Question regarding sub for sub

[Phoenix_fly]

Hello, fellow writers and readers!
I'm curious about the effectiveness of 'sub for sub,' 'like for like,' and 'comment for comment' practices.
Do these strategies genuinely help in gaining more readers and increasing visibility for my novel? Or do they only provide temporary boosts without fostering a dedicated audience?

If you're interested in the genre and style of my work, I've shared a link in my bio. I'd appreciate any insights or experiences you can share on this topic. Looking forward to your thoughts!

I've been contemplating this for quite some time and would appreciate your insights on the pros and cons.

[BellaTheCow]

Well, all I can say is sometimes all it does is boost your numbers with dead subs but for me most all of the time, sub 4 sub is how I got to find a ton of my favorite series here in tapas and continue to make new friends of my fans and other creators. Moreover, while sometimes sub 4 sub does offer dead subs, a good amount of my sub4sub experiences end in real fans of my work. My only concern is that sometimes you sub to stuff you don’t want or don’t like, which is why you never come back to the story and become a dead sub yourself. My fix for that is to look at what your going to sub to first, if you think you’ll come back to it later because of your interest, sub to it and ask if they want to do sub 4 sub back and let them know if they don’t like what you have then it’s totally fine and will stay subbed regardless of their support to their work. This ensures that you gain more honest fans and become a honest fan yourself while fostering a ton of real engagement. Hope this helps! @Phoenix_fly

[Phoenix_fly]

Thanks a Lot for this. I am thinking a little more to made a thread regarding to sub4sub more now

[JoshRaed]

Bad idea. I did not keep up with sub for sub stories I found and people who sub for subbed with me didn’t read my comic either.

[Paul_Tromba]

Most don't actually read it. Though I have found some active readers through it.

[rasteranime]

here's what I think sub 4 sub...it made me come across some wonderful artists.... without sub 4 sub strategy i never would have even discovered them on the platform....I genuinely look into there work.... plus if me hitting that like button triggers the algorithm of the fellow creators which improves there visibility and gets read by much bigger audience(the actual readers on the platform)... so yeah in some sense it works.. plus I would like to point out that your primary target audience are not your sub 4 subs category or fellow creators... because creators don't have sufficient time for themselves and its not humanly possible to go through all, even if its an amazing piece... I'd like to think sub4sub strategy as one creator giving a shout out to other fellow creator rather than seeing them as the target audience​

[kyupol]

It helps the algorithm get exposure to your work. It's just one of many marketing tactics. Real readers eventually show up.

[conventurecomics]

I think it only works when both sub and like for each comics/novels helps out both creators. What doesn't work is when you subscribe then they unsubscribe that doesn't help the comics/novels or creators at all. Unless the user deactivated their account. When sticking around after sub4sub both creators can benefit more content from their works and meet their goals, or just enjoy sharing their works.

[simplykit]

depends on how good your work is. If you have something mind blowing and is a step above the rest then youd gain a following and maybe word of mouth will elevate you to marvel/ DC or Edgar Allan Poe writer level status.

either way having sub for subs is a good way to have people take a look at your work and you take take a look at theirs. They can point out which part you can work on and you can look at the best practices other novelists do. its all about growth, professionally and socially

now back to my pizza! nom nom!

[EncryptedWriting]

For starting your work and getting confidence? Sure thing.

For maintaining an audience and consistent support? Wouldn't recommend at all.

Good bit of folks here have promotion threads muted but, honestly, theyre really annoying. Some are neat and thoughtful, but most of the sub for sub is thoughtless.

In short, if you want to see numbers, then yeah sure. But, it is unlikely you gain any meaningful subscribers outta it.

[GiveMeThatBread]

In the short run if you want to hit some of those creator goals and quick dopamine thrill of a sub, sure.
In the long run when you need consistent engagement to remain visible and need a loyal readerbase, no.

Plus, people do check out someone's subs. Personally, I skip stories where most of the subs are just sub4sub people. It doesn't tell me how genuine that engagement is when it was mostly just a pact made from the Forums.

Your algorithm gets messed up in the end, when your views, likes, and subscribers were inflated for one day from this method, rather than consistently with readers who do like your work.

[jwabeasley]

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

[jwabeasley]

I use Sub4sub to find new comics. I always give each page published a view and a like, but I can't keep up with the novels. I just don't have the time. On the other hand, I've found some excellent comics through sub4sub, and there were some comics I wouldn't have given a chance to that I ended up liking after all.

I have met some of my best readers through sub4sub as well. As long as you don't expect fellow authors to filter through to your Patreon or whatever, it's fine. It's good to support each other here.