Web Comics is a hard life!

[CaptnHeroic]

I love making my web comic. I think other people would love it too. It's fun to write, and I really like my characters. I admit, they could be better. But I'm just getting started. I'm still a rookie!
But man... this is hard. I work as hard as i can to get my pages drawn, and to get my story written, and I don't think anybody even reads it! lol. Hopefully they will come. I have 15 subs right now, I'm really trying to get to the first 25 sub milestone. Then my next goal is a billion subs.... i can do it... I know i can.

What do you think? Is this hard work or what? Have you reached your goals?

[Testaccount]

For the record, I don't do web comics, but I write.

To a point, it is hard. I enjoy the writing, character development, and world building. Honestly, I don't like the stress of uploading the chapters and hoping readers will find my work.

I also worry that I'll disappoint my readers in a new update and they'll stop reading. Then again, everyone has those fears. In the years I've been writing online, I've never once reached my writing goals. I was hoping Tapas would be different, but so far, I don't think it's going to happen.

At this point, the stress and disappointment aren't worth it anymore for me. If my stats don't improve by the end of the year, I'll delete my account on here and just focus on Amazon.

[akemikae]

I agree, sometimes it feels like you put a lot of work into something, for little reward. The best advice I have is to keep doing it, and I think, eventually, you'll start to shine and people are going to notice your content! Can't get noticed if you don't keep making things.

Also, there are multiple threads where they are designed to help you get exposure,so be active on forums, pay attention to threads that allow you to share your comic. Nothing wrong with a little self promoting in the right locations.

[zigmenthotep]

Yeah it can be a lot of hard unrewarding work, the way I see it, if the work itself isn't enough reward for doing it then it's not worth doing, since that may be all you'll ever get.

[Kabushi]

It can definitely be tough.

I'm a writer, so the creation of the comic is a little less pressure than an artist. But I also arrange panels, letter, and reformat for Tapas/Webtoons/Website etc. Working it all around a full-time job and still trying to put out the best finished product I can is anxiety inducing!

I think, every update, I am anxious about how it will be received. The further we have gone along with the comic (we're now almost at 24 pages completed, 13 pages updated), the more I've noticed flaws in the earlier pages. But every update, new subscribers come and people comment, and it truly makes me happy to see people enjoying our weird little story. It also makes me excited because if they're enjoying it so far, they're going to really enjoy what's coming.

Tapas is tougher than Webtoons in regards to getting feedback and subs. It can be frustrating and challenging. One of the best things I've done on here (so far) is make and post a teaser trailer for the comic: https://forums.tapas.io/t/comic-teaser-trailer/19988

It gained us 60 new subs in about two days. So I'd definitely recommend something like that if you're able to do it or know anyone who can do it for you.

And anyone who is just posting on Tapas and struggling, I recommend also posting on Webtoons. You'll find more of an audience there and it will act as a very quick pick me up.

[punkarsenic]

oh yeah, webcomics are bleeding hard. especially if youre doing it on your own. gotta juggle all that writing, all that art, all that PR... time consuming, if nothing else

ive reached some of my goals, but not all of them, and im taking a pretty lax approach tbh. im gonna put my story out no matter what, because the plan is to get something finished, and to have a working project to keep funneling my skills into as i refine them. by the end im sure therell be thousands of reasons i loathe my comic and think its terrible and embarrassing and not worth reading - but itll be damn finished. thats the big thing. so i aint reached my goals til its over

[LeoDormouse]

I do not think it is too hard, because even though it makes me very happy to see my very few but very lovely subscribers giving positive feedback, I do it mostly for myself

[Sanz]

I totally agree, it's hard, When I started I was focusing on sub number too. And now I'm trying to stop that it's just discouraging especially when those featured/daily snack comics explode with subs just because seemingly the staff liked it. So just remember if you upload it they will come slowly but surely they will come... I haven't reached a goal.... maybe because i don't have one... I guess my goal is to get people asking questions predicting and interacting on tapas with the context in the comic. i like that... i love it. i don't think it's the sub count that matters to me so much anymore it's what the readers say. I realized this when I joined webtoons and ppl actually commented how much they liked it and the characters... and wanted more. it made me so happy...

[Nork_King]

aw i would be sad to see you leave but i will respect your decision and support you
and as for the questions, lol it is a lot of hard work It keeps me busy a lot of times... Ah, but I've somewhat reached a milestone so I'm at least happy with that

[Testaccount]

Thank you! That's kind of you. I told my followers I would post the finished stories on Tapas. Once I post the finished stories and they all read it, I'll delete the account. It feels like being on Tapas is a waste of my time.

[XzynderVexymous]

I'm at the same exact point as you are. This Webcomic life is HARD. But it pays off to see people come and acknowledge the work you put into it.

[Puppisama]

Well, you can consider it hard because you ain't getting pay to do it, I mean, is a lot of effort just for the sake of doing it . But I find harder to keep uploading constantly than actually writing/painting it

[modrawmanga]

Making comics turns out to be 100x more work than I expected it to be, and I haven't even reach that first step of uploading anything yet
So at this point, my only reward is the experience of creating something I wish I could find, and the slow gradual improvements of my drawing skill over time.
I try not to have any sort of expectations with the outside reaction once it does come out, cos I consider it a waste of my time and energy to try to worry about things I have no control of, and focus that on improving my own craft instead.

[KoreanTacos]

Maybe I'm a lil too positive, I mean when I first started it felt like a lot of work, but honestly ever since I stopped caring about subs, comparison, and popularity I find making my comics fun again. I think we tend to stress ourselves out too much and that's when making comics begin to become a colossal pain in the ass. For the people who do it full time I don't know how you guys can keep it up while still enjoying what you do. I've recently started watching a lot of different art tip videos and honestly the best stress reliever for making comics is just to enjoy what you're doing and not worry so much about "why isn't anyone reading this." If you don't enjoy what you do, then just don't do it.

[Cera_OMalley]

If it makes you feel any better I had heard of and come across your comic previously, before you made this post.

Just keep doing what you're doing. you'll gain an audience and improve your craft. Do it because you love it. If you keep that as your goal you can't help but succeed.

[ryoko]

Anything worth doing is hard, but if you enjoy doing something, it makes it easier to tough it out in the long run. I draw because I love drawing, but it can be a challenge to come home after work and focus on drawing. My goal is to keep drawing the adventures of my characters and share them with everyone ^_^

I think it really shows in your artwork that you love what you're doing. Just keep doing what you love and

[KoreanTacos]

Just keep doing what you love and

murder the competition?

[ryoko]

The forums gave me an error as I posted saying it was 'read only' or something. I didn't realize it actually posted most of what I wrote

"...and hang in there!"

[Cera_OMalley]

"...and hang in there!"

Mistakes were made

[ryoko]

AHAHAHA!! Whoopsies!