Thanks again for the responses!

[Testaccount]

Thanks for the responses! I got all the data I need for my write up today =)

[lil-sea-salt]

I hate creators who act like they care, but once they get more subs they kind of retract their support, or only comment because if you comment your followers might check out their work

[ahkwardkat]

Oh heck yeah it does! Aside from comments I built a fangroup for this particular person, did shoutouts, even ordering over the course of many years hundreds of dollars in both commissions amd patreon.

I get nothing back. I have never been commissions by her. Never gotten one shout out or boost. She says ahe would help if I ever needed it, but has never actually done anything. Now she makes thosands a month and I make maybe a few hundred.

Kinda upsetting. However I say nothing. I value her friendship more than most things. So I support her, but just verbally instead of financially and through being super active. I am active... just not as much. She has enough people losing one wont mean anything...

So yes it can hurt, but I think maintaining a healthy bridge and not burning it is important in 99% of cases.

[Testaccount]

I've seen that behaviour before, and I don't like it either. I feel if you're going to support someone, you should stick to it, or at least try the best you can.

[Testaccount]

Definitely true about not burning a bridge!!!!

And that sucks, honestly =(

One day, I hope people like that realize what amazing friends they have. It totally sucks when you go out of the way for someone, and you don't get the same. I know we shouldn't expect anything, but it still hurts. Thanks for sharing your story with us.

[shazzbaa]

Let's say you supported another creator by reading, commenting, and adding their story/comic to your list. Does it ever hurt if you don't get that in return?

Not really. I don't really go into it that way -- why would me liking someone's comic mean that they should check out mine? If I read, comment, or subscribe, I'm not doing those things as a favour to the other person as a fellow creator; I'm doing it because I love their work so much as a reader that I want to do those things.

would you hope the other person would read your stories and at least give an opinion.

Aw, geez, I guess I don't like the idea of this as like, the bare minimum of being nice, like how it's presented as "at least do this." I think for a creator to notice that one of their readers also has a comic, and to read through that person's work, is a creator going above and beyond and doing something extremely cool. If they support or comment on that work, that's incredible. I've had it happen before, where a creator I admired checked out my work in return, loved it, and gave it a shout out, and it was an amazing feeling. But most of the time, that isn't going to happen, and I don't think it's a good idea to have that as an expectation! There are a few webcomics I really love, and I comment on them because I know how it feels to get comments, and I want those creators to really be able to feel how much someone out there loves their stuff. But if those cartoonists see me as a reader rather than a fellow creator, that's honestly fine and normal, I think!

[Testaccount]

Thanks for sharing!

Of course it's not an expectation =)

I'm just gauging different opinions. Thanks again for responding to me

[IdiotWithPencil]

no... why should I expect some one else to follow me just for a follow, that be crazy I mean if I would do that my feed would go to shambels and my favorite comics would be lost to a feed of a bunch of other comis I really don't care for, so why should I impose something I don't like to other artist, though I would love it if my favorite authors would follow me but only cause I make and iteresting story not cause of pity or a misguided obligation >: / that would just piss me off though I woulden't make them leave, more exposere and attention is alwasy good... even if it's pity attention ^_^'

[Testaccount]

Thanks for sharing your opinion =)

I agree with you that we shouldn't expect anything from others.

[Rhombik]

I'd prefer that people followed my comic because they wanted to, not because I'd commented on theirs. The same goes for other kinds of support.

My thoughts are that if you're in it for the long run, short term subs won't do you many favours. If you're getting fake interest, you won't notice that your comic isn't doing well and you won't make the changes you need to make.

[ahkwardkat]

To clarify, I do not think ever it is an obligation either. It is disappointing yeah, but I suppose that it is one thing to do something and expect it back vs just being a friend, having someone tell you they got your back and never seeing anything from that promise?

After re-reading my comment, I guess I could sound whiny? If you promise to support someone and help them, do it. Saying you support someone and doing it vs just saying it and not doing it is one of the most harmful ways to hurt your image.

[Kayke]

I'm supportive of my friends and will read their comics, commission them, order their books, and share their stuff on twitter. But friends is the operative word there. I do this for people who I know and talk to.

If someone is comments on my comic but I don't know them outside of that then I will thank them, but I probably won't go and check every person who comments or follows page to see if they're a creator and then give them feedback on their work. I totally will if they ask me directly and I am always open to answering questions people have if they email me, but I don't think it falls upon me to do that without being asked.

And I am definitely not a fan of follow for follow culture. I'd rather only have people follow me if they like my work and have other creators know that if I'm following and commenting it's because I want to, not out of obligation.

[Sanz]

Since i don't interact on comment threads on other comics I don't expect others to in mine. So if someome checks out one of my comics subs because they like it and I so happen to do the same if they comment cool. If not that's fine too. I appreciate someone just looking at it lol.

[jjfresh]

I can understand creators feeling hurt when they aren't supported back. If it's somewhat networking where you both support each other in order to raise up together, then yes I can understand people getting hurt by it.

For me I couldn't care less if they would or would not follow my comic. It's really up to them but then again, I'm not big on marketing my comic and such so I may not have a say in this. Also, when I chose to follow a story, I tend to be really picky about what I want to follow. There are plenty of great stories out there but I choose to be particular. I may have someone who supports me and wants me to check out their comic. I would gladly do so but I would follow it only if it really draws me in. If that person follows me only in hopes of getting a follower back, then don't follow me. I want you to read my comic because it interests you, not for networking sake.

Cheers,
JJ

[keii4ii]

I'd prefer that people followed my comic because they wanted to, not because I'd commented on theirs. The same goes for other kinds of support.

This, exactly. In fact, it stresses me out a lot when I sense someone is simply being supportive "in return" without being genuinely interested in my work. I'd rather they just not read something they don't enjoy reading? If anything, it would hurt me a lot if I found out someone who I thought was a real fan turned out to be not that interested in my story.

I don't ask my family to read my comic for this reason. I know it's not their kinda stuff. And they know me, know that I wouldn't appreciate them showing fake interest (it's fake even if the intention is good), so they also don't ask me to show them.

[emkay]

I try not to think like that. I like to check out people's content when they like/subscribe to mine, and I'm not always into what I see from them. So I understand that there are gonna be people I support who don't like my stuff, and that's fine! If I am not obligated to support people who support me, then they are not obligated either.

It's interesting you asked "would you hope the other person would read your stories and at least give an opinion", because I only give my opinion on content that I enjoy. If I don't enjoy something, I think it'd be awkward to leave a critique unless the creator specifically asks for critique. Otherwise, I say nothing. And while I would be fine to receive critique on my work, I don't expect people to do it either.

Frankly, I wouldn't want support from someone who doesn't like what I'm making. It's cool if other people like to sub for sub, but that's never been my thing. Not sure if that's what you were talking about though.

[Mari]

I generally don't read webcomics unless I come across them on my own / they're recommended to me by someone with similiar tastes. If there's a reader who I have talked to on a regular basis and they ask me to check a story of theirs out, I'll do it, but I'll never shout out anyone, period. It's way too much of a mess to go into shouting out specific people so I'll just not do it. I'll offer my opinion and refer them to guides and tutorials that might help, but that's it.

I think contacting someone with the premise that you want them to check you out is very insulting to the person on the receiving end. Just don't try to make friends under false pretenses.

[Rhombik]

I hope I'm not overstepping my bounds but I quickly went on Tapas and checked your stats and I think part of the problem might be that you're expecting too much, too fast. You've only been on the site since July and you've already got subs into the hundreds which is pretty good. Maybe the fellow creator can see this, remembers how slow it can be to start but also sees you're doing okay and doesn't feel like you actually need them to prop you up.

[Testaccount]

Excuse me...are you referring to me?

Just so you know, this post isn't about me. It's a discussion about the writing community in general, and the issues I've seen from different websites.

[Testaccount]

I agree with the "if you promise to support someone..."

That's something I've thought about lately, I've seen many blog topics about it on Wordpress. It is an interesting topic in the writing world right now.