Thoughts on Hiatus

[yooci]

Hello everyone!
I currently work in two jobs, and I expect my schedule to be pretty tight; I want to keep my comic updates as consistent as possible, but im currently only one update ahead -- the rest is still in thumbnail/writing stages. T
I currently update once in three weeks, which is already quite some time between each update.
My updates are quite long so I think it makes up for it, but I think that ideally i'd like to update every two weeks with the same length... each update takes about 2 weeks to make so if I want to be at least 3 updates ahead, that means I should go on a 6 weeks hiatus... Is that too much? I'm worried people might lose interest and unsubscribe.
I'd love to hear your experiences and thoughts on the topic! Thank you!

[karmagicians]

hi yooci!

i'm only a novel writer so my experience is a little different. i usually only go on two week hiatuses to get myself ahead. however, i completely understand needing a longer break. here's a few suggestions:

• open up guest work! while you take your break, you allow fans of your work to submit fanart, fanfics, etc, to be published in place of the regular updates. it increases community interaction and helps fans feel involved, while your audience isn't completely bereft. however, this is dependent on you having a large and active enough fanbase where you have people willing to submit works for you.

• if you don't have people to do guest comics, fill in the space with smaller, less time-consuming work. post sketch pages of various characters, scrapped designs, maybe Q&As, etc! again, this should be something you can whip up easily while you're focused on updates.

• if need be, don't worry about being unable to supply anything to your fans. if your work has the merit and your fanbase is loyal enough, six weeks won't mean anything. i'm sure a lot of people are focused on getting back to school and worrying about the pandemic as is.

[yooci]

Hi!
I don't really have a fanbase - but I do have other artist friends, who might want to make a small guest comic! This is a cool idea!
Compiling some sketches and Q&A are also great ideas, generally it seems like a good way to interact more with readers. I'll think about it, and see what works.
Thank you for your time and insights!

[Memento_Mori]

Hi yooci,
I am a novelist, but here is a strategy that I noticed some other comic artists use.
If you just announce your hiatus and keep adding a few small sketches to your comic, it shouldn't be a problem for your subscribers.
Otherwise, I don't think you will use subscribers, I am on a hiatus as well and it has been about a month since my last season and I have actually gained subscribers.
I hope you find a good strategy,
- Memi Mori

[yooci]

Sounds good! Thank you for your advice!

[silacinnamon]

Well, I go on hiatus for months between chapters (my last one was between December-July) and I didn't notice a significant lost of subscribers, I actually gained some bc I kept advertising it on twitter, instagram and discord xD not as many as I would have gained if I wasn't on hiatus of course, but it wasn't as bad as I was expecting.

Don't worry about it affecting your comic if you really need a break, sometime it happens and I'm sure your readers will understand it ^^

[jcmraz]

I work 2 jobs and have a child myself. Set your pace to a manageable speed. I timed myself out. Each update takes between 8 and 12 days normally. So I set myself to biweekly updates. Over time that creates a growing buffer of comics. Find the time it takes you to finish a comic and then make your update a bit longer. Going on hiatus is usually worse than just slowing updates some unless the reason for the hiatus is important. Make sure you stay engaged with your community and the community at large about this.