To all those people with many subscribers and devoted people

[A-weird-girler]

What do y'all do? I mean, I know things take time, but I see people gain popularity out of nowhere all of a sudden. Is it an algorithm or just luck? When I finally thought I was on a good track with 23 it sunk back down to 21 lol so I don't know. Maybe advertise more? Anyone else having this problem?

[Draconic]

I joined Tapas in 2013 and has been active since then. That's all.

It took me a year to surpass 100 subs.

[DiegoPalacios]

How many subscribers do you consider many subscribers?...is in the hundreds?, the thousands?, another ammount? (that could make a difference about which people`s wisdom you may receive)

[Penni]

I have no idea what it is either, but I don't focus too much on that anymore (Stats are terrible for your mental health lol)

I'm grateful to have a community that is so supportive and I can grow as a writer, and I can support other people. It's really motivated me to write and take on side projects too!

[frostdrive]

I have almost 2 thousand subscribers total. And I've seen comics better than mine with less than a quarter what I have.

So I can say. It's 100% luck.

(okay maybe like 80% but I'm trying to be dramatic)

And also as Peni said. Don't focus on numbers.
You think they'll make you feel different but they wont. It's just numbers.

[nessiefynn]

With my first webcomic it took me months of constant updates to break 100 subs. With my second comic I was able to get that many in 3 days, and got over 1k in two weeks.

I feel the main reason for the difference is because the second comic had a much stronger hook than my first comic. While for my first comic I posted updates page-by-page for the whole chapter, for my second comic I posted my completed first chapter all at once, and additionally had it end with a sudden character death and cliffhanger. This is not to mention my first webcomic had very slow pacing, while my second was much tighter.

Basically, I think what really helps to draw readers in is to know what aspect of your story is going to grab your reader's attention, get to it quickly, and reveal it to your readers as soon as you start posting. This isn't a tested or fool-proof formula, but it's what worked for me.

[R.E.G]

That's my plan, thanks for letting me know it works!!!

[R.E.G]

You're one of the best! I mean it, you're a huge positive influence!

[Penni]

Thank you! That's very kind of you to say

[SleepingPoppy]

I don't feel like I ever really see people gain popularity out of nowhere? The closest we get to that is someone getting promoted via a spotlight or similar, and they blow up, but it still takes a quality comic to keep those people, and it has it's own draw back with dead subs and what not. Never forget that some comics/creators already built their audience else where, so if they appear to blow up, it might actually just be an established creator changing platforms.

Quality of the art, consistent updates, tight story telling, popularity of genre, luck, and other difficult to measure things all play a part in how your comic does, but no one thing guarantees you anything.

I think it's easy to see subs just as numbers, and covet the big numbers you see other people have. No one will hate on you for wishing for that, but if you're not in a place yet where you can achieve those numbers, don't forget that the 10, 40, 100 subs you currently have are individual people that choose to read your comic. That is CRAZY AMAZING you TALENTED FOOL.

As far as tangible things you can do to help your comic along, besides drawing and writing your best, make sure you have an appealing thumbnail, take time to actually craft a good description/summary, and update in a consistent manner. Promoting here, advertising there, also good, but a lot of it comes down to skill, and skill grows with time and practice.

[scythe]

This isn't a webcomics thing, it's a life thing.

And here's something they don't tell you, or maybe they do and we just never listen, no matter how much you get, you'll always want more. That's just how we are.

But what do we do? I can't speak for anyone else, but all I do is work.

[DiegoPalacios]

While being promoted by others has a luck factor, i think skill is very relevant. Not only the skills to make great comics, but also the self-promotion skills. So, those followers are earned.

[scythe]

If devotees is all you're after, you could just pander to a crowd. For instance, make a BL comic with lots of abs and pecks and guys glaring at each other with their heads tilted down. Even a mediocre skill should pretty quickly be able to snare a couple of thousand insta subs. It all depends what you're intentions are.

But like Diego said above, if you want real numbers you're going to have to put in the effort and produce something which connects with an audience on a deeper level.

[SleepingPoppy]

If devotees is all you're after, you could just pander to a crowd. For instance, make a BL comic with lots of abs and pecks and guys glaring at each other with their heads tilted down. Even a mediocre skill should pretty quickly be able to snare a couple of thousand insta subs. It all depends what you're intentions are.

Devaluing the effort other creators put into their comics just because its popular is petty and rude.

[scythe]

Lol, you think I'm devaluing BL comics? Just pointing out a fact that BL is hella popular, friend. I passed no judgement.

[SleepingPoppy]

Out of all the popular subjects you just happen to pick the one that people on the forums are constantly lamenting as a cheap way to gain subs? I am surprised if you say you aren't aware of the greater context here. But hey, if you genuinely didn't mean judgement, this is me giving you a heads up that people on this forums regularly specifically point out BL as a way to "easily" get popularity.

edit: Just adding that it's come up a LOT this month in particular, and thats why I'm a little salty.

[BlackRose108]

There might be (???) only a few ways to get subs:

1) Tell a genuinely good story no matter the genre or audience, that's so well done that it gets popular by it's goodness.
2) Pander to a trend (no shame in doing that, btw).
3) Get promoted (Either by the site you're on or be a more popular artist).
4) Go the "slow and steady wins the race" route and self promote, post regularly, and just be patient as subs and patrons will come in slowly, but surely.

Point and case. I have a...generally decent story that I'm doing. I only had 67 subs on here after almost 6 months of posting. Then my friend who had a lot more subs than me did a shoutout on their comic and suddenly I jumped from 67 to 500 in a day or two and ever since the initial wave of new subs i've earned a few more every day. It's been a little over two weeks and I've got about 700 now. Promos work, is my point. Sometimes you've got a good or decent story and no one knows about it but as soon as some people do it'll get subs all of a sudden.

The key is to tell a good story, basically. If you do that, even if you don't have subs, if an opportunity comes up for you to suddenly get subs, the subs with STAY because the story is GOOD. But until that opportunity comes up you kind of just have to suffer....which sucks and sounds terrible but it seems like that's just how it is until luck flutters your way or until you reap the benefits of the slow and steady route. Stay strong, I suppose? Don't give up?

I'm just a really pessimistic person, so sorry if this sucks as a motivational speech...I'm trying.

[ryoko]

I've been on Tapas since Oct of 2015 and updated regularly ever since. The stats for my comic are a bit weird. I've got 400 subscribers and 242K views. I think the most important thing is to update on a fixed schedule so that your comic gets noticed in the 'Fresh' section. Posting here in the forum helps, too, as fellow artists tend to check out each other's works. I don't think anyone gains popularity out of nowhere. Popular artists put a huge amount of effort into their work over many years.

What exactly are you wanting to accomplish with your comic? I do mine because I love to draw and I think it's fun to share my weird imagination with others I enjoy interacting with my readers and they are a very devote bunch The stats of my comic aren't important to me, making people laugh or brightening up their day if they're having a rough go of it is what drives me to keep up with my posting schedule. I think the most important thing you can do for your comic, since it is relatively new, is make absolutely sure you update at least once a week.

I don't think any of us can give you much more advice without knowing what you want out of your comic.

[A-weird-girler]

I don't know. More than twenty tho, that's for sure.

[A-weird-girler]

yeah. It's just that my friend said that if I was popular that meant my story was good lol. I've been tearing myself up over it since.

@scythe No. I'm not the type who panders. I mean, there are lgbt couples in my story but it just isn't the main focus lol.