The Subscriber Race - Ups and Downs

[Doubtcent]

I believe just about everyone has gone through this, especially at the beginning.

You're new, you think your content should be seen and enjoyed by everyone. So, in a sort of desperation, you do anything and everything to gain subs. When you get some, you feel elated. When you lose a few, you wonder, "What did I do wrong?" and bang your head against the wall.

So basically, your effort is spent on the effects of your subscriber count, rather than on creating. This can take up most of your energy, and it has a lot of negative, even harsh side effects.

Now I went through this earlier last year up until say September. I can't really pinpoint it, but something caused me to say, "Forget this, I'm just gonna create". Maybe it was the support from the dedicated subs, or maybe it was some conclusion I came to on my own.

Either way, as soon as I was done with the subscriber race, I felt liberated.

Suddenly I just didn't care about how many subscribers I had, just that I had some, and that I should spend my time taking care of those who are supportive, and do my best to create something intelligent, funny, or just enjoyable to some extent. I was free to create whatever I wanted, and just hope that someone liked it. If not, oh well. Moving on.

If you are currently going through the subscriber race, I would implore you to try and escape it. Subscribers are important, but the quantity should not be your priority as an artist. Your priority should be to find ways to improve, to innovate, to create, and find enjoyment in the community, and in your own creation.

Just my advice as a 1-year creator to anyone just starting out and willing to put their time into content creating.
-VP

[kaink]

Hey, thanks for sharing your thoughts and experience. I am new at this community and i just posted my creation yesterday so i kind of starting to get in the "suscribers race" as you mentioned but i'll take a deep breath and follow your advice
Thanks!

Exp+540
Wisdom+1

[AnnaLandin]

Yeah, this.

I shed and regain subscribers all the time. Some of those I lose are bot-accounts, some are people who subscribe as a bookmark, intending to read my comic later - and once they do, figure out it's not their thing. Sometimes people purge their reading lists, and my comic is the one that gets the axe.

It isn't personal, and it's not something to be overly concerned with. Subscriber-numbers fluctuate. It's normal.

And, most of all - as long as you have even one subscriber, you have an audience. Comics are a form of storytelling, and as long as you have even just the one person paying attention to the story you're telling, that's good enough.

[KreativeConfusion]

I feel like the whole numbers game can relate to a lot of things. Yeah having a lot of people can be great but honestly when you start out, that shouldn't be your primary focus. Just focus on getting your content out there and the people that will enjoy it best will come.

[keii4ii]

I want to add that it's not necessarily a bad thing to ask "what did I do wrong?"

Because that doesn't have to be about subscribers. That's a question you can ask while trying to figure out your next step toward improvement. And reader responses CAN be a useful metric for that -- just like how your body weight can be a useful metric to gauge your health.

But just like your weight, it is not the only metric, nor is it the most important one. :> And again, just like your weight, it's a bad, bad idea to become obsessed with it.

[scythe]

Couldn't agree more. It's probably impossible not to second guess yourself and be a little bit obsessed with your subscriber number, and how it compares to others, when you start out. I know I was.

Now I honestly never think of it until I get a new one, which is obviously always is such a nice feeling. The switch for me happened at around the 500 mark I'd say, and yes, it is liberating not to be focusing on it so much.

[Aetherwing]

Thank you for sharing your experience! I'm currently going through that right now and trying to stay positive and just focus on creating. It means a lot to hear that so many other people feel the same way but are able to overcome it. It makes me feel like I'm not alone.

Just gotta remember that I'm still new at this and it'll come eventually!

[StevenDacasin]

Thanks for the advice i had this subscriber race syndrome for a while to but reading your post i realize that i need to focus on my story and how to improve as well as just talking with other creators. I feel especially when you're young on this site you want to do something drastic and become some big mega star graphic novelist. But reality is we're all just average people on this site trying to connect with other artist and learn from each other. There's nothing wrong with competition if the objective is to get better but if it's to be the top dog then it's pointless.

[KSlinger]

I'm really glad you managed to get out of that feedback loop. I've been there before too once or twice, and the crippling doubt is horrible. Be free, my pretty! Be free!

Can't say I watch the numbers at all now, to be honest...Never really did, but now I really really don't. Don't even know I've hit milestones till someone tells me. Whoops. Bottom line is, West is getting made in it's own sweet time whether people read it or not, and that might sound bullheaded and ungrateful, but it's the truth. That said, my followers are such cool cats. They're very funny and encouraging and I'll offer them information on anything in a heartbeat if they ask. I don't know how many of them I lose, but we've all got tastes. I don't begrudge them anything. Just chill out and enjoy it. Chances are more people are interested in your work than you'll ever know.

[zetina]

Funny you should post this cuz sometimes I see a friend feeling upset about not getting the desired amount of notes or such on their work, get discouraged and I'm just thinking "oh". It seems I got liberated from this mindset quite some time ago... I get excited when various stats increase and I might wonder why the numbers decrease but they don't have any actual bearing on anything. The only thing I care about are comments.

500 subs and 1 comment per page?
I'm doing something wrong.
5 subs and 5 comments per page?
I'm doing everything right.

With art on tumblr too - my greatest motivation in posting there is to read re-tags. No one has to follow me. As long as I can make something that, when people find it on my blog, they feel the urge to say something about it.
So all numbers mean are increased odds that the right people will see it.

Not entirely on-topic, but also kind of yes. I felt like sharing my feelings. This is a good topic.

[purrlpankras]

I stopped caring when I was stuck at a subscriber number for a long time,
The other day my comic some how got into the daily snack and it blew up

Now it's losing alot of subscribers because either bots or it's just not their thing
Im just glad someone noticed it, funny how that stuff happens when you stop caring and just draw

[Mharz]

I totally agree with this. Though it's really hard to break from it. I mean who doesn't want to have a lot of readers? Sure it's fun to have a lot of "subscribers" but only 1-10% of those numbers who would really engage with the story. IMO the more subscribers you have, there are more chances that there are people who will be willing to support you emotionally and financially. (Plus some readers are probably anons or don't have an account on Tapastic)

Anyway, we should always keep in mind that these numbers are beyond our control. It will always rise or fall but that's a good thing. Why? Because you will know who really are interested and who is not. Let your followers/subscription list cleanse itself. There's really no point in pondering and stressing what you did wrong when the subs drop. You are creating not because you want to please people but because you wanted to express your stand/principles/opinions. If they like it, then they like it, if they don't then fine no big deal I'll just keep on doing this. No one's gonna stop you except you yourself.

(the stuffs I keep telling myself)

[marfivemai]

This is such good advice!

My Dad really likes to watch my numbers. He gets so excited when I get a new subscriber! Its the first thing he tells me about when we talk and I love how involved he is! But the other day he was a little crestfallen and he told me, 'You've lost a few subs today'.

He was afraid id be disappointed! So I looked at him with a grin and FINALLY got to use the best advice I'd ever heard!
"Don't worry about it Dad! You could be the most beautiful, juiciest, tastiest peach to ever bloom on the tree but there's always going to be someone who doesn't like peaches!" Dad laughed! He felt better! Yay!

Waiting since forever to use that one!! And its a great message. Don't sweat it! Just because someone unsubs it doesn't mean they don't like you or appreciate your art... They'll probably resubscribe at some point anyway XD Just like you said, Vincent! Creating is the most important thing!!

[ashriott]

I'm lucky to have realised early on from posts I've read about sub numbers increasing and dropping. So I've never really stressed over it too much. I do scratch my head every now and then about this though - there are times when maybe I just loose 1-2 subs, no big deal. And other times when I post up a page, and boom! I loose 5-10 subs. It's times like these where I start to question "what am I doing wrong?". It can be a downer, but as some of the above have mentioned, I don't think it's a bad thing either to question it. If anything, it may or may not help you gauge what your readers like?

[greenraptorstudios]

wise advice and I've been working on my comic nearly a year. Every so often I find the subscriber count creeping up on me and I get depressed, I was actually really down this December. But we come to create and need to find the strength to keep going, even in the worst of times.

[demthorshie]

I definitely understand what it's like to keep watching your subscriber count sometimes and it used to get me anxious when I first got here as well! But there's so much more to comics than just getting subscribers, I really enjoy the feedback I receive on a page and I enjoy responding back to the comments I receive on my comics. It is exciting seeing your subscriber count go up no doubt, but it's not going to determine how I tell my story in the end. I accept that i'm not going to be able to please everyone at the end of the day, i'm going to keep creating this thing because ultimately, it's what love to do! :]

[PurpleGround]

"Don't worry about it Dad! You could be the most beautiful, juiciest, tastiest peach to ever bloom on the tree but there's always going to be someone who doesn't like peaches!" Dad laughed! He felt better! Yay!

Nice one! Your dad should be proud of you!

On my own note to this post, yes. I've definitely been in the same situation like subscriber race whenever I start a comic. But I am not aiming at subscriber, I am aiming at comments. The thing is, most people don't comment after they read a page, even if its good. Most people comment when they see others did and thought of just throwing in their mind in as well. I guess you call this a snowball effects. I had the same habit of not leaving comments, and from this habits I had drawn my conclusion. Even though people didn't leave a like or fave, they did read it nonetheless. And knowing people had given it a chance, I am happy. .

But to keep people reminded of the comic and keep coming back, Content is the key

[BitterOath]

I have to agree with a lot of the comments here - I so far prefer getting comments rather than "likes". It tells me I did something right to get someone to stop, and take the time to actually say something about the work. Likes are just meaningless numbers to me, especially since I've been around on the web long enough to know some just like things to drag attention to their pages.

Maybe that's not a good attitude to have, but conversation provides so much more feedback. ; w ;

[dglisson]

Thank you so much for this thread. This is definitely what I needed to read today. I've been putting off coloring my next few pages because I haven't felt motivated due to my low subscriber count, but hey I only have 5 pages even up... so I need to just focus on keeping my creation and my buffer going, and not worry about who's subscribing or even if people are commenting! I'll just focus on making a good story. Thanks so much for the motivation!

[marfivemai]

Oh SO true!! I love the comments so much! In the beginning people didn't really comment but, just like you said, one person would start and then another and it would snowball. I tried to answer all of them and I think the participation was helpful in garnering more comments. I haven't been able to lately (cause I got sick, better now though) but I read every single one and horde them like a dragons gold.