i don't think its a failure in networking!

as much as i'd want to avoid saying it, art is still a major part of comic. it's fair to say that staff picks are chosen because of the 'first impression' - i.e the art presented by the comic either from its first pages or thumbnail. in a perfect world, art AND writing would have equal standing in a readers choice on whether or not to sub to a comic, but unfortunately, art takes a little bit of higher priority in influence for a majority of readers. obviously there are those who dont care what the art looks like, but for a good number of people they want good visuals. this is why an arguably badly written comic can get so much traffic - is if it's art is incredibly good.

also, other content creators aren't obliged to return favors just because you're nice to them :/ popular creators/artists are often bombarded by people trying to get something out of them, be it free art/promotion/etc. so even if youre just trying to chat, it's very likely that they're going to THINK you're out to get something from them rather than a genuine conversation between two creators.

you have to do nice things for the sake of doing nice things, not because you want someone to promo you. often times ive noticed this kind of behavior where someones doing something nice because they want something in return often comes back to bite them, because they usually don't end up getting what they want.

I think AnnaLandin and heterodont have responded really well to your concerns, and so as not to sound like a parrot and keep repeating what they've already effectively said, I'lll just offer some advice. Mainly to not judge your success by your subscriber count. I know its painful to not see the number go up, and to feel undervalued, but the problem is that no matter how high your number grows, there'll still always be doubt in your mind, or a 'why can't I have 2k rather than 1k?' sort of reaction. It's normal to want more and be competitive. I'm sure there are loads of people who really want 100 subs, some who are ecstatic getting to ten. In my personal opinion, measuring your success with numbers is never going to leave you satisfied. I know it sounds cynical and horrible, but people's time is precious, they only really want to read things they really enjoy. Usually a comic which is successful is outstanding both in art and in writing, and even then comics with amazing art and amazing stories get lost under the radar. Imo, it's more effective to judge yourself against yourself. See how you've improved, learn new things from comic creating, practise art, story pacing, characterisation etc. Find your own style (writing and art) and methods and don't be afraid to make mistakes to learn from them! Most of the time, someone's first work isn't their best. Experiment and become a better comic creator, and, since the vast majority of the time webcomics here are labours of love rather than someone pandering to the mainstream for views, be selfish and create something that's important and meaningful to you! If you love creating your comic, you'll stick with it for longer, your enthusiasm will shine through, and it will get better and garner attention. It's just you can't feel obliged to get attention because of hard work (I don't think theres a comic creator who doesn't work hard, we all pour our hearts and soul into our work), and you just have to keep striving and becoming the best creator you can be.

No matter how much time and effort you put into comics, it all comes down to the presentation. Readers don't know how much time you've put into your work.

I think I need to be brutally honest with you, but your artstyle is not very good. From what I can tell, you want to tell a very emotional story. But your characters are off proportionate, the backgrounds are lacking, etc. All inn all, it doesn't look very pleasing. Which makes it very hard for readers to connect with your story.

I don't mean to sound offensive. But I think you need to figure out what type of comic your artsyle works with. Or you need to improve your artstyle drastically.

But you do have followers, and they comment on your episodes. Many skilled artists don't even have that. I know the feeling of wanting more subs and likes. But if you get 1k subs one day, you'll want 2k the next day. It never ends.

Look, I don't have a ton of experience of knowledge like the previous replies, but here's my 2 cents.
It's okay to be upset with your work.

I think every artist, writer, and creator (of anything, really), gets frustrated with themselves, with a lack of response, or maybe just being upset just because.

So yes, it is perfectly reasonable to want more recognition. Otherwise, why would you put anything up to be scrutinized on the internet? But I think your mindset here is doing you a lot more harm than good. And I do think that sometimes, it's very difficult to see past our own little bubbles.

Here's the thing. Those creators did not do nothing and then were suddenly showered with praise and fame. It just doesn't happen like that. Sure, you might see a comic be staff picked with one episode of lovely artwork, but have you thought about how long the artist took to build up their skills? Maybe they did so for years, and you only see that in one episode.

You know, sometimes, it just isn't fair.
Sometimes, it feels like you're not getting what you deserve.
Sometimes, you get hundreds of views for some scribble of a fanwork you did while everyone brushes past your original creations.

It's so true about art taking precedence, at least in webcomics. Believe me, I know. My story is absolutely awful, and I'm not saying that out of artists's despair, but because it is. It's disjointed, horribly paced, and I sincerely don't deserve the people looking at, liking, and commenting on my pages because my art is okay, in a generic kind of way. But I keep moving, because I can improve. Scratch that, I will improve. And so will you.

But only if you don't give up. Only if you try for the sake of enjoying creating art and spinning a story, not for the subscribers, not for the statistics. Because those things aren't going to sustain you as a creator. Those won't help you grow is you do everything to solely accommodate subscribers.

There isn't a secret password or a magic key.
You say this:

But what results do you want?
If you are solely focused on results such as "5000 subscribers overnight" without thinking about anything else you have already gained, then maybe you need to reevaluate your priorities.

Being unsatisfied is not your fault. But what you do about it is your responsibility.

The former commenters already posted very insightful answers.
And as hard as they may be to digest, you made the right choice, stepping toward truth.
That hard step is what all successful people took at some point, whether it is obvious or not.
Take your time but keep going there.

I'd like to offer tools that helped my art skills a lot through regular, steady practice.

http://drawabox.com/4 has a lot of great exercises, no matter where one stands.
In fact I plan to finally do all of them regularly over next year to gain stronger lines. (No time in December unfortunately...)

https://line-of-action.com/6 for gesture drawing exercises. This is a bit more advanced but an excellent exercise to be able to draw proportions correctly. Yes, even for manga style art. A good foundation of realism knowledge helps enormously with making abstracted styles balanced and believable.

Just chiming in with my two bits here: it's not helpful to say a person's art isn't "good", because in art that's fairly meaningless and, further, wasn't what was really asked. If one has something to suggest in terms of development, however, if one is aware of what their goals are, that can probably be much more helpful than just saying "I don't think your art is good" -- that's a value statement based on personal perspective. Speaking personally, I have seen plenty of comics do very well with regards to readership, and plenty of them have what I would consider not technically solid art styles or consistent quality. That doesn't honestly matter that much to most audiences.

That said, it's good to examine what you want as an artist and what goals you have. If you can set goals, you can likely achieve them. It's just something that most don't consider. What are your specific goals, and where are you now in relation to them? What resources do you know of that you can use to help you get there? Usually establishing a point A and point B are very, very helpful in figuring out how to get from one to the other!

Networking is helpful, working with others is helpful. Collaborative efforts can be helpful. Advertising is usually really helpful if you can spare some time to do it or recruit some help in doing it.

I think it's a good idea to view people as just...people, rather than in "levels". I've never particularly regarded people as above or below my level as a creator, because we're all essentially doing the same job. Some of my colleagues may do more graphic design work, and others do decor, with still others doing odd jobs as they work on their true passions -- it's up to them, but we are doing the same job. None of us is above or below the other. We are dependent upon our market to succeed in business terms, just as we are dependent upon our readership to succeed in terms of an audience.

It's totally okay to be frustrated, as @Quinineer put far more eloquently than I am able. I went through a period of about two years after my seven-plus-year-long, most successful comic came to an end where nothing seemed to work and I just seemed to be in a series of flopped ideas and burnout. Just remember that while it's okay to be sad, it's okay to be frustrated, even angry...you do have to choose whether or not you want to go back to what you're doing with comics. If you want to do comics, you have to get back to them eventually.

Don't be afraid to try! Don't be afraid to experiment, to sketch, to reach out and sketch with people...it can happen. Good things will happen. Go and try and do, because frustration tends to keep us all from doing our best. And "doing our best" starts with doing, which is what we have to do in order to develop as artists. It's something that is a lifelong pursuit. We will never be "the best", because it doesn't exist. But we can always, constantly, keep learning, keep developing, and keep expressing ourselves through increasingly more and more robust methods in our art.

I believe in that with all of my heart. I don't have all the answers, but I know that a destination can never be reached if we don't take that important first step...and the one after that, and the one after that, and just keep going. Eventually we turn around and look back on how far we've come.

While I understand where you're coming from how are you judging the amount of effort/work that goes into these comics though? There is so much effort that goes on behind the scenes as a reader you might not even notice, and this includes the amount of hours put into story, planning, art, networking as well as older projects too. Like my first comic project was back in 2010-11 on smackjeeves barely had 100 subscribers by the time I stopped working on it, it was a start and something I used to build up my current projects. You might not see it but most of the successful artists here did have to grind their way to success one way or another.

To be fair they don't really owe you anything, they probably get bombared with a bunch of other messages from fans/other people and yours are one of them, they dont have to reply, retweet or promote your content for you and if they do that for you other people will ask them to do the same for them. I do fairly well on instagram and I can tell you from experience how many DMs, comments from people asking for promotions and shoutouts daily and I just can't help everybody. You might see it as not that much to ask for but if you consider the amount of other people trying to get shoutouts/retweets of whatever then yeah it kinda is a lot to ask for.

the truth is, no matter how much effort you put into your comic, no matter how "good" the art style or writing are, some people just won't like it. i personally have a very specific set of criteria that need to be met for me to enjoy a comic and actually subscribe to it: art style, genre, writing, my opinion of the artist, etc. for example im not really a fan of most anime/manga styles and that's a majority of what you find on this site. it doesnt mean those comics arent good, it just means i wont be a reader of them no matter what the creator does because there is a fundamental aspect of that story that im not interested in.

if your story in any way doesnt pique a reader's interest then they will pass you over. theres no ill will or spite about it, that's just how it is. people who like your comic will come to you, but it takes time for them to find you. if you have a more niche artstyle or story topic, then it can take a long time...but if you really get fulfillment or happiness from making your comic, surely you will keep going! <: D

I'm not sure if this has anything to do with the fan art you sent me other day, Aspie, but I've actually had a colossally busy few days lately. I've had a ton of work at my job regarding inventory, my daughter got super sick so I had to spend about every moment tending to her, and when I had some spare time on my posting day, I spent most of the day working my butt off on my new revised prologue page, because honestly, I've been falling REALLY behind on my art in the last couple of weeks (not to mention simultaneously worrying about my own anxiety issue), and really, my mind just wasn't in the right place. I've been trying to keep tabs on everything going on at once, but it's so hard to hit absolutely every beat along the way without missing. I really am grateful for the fan art you sent, and now that you reminded me, it was imperative that I posted it on twitter. I felt SO bad seeing this!

Honestly, in regards to me trying to grow, I've given up on the thought of expecting others to do something in return for me just because I did something for them. It's not that they don't deserve it or that I don't, but I find it's best to let these things come naturally. A lot of artists get very busy and have a lot to keep track of. Sometimes, we don't see reciprocation for quite awhile, or even at all. I think it's worth putting effort into promoting the comics and building friendships with the people YOU truly care about, whether you get rewarded or not. Sometimes, people will reciprocate, but even for the people who don't, you won't feel bad about it because you're invested in their work regardless...if that makes any sense. Sometimes I do wish that a popular artist with a ton of followers will retweet me, and on occasion, it's happened. But I'll let you know this, it doesn't exactly help. I've had retweets among someone with 10k followers and didn't even see a spike in views. I was excited at first, but saw that it didn't really go anywhere. That's just kind of the way it goes.

This is a super long post, and I'd like to reply some more to it when I have time (I gotta leave for work in a few mins), but I'm just letting you know to send me a message in the twitter chat if you'd like to talk sometime, ask for tips, or even just vent! I'm here for you bud. We'll push forward together.

The idea that it's "not that much to ask" to ask me to promote everyone who is nice to me...isn't really how I look at it. I promote things I genuinely like! Honestly, I owe that to the people who are kind enough to follow me.
And I'm not even a big name! If you get 50 responses to every tweet you make, then someone trying to have a "genuine conversation" and expecting a reply is already making unfair demands on you.

Ryan North was once asked about how he seemed to have this circle of popular comics friends, and how does someone get in on that -- how do you get to sit at the cool table, so to speak? His advice was that if you see a bunch of successful people and try to weasel your way into their group, even if your intentions are good, there's often going to be an uncomfortable dynamic where it feels like you're trying to get something from them. Instead, focus on building relationships with people around you -- other creators who have a similar reach/influence/success to you, and as you all grow and get bigger and bigger, you will become the new cool table.

And ultimately that's the big thing -- growing your audience isn't all about networking. Networking is important, sure, but it's also about the actual thing you're promoting. You can get your comic in front of one million faces, but if people aren't engaged by what they see, it can only do you so much good.
You talk about all the effort you're putting into networking and reaching out and making sure that your comic gets updated often enough to be seen -- how much work are you putting into improving your comic? How much work are you putting into making it look better and better, trying to get closer to the way you'd love it to look? Are you drawing on the side, practicing faces or poses or environments over and over and over again and studying reality, or artists that you admire, to learn what you can improve?

I think hitting plateaus occasionally with networking is kinda normal, but if the results from networking are frustrating you, maybe that means it's a good time to shift focus for a little while. You've networked your socks off. Now, take a little time away from telling people where your restaurant is and pour some of that time and effort and hard work into improving your menu, your food, your presentation.
Networking is much easier when people are sharing your work not because you were nice to them and they feel they owe you, but because they looked at your work and thought "this is awesome."

I did have a friend in college who absolutely made it by "networking with the big leagues" -- she went to every portfolio review our school held, and talked to major editors at conventions, and every time she showed them her work, she asked what she could improve -- and if they gave her advice she went home and worked at it. If they told her that her anatomy needed work, she would study to make her anatomy better and improve however she could. If they said her figures were too stiff, she'd take classes on gesture and quick sketching to try to loosen it up. And that's what made her stand out to those big names -- that when she came back next year they could see that she had actually taken their advice and fixed those problems and made her work better.

I do agree with you that seeing some overnight successes can be pretty disheartening at times, but the truth is, most of those overnight successes are just pure dumb luck. The right person saw their comic at the right time and was able to get it the right attention to skyrocket to the top. It sucks that luck is really all it takes, but it's the truth, because even getting staff pick or getting in the popular section or something like that isn't really a guarantee you'll suddenly have thousands of subscribers if the wrong people happening to be visiting the site at that time. It SUUUCKS that so much of it is about luck than skill, but that's the truth of things when it comes to those folks who suddenly get popular like it's nothing. Back when I was younger and less wise, there were so many times I'd be browsing places like DeviantArt's daily deviations and wondering why I wasn't getting one and why I wasn't getting more attention when a lot of my stuff was just as good, if not better, than the stuff they were choosing to feature (or so I felt at the time). In a way, I'm honestly grateful that never happened because I had some issues to work through, and I know for a fact I wouldn't be the same person I am right now if I had gotten that at a younger age, and it's also rare I find myself delving into thoughts like that, because I've learned to just keep doing my own thing.

I don't know that much about Asperger's outside of what my mom would tell me after coming home from work as a parapro, so sorry ahead of time if I'm suggesting something you're already aware of, but I'm wondering if maybe seeing if there there are communities like support groups for people with Asperger's online somewhere that you could maybe plug your comic to and seeing if they'll take a look over at it on tapas or webtoon or wherever you want your views going. I figure even if they don't actually make accounts and subscribe, you'ld still be getting their views, and it would be from people who would probably really appreciate reading your comic because it's something they can really relate to, and in turn could potentially share with their friends and family, and even potentially influences in that community. I'm definitely not saying don't keep trying outside of that, but that could potentially help be a boost for your series, and possibly get you attention from folks outside of that circle as well.

A lot of the advice others are suggesting are covering anything else I'd want to say, so I'll end this here, but I'll close with saying that there's always stuff everyone could be doing to improve where they're at, so try not to feel too discouraged that this is feeling the case for yourself. It's a good sign that you're noticing that you could be doing things different, cuz now you can take that leap and push past the block. And who knows, it could end with you skyrocketing into the stars as well, but it also might not. Just keep doing what you think is right for your comic and keep pushing yourself to be the best that you can be.

As someone who fails at like 90% of my endeavors I can confirm that hard work most definitely does not equal success. And watching people apparently put in same hard work as you and go way further is horribly frustrating. It's hard to do and may seem like whining, but reaching out like you're doing now and asking "what am I doing wrong?" is actually important because people might be hesitant to point out something you're doing wrong that they can see clearly, for fear of hurting your feelings (or other negative reactions)

The truth is, webcomics is an extremely competitive field. You can do everything "right" and still not get what you want. (Now I have the Rolling Stones in my head, thanks brain) For a lot of people, finding a significant audience is difficult because the sheer volume of webcomics is so incredibly massive and there's so many choices it's hard for even good comics to stand out. When I started back in the early 2000s I had way more of an audience even though my work much less refined than it is now! I've seen people that were very popular back in the day return to making comics after a hiatus, and are now frustrated because the same amount of effort doesn't get them the same audience. There are just so many underlying factors that can affect who is reading you and whether or not you are seen in the first place. The best you can do is try to identify these factors and fix them if you can.

So what are you doing wrong as a content creator? I would say your weak point is your artwork. Your networking efforts are solid and I really like your writing style. I can't say anything for demographics because I don't know this site well enough to speak on that. Writing takes precedence over art for many people (including myself) but comics being a visual medium, the visual aspects can't be ignored when trying to improve your chances. Your artwork comes off to me as "unfinished" -- the lines are wobbly and there are a lot of holes in the shading/bleeding outside the lines. I can't say much on anatomy (cause it's something I struggle with a lot myself and I am most certainly not hiding my comics from this thread to not be an example >> << >>) but the expression of it could use work. You're headed in the right direction with the variety of angles and expressions and poses you put your characters in, they just need to be less stiff. I think if you keep networking as you're doing and focus heavily on improving your art, you'll have a better chance at finding the readership you're looking for.

First of all I do want to say that I really enjoy your art style. I think your characters are very expressive.
Second of all I think you need to think a bit about why your are actually making comics. Is it to get a big readership or is it because you love drawing and creating stories? Because If the need for a big readership is bigger then the happiness you get from creating you will probably just feel more and more unhappy. It is easy to get obsesst with subscriber count and lose track of why you create. But I think that to be able to keep on making comics you have to get joy and satisfaction just from the process of making comics. Getting feedback and readers are important to. Of course a creator wants other people to enjoy their work. But if its all about getting followers you will loose all your joy. I try to focus on what I have instead of what I could have. I am not a super great artist like others on this site. But I love drawing and telling my story and I am super happy and grateful that I have people that actually read my story. That I do get comments, likes and even fanart / fan fiction. That is huge for me. Really a dream come true. I don't have over a thousand subscribers. But the ones I have mean a lot to me and I feel like I am very lucky. So I don't know, maybe you should just try to see what you do have. And if you love making comics you will keep making them and maybe in a couple of years you will have built up an even bigger readership. Who knows? ^_^

First off, this is not true. It's important to understand that comics (and life) is not a meritocracy. Yes, putting forth the effort will give you a better advantage to achieving your goals, as well as whatever privileges one may possess-- but outside of that, nothing is guaranteed.

Second, and some folks have touched on this-- people don't owe you anything for your kindness. If your kind gestures are tinged with the expectation of reward, that not only sets you up for frustration, but it's unfair to the other person. Life is not about doing A in order to receive B-- it's just not that clear-cut. My advice is to be helpful and genuinely invested in other artists, and don't focus on what they can do for you. If you foster real relationships with people, they're more likely to help you out. But you don't get to decide the form that help comes in! Maybe they don't share your comic with their followers, but they offer advice on a drawing or show you some cool inspiring artwork. It's all still valuable stuff.

Also, don't just focus on people who have already made it big. Their circle of friends is likely made up of artists who've come up alongside them from their tiny beginnings. If you're going to focus on building friendships, build them with your peers. But again, first and foremost, be genuinely interested in them as people. Not what they can offer you.

As far as your comic's story and genre goes-- I don't know a ton about it, aside from that it's about a girl with Asperger's and her experiences. Which is great, it's important to have more stories from unique voices. But it sounds to me like a very personal story, which means it's naturally going to have a smaller following. Again, I've never read it so I can't attest to how it's written-- but if it's speaking from a very personal, biographical viewpoint, it could be difficult for outsiders to connect with the story. It might be worth considering how your story could be more accessible to readers-- how could a stranger pick up this comic and relate to it? Relatability is a key component in any story's success.

Lastly-- I would focus on improving the craftsmanship of the comic itself, particularly the artwork, but also the lettering and paneling. THIS is where you have the most control over your comic's success! Instead of jealously lamenting the popularity of other comic artists, take time to serious analyze why they're successful. It's easy to write-off comics as overrated, badly-written, whatever. It feels good to gripe, to remove the responsibility from your shoulders, but it isn't going to bring readers to your work. So become ruthlessly devoted to studying other comics, evaluating your work honestly, and making your comic the best it can be. Put yourself out there for critiques on your art and listen to what people say. You'll be amazed as how quickly you can improve once you set your mind to it and drop all notions of being "owed" things.

Actually, the opposite is true. The rise of social media now means that where before there were a few places to be seen, and only a few people BEING seen, you are now drowing in a chorus of literally everybody else. When you're in a group of 10, you don't have to shout very loudly to be heard. When you're in a group of millions, you're almost guarranteed to be drowned out.

Unfortunately, that's not how the world works. I'm sorry. Effort counts for a lot on a personal level, but it doesn't matter how loudly you shout, if the people hearing you don't really feel like listening. It sucks, but it's part of the process, I'm afraid.

Since you seem to have pushed networking pretty hard, and have the update schedule down, I'll focus on improvement of your comic:

1. Lifedrawing. Dig up any resources you can find on gesture drawing and lifedrawing in general. If there's a lifedrawing class close to you, attend it! If there isn't one, use photographs of people. If you can't find decent photographs, as family members to sit still for a bit while you draw them - or draw yourself, while looking in the mirror. Focus on big shapes and poses, don't worry about details right now. It doesn't matter if you're awesome at drawing fingernails if you can't draw a hand and arm that looks natural.
2. Look through your own work with a critical eye. Re-read your comic from the start. Compare the first page to the very latest page. Try to chart any differences between them. Really analyse what you're doing, and try to find flaws in it. Ask someone to read through it and nitpick it. And once you've found the flaws, identity not only WHAT they are, but WHY they happen, and work on fixing them. Is your art not communicating the feeling you want to get across? Then figure out WHY it's failing (is it too stiff? Are the facial expressions off? Are your action-sequences hard to follow? Do your dialogue scenes end up being just talking heads?), and consciously try to fix it. Likewise, is your writing not up to scratch? Find the flaws, figure out why they happen, work on improving, repeat.
3. Read OTHER people's comics with a critical eye. Find a comic you really love, that you think works REALLY well - and figure out why. Is it the panel layouts that are amazing? Is it the artwork? Is it the dialogue? How did this comic approach similar scenes to what you have in YOUR comic, and how did the creators solve it? Take your lessons and apply them to your own comic. If someone else has a solution to your problem, it's a good idea to learn from them.
4. Ask for critiques. Serious, in-depth critiques by people you know will be honest with you. And then take the advice they give you and apply it to your work. Make things. If it still isn't right, make more things. Keep pushing that boulder. Eventually, you're going to build the necessary strength to get it over the top.

... and those are concrete things you can start doing right now. Improvement won't be instantaneous, but I promise you, a year from now, you WILL have made a difference.