Should I take a risk on betting with my manga..?

[yaoi]

Hi fellow artists and readers, this is Ruriko-sama who migrated from Inkblazers a while ago due to its shut down.

And yes, in other words, I need suggestions for my big frustration which I believe many artists are experiencing at the same time---
I want to delete my current series and re-posting it as a new series

My Manga Series- The Martyr's Rebellion

HERE'S THE FIRST THING-- Up until the big Inkblazers migration, I only had 30 subscribers throughout 5 months even if I updated the same pace as I did on Inkblazers. Now, I have a fair amount of subscribers on tapastic after the big migration (most of them are my fans from Inblazers) and now I can actually find myself in the middle of the Manga madness collection (Thank you very much staffs), but what frustrates me is that compare to other manga/comic from inkblazers immigrants(featured and non-featured artist on inkblazers) who re-posted or just posted their comic on tapastics I'm falling behind really badly...I feel that most of their fans are actually coming from tapastic rather than all from inkblazers like me because they got a spot in the N&N section or because they are "NEW". Reason being I first posted my manga on Tapastic 6 months ago same time as on Inkblazers, within that first month on Tapastic I only gained around under 10 subscribers. I had like no chance and no exposure at all for my first try on Tapastics. Mean while the same time on Inkblazers they featured me during the first month of my publish,...(and they r shutting down..). Therefore, I'm really afraid that if I delete my current manga on Tapastic and re-posting it, I might end up the same situation as I had 6 months ago..It still sounds really tempting because I first saw this suggestion on this post and saw how people became famous because they delete and re-post, so I assume this is short of a luck/lottery bet....?

HERE'S THE SECOND THING-- I'm actually aware of my views, for calculating my exposure ofcourse...and I figured that I actually got a lot of views compare to many comics that are new and popular...but they have a lot more subscribers and likes than me. I understand that first is because my series is been here for 6 months and I recently advertise the tapastic link rather than the inkblazers link on My Deviantart and Facebook...those might have stacked up my views. Other than that, I have a strong doubt about the quality of my manga...........and questions came to mind: All those big amount of viewers who visited my manga page and did not choose to subscribe...and all those big amount of readers who read my episodes and did not click on the like...maybe is because my manga can not retain their attention and interest?....is it because of the Art? the story? the format? the layout, the genre, and etc? This led me to constantly compare myself to the more popular comics and urge to learn from them....(and tbh I still can't figure out much difference and answer yet) . Because of this big frustration, I actually spent my entire winter break to update as much as possible and redrew the first two chapters and edited panels and dialogues just to give off a better first impression to the new viewers...
I update constantly now...very constantly...but still no change and improvement in gaining new readers and recognition from Tapastic comic lovers..
It would be a great help for me if I can get your honest opinion on my manga in terms of art/story/plot/catchiness/whether fits the taste of this community..so I can judge myself better and make a better decision on whether i should keep fixing my own problem and working on the current series or should I delete and repost like the others...

Another suggestion I've seen is to create an extra series for my manga, like throwing character refs and illustrations and link it back to my main series...I dont have the character references ready yet so I'm still not too sure about this one. If you have tried this method I would like to hear from you, thank you.

I'm very sorry that my words sound negative and depressing...its just that this whole inkblazers shutting down and falling behind on tapastic compare to other friends and companions on inkblazers whom we used to be at the same level really bother me for a long while (mainly because I'm gonna lose all the fan base I built up on inkblazers if tapastic is not working out orz)...or maybe is just I'm thinking too much because I'm a really shy person and scared of giving out bets...I know that my manga is not perfect and I'm trying my very best to please my readers with effort in making my series better along the way...but somehow I feel discouraged when I realize that I'm not doing as well as I had before on Inkblazers. I think Tapastic has a lot of pros regardless now that I've known the site a bit better. I love the bgm function the most and the scrolling is actually quite convenient. The layout is a lot more comfortable for readers too I find...so I really do wanna interact with the community more once I'm able to settle myself down in this new place...

Thank you for reading this and I'll be looking forward to see your reply and spam you my love and thankfulness for your help and support ❤

[SuperRazz]

I have the same question too. I've had my first comic on hold when I started working on my second. Now that I have built a buffer for both comics, I updated the first comic and the latest episode's views are far less than the average views the preceding episodes had (may be due to the really long hiatus D:) . So I have been thinking about reposting too. I feel there is nothing wrong with it but somehow it seems spammy and that I may be about to perform a great deal of douchebaggery to my readers. I dunno. I'd like to hear another opinion. But as of now, I am about 70% sure that I shouldn't.

I had like no chance and no exposure at all for my first try on Tapastics. Mean while the same time on Inkblazers they featured me during the first month of my publish, which then gained me up to 900+ fans up until now

It seems like you're comparing two completely different sites. It is realistic to think that the same comic would do differently on two different websites i.e. tapastic and inkblazers (I'd rather not bore you with the comparison). I don't think it is fair to compare the two.

All those big amount of viewers who visited my manga page and did not choose to subscribe...and all those big amount of readers who read my episodes and did not click on the like...maybe is because my manga can not retain their attention and interest?....is it because of the Art? the story? the format? the layout, the genre, and etc? This led me to constantly compare myself to the more popular comics and urge to learn from them....(and tbh I still can't figure out much difference and answer yet) . Because of this big frustration, I actually spent my entire winter break to update as much as possible and redrew the first two chapters and edited panels and dialogues just to give off a better first impression to the new viewers...

Aww. Don't be too hard on your self. I don't think you should take the like button too seriously. I may like a comic very much but I don't share or like it simply because I forget such buttons even exist. ^^;
Let's be realistic. Every reader , even a devoted one,who reads a comic will eventually see something they don't like about it. No comic can please everyone. So it's okay for a comic to be flawed, it'll never be perfect anyway. But it isn't a reason to be lax , we should strive for improvement.

Seriously though, you redrew 2 chapters? whoah. Revamps should only be done when necessary.

[yaoi]

It seems like you're comparing two completely different sites. It is realistic to think that the same comic would do differently on two different websites i.e. tapastic and inkblazers (I'd rather not bore you with the comparison). I don't think it is fair to compare the two.

I'm not comparing actually...i know that each site is different and has its own taste/bias toward certain things, but what I was trying to emphasize is that I 'm afraid that if i delete and repost i would get the same result because you can see how my first try was kinda pathetic...so i feel really iffy and scared...but i've seen so many inkblazer immigrants got a spot in the N&N because they delete and repost...so im struggling whether i should take risk or not lol

Aww. Don't be too hard on your self. I don't think you should take the like button too seriously. I may like a comic very much but I don't share or like it simply because I forget such buttons even exist. ^^;Let's be realistic. Every reader , even a devoted one,who reads a comic will eventually see something they don't like about it. No comic can please everyone. So it's okay for a comic to be flawed, it'll never be perfect anyway. But it isn't a reason to be lax , we should strive for improvement.

Seriously though, you redrew 2 chapters? whoah. Revamps should only be done when necessary.

haha thanks for the comfort...well the reason y i brought this up is because a lot of the popular or even the not so popular comics they receive like 50 likes out of 100 views whereas I get around 10 out of every 100 views??..this is y im doubting whether is it because of the quality or some short...

but ya, if u have seen my manga, the first three chapters look creepy as fuck because it was my first time drawing...it looks off when i look at it now and the panels were a bit messy...i just want readers to follow the story easier and clarify my plot direction better...ya..

thanks for reply!

[MylCreates]

Have you tried communicating and networking amongst the community? Tapastic users thrive off of community and communication. There are some users like @Hobbes @Chuckles and @codesurfer23 who are Readers alone, yet everyone knows who they are because of their involvement in the community. If they were to create an official comic, there'd be no doubt they'd probably start off with over 1000 subscribers because of how many people know who they are and get along with them.

I believe it's all about making a presence.
You're doing pretty well by the way according to my average! 6 months and you've got 400+ subbies! I've been on Tapastic for 10 months+ and my best comic only has 240! So don't feel bad ;w; Just think to yourself "well I'm atleast doing better than that Myl person "

[keii4ii]

I'm highly against repeated delete-and-reposting. Just one time seems acceptable, especially if you're updating things like making the font bigger for mobile viewing, or coloring/fixing the covers, making the pages a little big bigger/ higher resolution, etc. So that would be what I would recommend!

With your comic in particular, the art is clearly meant for the book format. All the pages within a chapter (or a part of a long chapter) just stacked on top of each other with no break whatsoever. This is a little awkward because there's more space between two rows on the same page, than between two separate pages. Maybe you could repost a retouched version of your series with a bit of space between each page (adding blank space at the bottom of each image would be the simplest way, but if you want, you could get more creative).

But reposting more than once seems excessive, unless there are huge differences between each version. I believe the staff is also aware of people who try to get in N&N by repeated reposting, and are probably against that practice.

I'm relatively new to Tapastic, and I think N&N wasn't around at first. Did N&N exist back when you first started posting your comic? If so, you already had your chance, as harsh as that sounds.

All those big amount of viewers who visited my manga page and did not choose to subscribe...and all those big amount of readers who read my episodes and did not click on the like...maybe is because my manga can not retain their attention and interest?

I'm pretty sure one person can give you multiple pageviews, so don't let it get to you. It is important to ask yourself that question as a creator, but not to a degree where it becomes unproductive and just depressing.

Also, some people are just really stingy with that 'Like.' Maybe they feel like the creators don't notice the Likes, or like their 'Like' is just a number to them unlike a well thought-out comment. Then there are people who use Tapastic without even noticing the Like button being there! Very possible, especially if they have something like ADD or don't speak English fluently.

I want to let you know that I can fully relate to your situation: comparing yourself to more popular creators and being unable to find the difference in terms of the quality of the product. It could be dumb luck, or perhaps they've been doing more self promotion (which can make a WORLD of difference). I'm just a newbie with that self promotion thing, but if you want to focus more on improving your comic, I'm open for honest feedback exchanges, and so are a number of other creators. ^^

[michaelson]

I'm not sure if deleting and reposting is going to get you the results you're after? I don't think that there are any shortcuts in building your presence online.

What a lot of the other creators have done when migrating from inkblazers to Tapastic has been contacting their existing userbase and trying to get them to come over and join them as well. You can try that, not sure what that entails.

[yaoi]

lol true true, im too shy to approach authors usually like most ppl so i often remain quiet ahah...

well like i said, i only had like 30 subscribers for 5 months up until the point when the inkblazers ppl moved in due to shutdown notice...thats when i gained all my subs up till now lol...so ur subscribers arn't bad at all compare to me

thanks for the subscribe tho~!

[UzukiCheverie]

No, deleting and reposting is not worth the bet of getting into N&N and getting more subs, because that's just a bet, and you could end up at even -less- than now, or around the same area. Don't turn getting subscribers into a betting game like that, at least not with that much amount of risk.

Basically just do what some folks have suggested already. Take part in the community here at Tapastic. Have patience. Just keep drawing. 400+ subs after 6 months isn't something to completely sweep under the table. Uzuki -just- hit 1000 subs after being on Tapastic for like, a year, with 3 updates a week (usually; and I've seen many a comic hit 1000 subs in like, a few days, aka "one-hit wonders". That's really the only "betting" that should be happening here, but don't openly put your series at risk by deleting and reposting in the hopes of that happening because people -will- notice.)

Just keep going with it, take part in the community, and trust in the readers here (: That's about all the advice I can give ~

[yaoi]

With your comic in particular, the art is clearly meant for the book format. All the pages within a chapter (or a part of a long chapter) just stacked on top of each other with no break whatsoever. This is a little awkward because there's more space between two rows on the same page, than between two separate pages. Maybe you could repost a retouched version of your series with a bit of space between each page (adding blank space at the bottom of each image would be the simplest way, but if you want, you could get more creative).

thanks a lot for the suggestion. haha ya cuz i previously made them in the click to the next page format because most manga sites are like that...it does look awkward on tapastic lol...but ya maybe ill try it out next time...

I'm relatively new to Tapastic, and I think N&N wasn't around at first. Did N&N exist back when you first started posting your comic? If so, you already had your chance, as harsh as that sounds.

i think N&N is always there...idk it depends on ur luck and popularity to get in lool

thanks for the reply!

[yaoi]

thanks a lot for t he advice! I'm very appreciating that you guys added me into the manga madness collection ! I really appreciated!!

[yaoi]

Thank you for replying~~

lol ya what ur saying is actually what im afraid of -_-

sigh no choice but to work harder -=A=

[UzukiCheverie]

sigh no choice but to work harder -=A=

Trust me, in the world of comics, that's really all it takes u w u

[SpavVy]

We all want our comics to do well which is perfectly normal, right now you have about 500 readers which in my opinion is pretty good! Yeah you had more on Inkblazers and it's unfortunate that the site is shutting down, inkblazers had a pretty good set up to help people get noticed better. Have you considered Project Wonderful at all? I heard some people use that for their comics.
http://www.projectwonderful.com/
Also, don't be afraid to ask for support! I see a lot of youtubers especially ask their viewers to "like" "subscribe" and "share" and I've seen this with comics too. Maybe have Cyan or Lucius in a picture say "please share/support/add if you like the comic" or something like that.

[TomSands]

Don't be afraid to take risks.

[Kelheor]

@ratique it's a really outdated thread

[ratique]