakes or drawing errors, and you'll be able to deal with fixing those errors from reader responses like "You accidentally spelt his name Luka instead of Luca in the 3rd panel, also you made Clara hold the sword in her right hand by accident, she always held it in her left before." instead of "You accidentally spelt his name as Luka in panel 26 and at some point (I'm too lazy to scroll and find the error) you accidentally made Clara right handed"

That being said I REALLY wish there was a way to sort page that are individually uploading into chapters (something like a drop down menu), cause having so many 'episodes' can be a mess.

[keii4ii]

For me, it's about what you want to get out of the comic, both as a reader and as a creator. Posting page by page allows a reader to be a part of the experience. It encourages more discussion by giving you a clear opportunity to comment on each page, and you're with the characters every step of the way. It's not less immersion; it's a different kind of immersion.

On the other hand, chapter by chapter is more... convenient, I guess? When you've found a new comic with a huge archive, you probably won't want to comment on everything, and the experience of being there with the characters is definitely lost. Again, it's not less immersion, just a different kind. Here it's more like you're there for the flow of the story, which is also a perfectly valid way of enjoying a story.

And here's a logical way of looking at it. If I update twice a week, people who prefer more frequent updates will be happy. People who prefer to read a big chunk at a time can simply wait and check back every month or so. But if I update every time I finish a chapter, only the Chunk people would be satisfied; the Frequent Updates people will have NO way of getting what they prefer.

That being said I REALLY wish there was a way to sort page that are individually uploading into chapters (something like a drop down menu), cause having so many 'episodes' can be a mess.

Indeed. :[

[Icelug]

This and what @keii4ii said, he pretty much summed it all

As a reader, I'd say full chapter updates, but that only covers story driven comics and not gags, so I'd say it depends the history, the pace and flow of it.
For example my story is chapter oriented and it feels weird for me to split it in small parts, but if I were to update it just once a month it would seem even weirder, like I had quit or something.

[myung]

Teasers can be cool if it's once in a while. For me, I'd much rather see something like an intro or a preview prologue at the beginning of the series to get me excited and then only see promo material once every few episodes after. Some people post it to their wall, but I'm the type of reader that likes to have things well integrated in one place. Again, as long as it's not obnoxious and takes away from my reading mojo.

[alakotila]

I'm testing out uploading once a week, maybe two to three pages in a bundle rather than one page at a time. A lot of readers typically follow several webcomics and are used to it … much like waiting for the next episode of a TV show or game. I never minded bouncing around from comic to comic, even if they only updated a page a week. I sometimes re-read the series to refresh my memory, or even hold off on a few updates and then get a lot of pages at once. The reader can control their experience in a way.

As for how I work, I create an episode for maybe each chapter, maybe two episodes per chapter. I create the episode and then just edit it, because I don't want to break the story-flow by making each page an episode -- also, my comic is going to be long and I don't want to end up with thousands of episodes!

Remind your readers of important story points as often as you can without it looking awkward for those who read it all in a chunk (and also for publishing purposes) -- see if you can strike a balance between the two. Use the scrolling format to your advantage, as I find there are some things I can do with it that don't work in a book format. That does mean keeping two separate files (if you intend to publish it in a book format anyway), and I can't really tell you much of what I have been doing because I am still figuring it out for myself. It's just considering pacing and the reading experience ^^

[UzukiCheverie]

Hey there. Uzuki Cheverie here, one of those "crazy" artists that uploads story pages every single day lol

So here's my honest opinion. Yes, it has something to do with the reading stats, but that's not the only factor. As a creator, you can do it for that reason, and that's fine! We all have our own methods.

However, updating every day does two things - it keeps people interested and coming back for more, and it prevents reader burn.

What's reader burn? It's kind of like subscriber burn for Youtube. You upload too much content at once, and readers can't get through it all. They end up getting burnt out with it, they stop following it, and eventually it just sits there collecting dust in their reading list. As there are readers who are fine marathoning, there are readers who -aren't- fine marathoning.

With Time Gate, I have it set up for both parties. Some people may get burnt out checking it out every day, so they can take a break, and it'll keep updating every day at 6:30 PM. But the others who enjoy marathoning can marathon it, and this works best if they're starting from the beginning - we're starting chapter 3 now, which means there's more than enough content to burn through from the start. And I don't upload on weekends (unless we're finishing up a chapter near the end of the month) so it gives those readers who are feeling "burnt out" a few days to recuperate and wait for the next page to come out.

It also works great community wise. If you upload it page-by-page, it gives readers lots of time to discuss and talk about what might happen next or what they thought about that page. It's happened a couple times already where a reader has given me a neat idea for a page and I've whipped that page out in a few hours and made THAT the new page in place of the original one, because their wondering and suggestions made me want to do that for them (of course that was going above and beyond lol). Readers might not feel like discussing it as in-depth in a full-on chapter than they would in a page by page setup.

And finally, my last point, updating it page by page at least gives you time to keep your readers entertained and to finish the pages you need to finish. Having to upload entire chapters at once - unless they're super short and you can finish them in a week - usually means your readers will end up waiting for a month or so and a lot of the ones that aren't as loyal as others will end up leaving it behind. The only comic I can think of that is still gaining subscribers after being inactive for months is Fisheye Placebo, but that's because it's been around for a long time, has a huge fanbase, and even has its own merchandise line in the form of Axent headphones; it's a special and rare case and certainly isn't a risk to take.

Working on the next pages that are due also helps keep you motivated (this is mostly for myself because I found it a lot easier to sit down and work once I started updating, versus getting pages done ahead of time before Time Gate even started and getting burnt out with it before I even started).

So yep. That's just my opinion from my experiences with it. There are pros and cons to all of them. Pick the one that's best for you, and don't assume that the creators are just into the views and stuff They have their methods, and you have yours. Pick the one that's best for you, and your readers will adjust to it accordingly, so long as you're giving them content.

[scythe]

Like most else said, from a reading experience, really long posts have to be read in one sitting, which can be quite daunting. But with single pages, or smaller 'episodes' are just easier to digest, and you can stop whenever you want and just pick up where you left off at a later time.

Also, when I see that something hasn't updated for more than 2 months, I wonder whether they've given up, so I usually won't bother unless the art really hooks me in. This isn't ideal, as great art can hook people in, but only a great story can keep them coming back. So I'm not going to gamble on something that says it was last updated 3 months ago, even though it may have been updating regularly, but I can't see that because I'm not a subscriber.