Updating once a month?

[Fierce_Chai]

Hello there!

I wanted to know your opinion about if updating once a month or more is too long?
Im afraid that people lose track of the story or lose interest if I take that long.
Unfortunately I have no idea how to get faster if thats needed since a chapter consists of multiple pages in full color and need some breaks out of health and uni reasons .
Do you think that making some really short "bonus" chapters where there is just some concept art would maybe "fill the gap" ?

Thank you in advance!

[skicoak]

I have never had an issue following widely spaced updates but I personally don't follow that many webcomics.

[Yulek]

I have the same issue with mine but monthhly isn't that bad

I've read your comic ( but forgot to bookmark back the luck that you postedhere again) and I's def worth the wait

for mine... I prioritiyed reachuing a certain plot point within a small number's of episodes over updating fast.
but once the point is reached, I will make the strips shorter

basically, make the same long strip but upload it in parts ... my goal is bimonthly for now with about 10 panels per update
I think that can work for the webtoons format

but I'm not a fan of bonus episodes. I think working on the actual story instead will be more rewarding... and it doesnt interrupt the flow of the story for binge readers

[beta1042]

You can just cut up your updates and post more frequently. Short but more frequent updates do pretty well on tapas.

[nostalgicroxas]

If it helps, think about most regular manga updates - 13 pages (one being a cover and one being a bonus or mostly empty page usually), per 3 months. You can either average that out across the 3 months, or dump all the pages in one uplod, which is what manga publishing does.

Look at the tankoban pages for Saiyuki vs the actual released volumes - a lot of those tankoban pages are raw sketches and gestures just to hold places, and in the real volumes is the actual gorgeous art. Just some food for thought.

[punkarsenic]

how many pages in an update, can i ask? personally for a monthly update id want to get 10+ pages to feel like things are moving

also, you say chapters - can you break them up into smth weekly? i update two pages a week, so a 20 page chapter will come out over the course of ~2-3 months. in the long run, it gives you more time to get shit done.

the benefit of tapas is that people can leave comics in their sub tray and wait for them to pop up with an update, so people can be way more patient. there are comics i sub to that havent updated in months - but i stick by bc i love them, and bc their dormant presence in my sub box isnt bothering me.

the downside is, sometimes one of those comics will update and ill have a moment when i realise ive forgotten whats happening / im not interested anymore, so sometimes an update leads to an unsub. other times it results in wild excitement - depends on the comic.

that all said, webcomics are primarily a hobbyist / part time gig - you should always prioritise your health over your comic, and people will be understanding of hiatuses and long gaps. take the time you need.

Do you think that making some really short "bonus" chapters where there is just some concept art would maybe "fill the gap" ?

personally id prefer just the story as it comes - id prefer bonus stuff to be in a bonus series

EDIT:

ohhh ive just looked at your srs - those update lengths and that quality is defo worth waiting a month for, i wouldnt wanna break that great flow youve got into weekly bites.

that said, ive seen some people double-post their series - one series for monthly installments of entire chapters, one series for weekly posting, so as to satisfy two different kinds of readers (the binger vs the impatient)

tho id also like to ask abt your process - there could be ways to speed that up. do you work in batches, or panel by panel?

[nathanKmcwilliams]

I do mine twice a month. But I do basically one page each release. I want to do more but at this point I'm far more interested in making sure my art is at the highest quality I'm happy with. Speed comes with time, so I'm hoping by year three I will have enough buffer to up my schedule to weekly.
I am aware that it's slow but I'm in this for the long game so I'm not too worried about it.

All that to say...take your time and be happy with quality over quantity.

[Fierce_Chai]

To be honest I also have no problem with over artists taking longer to update, it can be because of all kinds of reasons
And also thank you for the sub, I'm really glad to hear you liked it!

Making a smaller number of chapters until reaching a plot point sounds like a good strategy!
I'm thinking about shortening some chapters overall if it doesn't interrupt the flow of the story. (15-20 pages might be too long for me)

And I think you're right, bonus episodes kind of interrupt the flow and should maybe put into a seperate series

[Fierce_Chai]

Thank you very much for the detailed answer!

I have about 15-20 pages per episode and I assume that I could shorten them a bit as long as the flow of the story allows it
And I agree about your points, especially putting the bonus stuff into a seperate series!
Regarding the process, I work panel by panel and if one is more detailed or when I get some issues with it skill wise, it can take up about 1-3 days.

[beta1042]

15-20 pages an ep? who care about flow, just publish a page every other day... that would put such a short time between updates that the flow wouldn't really be disrupted and gives you buffer the months you have more than 15 pages XD

[punkarsenic]

Regarding the process, I work panel by panel and if one is more detailed or when I get some issues with it skill wise, it can take up about 1-3 days.

have you considered doing batches? sketch 10 panels, then ink 10 panels, then colour 10 panels. when youre switching tasks less you can work faster.

when i work one page at a time i can make a page a day - if i work in a batch, i can do 6 pages in two days, ive done 10 pages in three days before. its way faster and more satisfying

[Fierce_Chai]

That sounds like a great strategy, I will definately try to do it in batches once I get back to it!

[LT1986]

I'm subscribed to some web comics that are updated monthly. I kind of like this more than the more frequent updates, because while I'm working on my own web comic my unread notifications number grows. I also like when creators change the flow of the story sometimes. I enjoy questions and answers pages, character profile pages, contest messages, holiday episodes, and forum thread art work. What I mean by forum thread art work is drawing a picture based off of what is requested in a forum thread.