Visibility on Tapas

[KRWright]

That’s the one! Blah post count blah

[skicoak]

Burning bridges does matter in this avenue, and maybe we all wish it didn't but yeah... it is what it is.

If the toll on those bridges is you can't disagree with the individual... That's not much of a bridge anyway.

I resent you trying to paint this picture of me as some holier-than-thou person above everyone else.

Hey, I didn't put a value on you saying...

I’ll leave and take whatever I could have brought to that space with me.

...that's all you.

I just said it's a bad look.

[KRWright]

Well done. You won. Congratulations.

[skicoak]

Well done. You won. Congratulations.

Really?

Gonna have to disagree with you again... You can't WIN a forum debate. They just don't work that way.

[TAMAnnoying]

I mean to be fair your right debates arnt meant to be won unless your on a debate team XD

[saintc]

If the toll on those bridges is you can't disagree with the individual... That's not much of a bridge anyway.

No, I think you're missing my point by a long shot. Disagreeing isn't the problem. I disagree with people I network with all the time. I'm pointing out people being unnecessarily combative and rude.

At the end of the day you decide what bridge you think you would like and which you don't. You can decide you don't want to have anything to do with someone based on principle---but, my point is people being unnecessarily rude are doing it at their own expense and no one else's. Being rude and angry "on the main" might feel wonderful at the moment but it does hinder a person in many ways they couldn't even imagine in the long term.

[saintc]

To expand on my point, people who went to art schools or who are trained writers aren't landing jobs because they are inherently better than people who are self-taught. No, they're landing jobs because someone vouched for them, someone pointed them in the right direction, someone helped jump-start their careers.

Creative careers in many ways intrinsically require social skills. Abrasive personalities don't do well in them... and when they do, they end up in PR trouble a lot.

[Rosso]

( we're still talking about "visibility on Tapas", right? this topic won't suddenly get unlisted and vanish under mysterious circumstances like things usually do............. right? )

[saintc]

Whoops. I'm still very new to the site (I say that but my join date says 2017), so this discussion interests me because I'm on a site where discoverability is practically impossible naturally, lol.

[KRWright]

Nah you good @saintc. Visibility comes in all shapes and forms. Using your marketing experience, how would you say to best get ahead on Tapas? You’ve covered networking already.

[skicoak]

No, I think you're missing my point by a long shot.

I'm really not. I condensed it for simplifications sake but I understand your more specific point.

But the broader point of mine remains, the conditions that an individual imposes on the positive aspects of a relationship are a toll. If the toll is too high, then there's little point in considering that avenue a bridge.

Creative careers in many ways intrinsically require social skills. Abrasive personalities don't do well in them... and when they do, they end up in PR trouble a lot.

Beyond the implications of my character, which doesn't offend me at all , I would like to point out not everyone networks the same way. I primarily use my connections in service of creating better content than landing better opportunities through the connection.

I see the point, but we don't all operate exactly the same way.

[Rosso]

lol well it is an interesting discussion alright, but when things start getting personal, stepping on each other's tails and derailing the topic at hand is usually a sign that a topic will simply get unlisted altogether. Which is quite unfair to the OP and everyone else sticking to the topic at hand.

[saintc]

But the broader point of mine remains, the conditions that an individual imposes on the positive aspects of a relationship are a toll. If the toll is too high, then there's little point in considering that avenue a bridge.

And I believe that is 100% fair. We choose the relationships we want and don't want.

I would like to point out not everyone networks the same way. I primarily use my connections in service of creating better content than landing better opportunities through the connection.

I see the point, but we don't all operate exactly the same way.

Can you explain this more? I don't think I quite understand.

---

For me, it doesn't even have to be a "direct" advantage (eg, author shouting out another author.) I have a website, I run a small channel I started, I run a few threads, my books do alright. I was only able to do these things because; I have a friend who does web design, I have friends who had started channels before me, I had general advice on structuring threads. my books do alright because friends provide me with promotional packages (artwork etc.)

My writing does not stand on its own---even indirectly like I just pointed out. All those extra bits are not things I have to worry about because "I've done the work" (networking wise.)

[ryoko]

Because I a) collab and promoted a Superhero comic with other creators (some popular, some not) on Webtoons.

This kind of networking is so important and a great example of how working hard and using all the social media tools at your disposal gives you visibility. I had a similar experience when I was asked to be part of a collaboration on Webtoons for a weekly Slice of Life comic. Because of the collab, my regular comic got a lot of exposure which is the sole reason it has vastly higher numbers of subs and views on Webtoons compared to Tapas. However I do not expect that mine will ever be specifically promoted by itself on either platform because it really isn't at a level that it should be to deserve that privilege.

I've been reading stuff on Tapas since 2015. It's true that visibility has decreased on Tapas over the years due to an increased volume of comics being uploaded as well as changes to the site itself. But I'm sure part of the reason for that is a lot of creators just stop uploading here. I went to my subs list and out of the 86 comics I'm subbed to, 40 haven't updated in at least a year or more. Some of them moved to different platforms like MarMai after the TOS debacle and the glitch where all the scheduled eps suddenly were made readable. Tapas is probably leery of promoting series that might disappear and have chosen to focus on premium content or creators that have been around for a long time.

If you want to read a truly beautiful series that unless you know it exists you wouldn't be able to find it, here's the link:

EXtinction | Tapas

If you read the last entry, it puts into perspective the challenges the 'top-tier- creators face if they're working alone on their series and just how much time they put into it.

[saintc]

Nah you good @saintc. Visibility comes in all shapes and forms. Using your marketing experience, how would you say to best get ahead on Tapas? You’ve covered networking already.

Every market is different.

For instance you can not bring Wattpad knowledge and just hope they transfer to Tapas (and vice versa.) My books remain the same across all platforms but they are marketed differently.

E.G, with May-December.

Wattpad: I'll admit I don't pay attention to my marketing on here anymore because I've grown to the point of my readers reading whatever I post. I have advice for starting out, but I think I miss the mark with what someone who is starting from scratch should expect.

Radish: My character is OLD an ADULT. I know you like ADULTS. Pay me for my ADULTS.

Tapas: Had to really sell the romance and juvenilize it a bit to appeal to BL audiences. (MCs in their 30s, 40s, 50, don't really do well here, but it's alright. I just downplay the age [not literally, but removing it from my marketing].)

Webnovel: Yes, this whole book is actually 5 novels in a trench coat, because I know only extremely long novels do well here.

[ryoko]

Also, Tapas itself was more involved in getting creators to collab with holiday themed stuff like this:

EXtinction :: B - Tapastic Holidays 2016: Discount Holidays | Tapas

It was really neat several years ago when both top tier and regular creators had the chance to work together with Tapas sponsored collabs to cross promote series. I'm not sure if it was because the number of comics was small enough and there was enough staff at the time to make these happen, but it's sad that nowadays this doesn't happen.

[spadedigsbutts]

If collaboration and cameos and such help with community so much, I’m surprised we don’t have a thread on here where you can volunteer your characters for cameos in other people’s comics and vice versa tbh

[ryoko]

There have been, and I've asked for guest art myself and done cross-overs, but those threads get lost most often now with the increase in the "I need an Artist" kind of threads or the non-art related ones like "What are you ____right now?" kind of threads.

[spadedigsbutts]

Hmmm perhaps I should make a forum for brainstorming small ways we can help each other’s visibility or another cameo list like that one because yeah there have been A LOT of those “searching for x” threads lately

[saintc]

I think cross promotion would work better if it was more... structural? Organized? I don't know what word to use. A lot of those threads seem to be a little all over the place so it's hard to follow. If someone could keep a tally on who's featuring what and when that could help.

I used to do that with some writers. We used Trello to plan promotions and such.