Question - Sub for subs, opinions

AndrewSutton 2016-08-24 07:20:33 UTC #1

Being new here and trying to scrape a following, what is the general opinion when it comes to subs for subs etc?

here's a link for anyone interested - turnipman and bonus fridays are the better ones i'd say.
https://tapastic.com/AndrewSutton

zetina 2016-08-24 07:26:35 UTC #2

Subs for subs is an empty gesture.
I mean, if you end up liking each other's comic or happen to have become friends and have decided to support each other - that's a different story. But subbing each other out of "business", essentially... Yeeaaah, no, I'm subbing if I like a comic or just want to see where it goes and I don't like anyone subbing to me for any reason that isn't "this comic looks like it might be interesting".
And that's how I feel.

AndrewSutton 2016-08-24 07:31:25 UTC #3

Well hey, that's why I asked the question.
It's more to get the views up so it tends to be easier to find.
There is so so so much content on this site.

I get your point though, why not give it a look?
Turnipman is a bit goofy and mainly for kids but still... lol

niinasalmelin 2016-08-24 07:32:26 UTC #4

Yes this is pretty pointless. I'd want my subs to be from people who actually want to read my comic. There's no point on 'return the favor' -subs that will not even bother to read the thing.

I'd recommend you to give comments more than sub. You can give your support in other ways than subbing that makes them see you. More changes to be seen and it's nice to others as well.

AndrewSutton 2016-08-24 07:35:17 UTC #5

You know, I actually did it for 2 people last week - I actually did end up reading because I got notifications, so I thought "Hey, I'll give that a glance"

zetina 2016-08-24 08:03:42 UTC #6

Aaaannnd I answered the question.
If you want to get views up and stuff, basically instead of framing it as "sub for sub", do something like offering to see other people's comics while having a link to yours in the opening post. In general, hanging around the forums talking to people gets your visibility up. I met a few people where mutual subbing happened but it was, y'know, mutually finding the other interesting. So yeah!
I know getting noticed in such a populated community is hard but with a "sub for sub" thread, it's likely to be noticed in a negative light |D tho even that is better than nothing, I guess.

AndrewSutton 2016-08-24 08:08:04 UTC #7

Hmm, well I am trying.

And the sub for sub was only a question.
Fishing for ideas or what have you.

Thanks for taking the time

zetina 2016-08-24 08:11:36 UTC #8

Ayyy, good luck! Getting acknowledged is p much the toughest part, so it's not like I don't feel ya orz"

shazzbaa 2016-08-24 08:35:38 UTC #9

According to Tapastic staff, it actually harms you, mathematically!

If you end up with more subs, but they aren't actually reading or interacting with your comic, that will hurt your ability to show up in the trending section rather than help it.

Besides, your connections to your peers are a big deal in this field, and starting right out of the gate with strained, obligation-based relationships strikes me as a bad deal!

AndrewSutton 2016-08-24 10:20:02 UTC #10

hmm, seems to be the popular opinion on this. ah well.

well, if you're interested, I mainly do a goof series called turnipman

https://tapastic.com/series/The-Pun-tastic-Adventures-of-TurnipMan

haleymewsome 2016-08-24 10:57:04 UTC #11

The best way to get a following is to regularly put out comics and constantly be trying to improve the art and story. Truly I think every popular comic on here got to where it is because it has good story/humor, has art that is charming and suits the narrative, and is regularly updated. It is very competitive to be a creator online (I also do YouTube, talk about over saturation haha) but that just means you should be honing your skills every day, not trying to force a higher number of subs. If you work hard and don't give up, your audience will come to you, so don't worry about them. Just worry about working on your comic. And making friendships with other creators based on mutual respect for each other's work is way more fun and rewarding than sub for sub. c:

timinabox24 2016-08-24 11:24:32 UTC #12

I already have enough people who don't like my comics, I would prefer someone who at least looked at it before subscribing :'D

MissMagicGirl 2016-08-24 11:30:04 UTC #13

When someone subs to my comic I usually check out there stuff as well. But I only sub if I like what they do. I think having readers that actually like your comic is more important then the numbers...

PotooGryphon 2016-08-24 13:09:05 UTC #14

This question has been accurately answered. This topic is now closed. New replies are no longer allowed.

Comment Raid (not reviews)

It's generally not viewed well to ask for subs, likes, and comments on the forums because the Tapastic algorithm does track this activity on each series and series that get a boost in activity appear on the front page under Popular or Trending.

So asking for these interactions on the forums instead of naturally gaining that through creating a quality comic and reaching readers that genuinely like and follow does hurt the series asking for such aide.

It hurts the series because you don't want to bloat your series with fake subscribers and readers that read once and never return. On platform sites like Tapastic it's good to have a healthy active following of readers that come back for each update and comment/like/share naturally because they appreciate your series. With readers like that a series builds consistent ad revenue, and activity that can land them on the front page of the site with each update.

You also don't want to build a readership based on a contingency of you comment/like/sub/so on on mine I'll do the same on yours. You should want readership with no strings attach and you can freely comment on whoever you'd like and they can return the favor if they so choose to.

There are better ways to build a readership on Tapastic that sub swapping. This forums is FILLED with great advice on it. Like this thread:

And you can introduce your comic on threads like these: