What are your thoughts on hiatuses?

[KUUPID]

Hello!
Just a quick question, what are your thoughts on hiatuses? I'm going to be starting school again in August and I know I won't have the time to be writing as much as I have been this past year... Would you stop following a novel or comic if the creator doesn't post as often/ is gone for a year? Or would you just wait and see?

I'm just sort of worried that I'll disappoint my readers for the lack of updates T^T Especially for one of my novels that I'm barely returning to ;___;

[BlairFujin]

A year with no updates? I'd assume the thing got abandoned, if it's just less often updates, I'd most likely stick.

[noenoh]

I would wait
I understand that artists /authors have a life and priorities and if I like what they do then why don't wait, specially if they are giving me enjoyment for free 🤷🏻‍♂️
I've been waiting for an artist to update their story since 2018 xD

[LunarScyphozoa]

After a year I’d assume it’d get abandoned, but I wouldn’t unsubscribe because maybe they’ll come back. After 2 years I’d assume they died.

[SurvivALIST]

In my case, it was helpful because I know that I'm developing my writing styles for the novel. Just take it as though I, the author, is on a journey of rediscovering ways to improve Alist's story.

I'm also juggling three other goals which is to learn how to cook a meal I'm satisfied to eat, to acquire a language (I'll not tell y'all), and to develop my fundamentals in drawing.

Just be honest with yourself and to your readers when you decided to go on hiatus. Don't pressure yourself!

[Rocksteady_Comics]

I agree with those above me that after a year I’d just assume the project was dead and the author had moved on to other things. I would probably stick around for at least a few months or so, or if the author made a brief announcement now and then that stuff was still in the works.

[Azifri]

If I'm reading it for free who am I to complain? I never stop actively following a webcomic/novel just because it has no updates, I may forget it exists, but it won't be on purpose.

Maybe try to end your last chapter in a satisfying way? As in, the end of some plot point, or after a conflict, dunno, something that feels like a partial conclusion before you go on hiatus. Could make it more satisfying for the readers who are invested in your story, and if after a year for some reason you decide you won't continue with that story, it could at least feel like you achieved a partial ending.

[Kelheor]

Waiting for a year is a normal thing, I mean, Webtoons featured authors go for a year long hiatuses to make next season frequently. And it's pretty common for mangakas to have huge gaps between the chapters for different reasons. I tend to check out on the stuff I read every year or so if I know the author is having long hiatuses, like it happened to Berserk, for example.
Even on Tapas or Webtoons I don't subscribe to a thousand of comics, therefore I don't have a problem with lacking library space, so there's no reason for me to unsubscribe from them.

[Ranty-cat]

I'm a Berserk fan. Also, I'm a fan of Hunter x Hunter. So one year is nothing to me. Lol

[Kaydreamer]

For a non-featured work, I'd advise avoiding hiatuses that are longer than a few months; it's pretty common for non-featured works to be abandoned, and it's likely a lot of readers will assume that's the case with yours, unless you're posting occasional 'extras', like little dialogue snippets, world-building snippets, and so-on.

What I would suggest instead is to slow your update schedule. If I had to choose between a two-month hiatus, or a slowing to a monthly posting schedule, I'd slow to a monthly posting schedule. (I'm considering that after Chapter 2 ends anyway, so I can rebuild my buffer for a few months, then I'll revert to bi-weekly.)

[nostalgicroxas]

I'm not active enough to check works and the dates of the hiatuses and stuff but I always feel like when someone does a Hiatus that'll just be a short amount of time, I always end up thinking it'll be a 2 years and more. So I don't go through and filter out dead content in my subs list. Too much effort.

If you can, just be like "hey updates will be SLOWER. I'm not abandoning this, I'm doing school" x y and z. I mean, I'm not a fan of them in general cause I feel like some of those statements sound... like you're about to abandon it - me as a person who has been too busy doing stuff to write for like 5 months. I just try to keep up a slow steady pace of backlogged work on Tapas.

At best, a small update a month seems to satisfy people, and people really do understand.

I mean, honestly, if someone is really a fan of something, they won't be happy with a hiatus no matter how you handle it.

[R.n.P]

no matter how long a hiatus takes i can understand, the authors have lives of their own to live so if they need a break its A-okay

[doublemelon]

Guess im the minority on this one. I would probably not continue reading the novel/comic after a year of hiatus since I will forget a bunch of stuff and the hype is gone.

[DiegoPalacios]

Recommend you to inform your readers if you need to take a hiatus, also, to tell them when you are going to get back to working on that comic...

[KUUPID]

Lol. xD To be honest, I would too.

[marbl]

I'm fine with hiatuses, but I would prefer to have an announcement of sorts to let readers know.

[Maps]

Lol I had people ask me if I was okay. I actually felt horrible, but I just hadn’t been in a place to continue writing for a while.

But yeah, OP, I don’t recommend it. I did nearly a year off and people either thought something had happened to me or that I gave up my work. I also wonder if my “haitus-breaking” updates remind some people they’re subbed to my story but they might think “yeah I’m not trying to re-read to remember what was going on here” then just unsubscribe. But that’s just a guess.

It might be nice to let them know you may not be posting as regularly.

[BreakingChalk]

If possible, try to manage small updates (if you haven't already), otherwise, just announce that you'll be on hiatus for a while, and build up for a batch so you won't face the same problems when you return.

Good luck!

[Iris-Grimoire]

I'd wait - if there's a warning. I'm waiting on at least two series where the author clearly would love to keep going and going, but life gets in the way, because I'd like that same respect offered to me if anything happened with my work as well. Also, no one can go on forever unless they've actually finished whole chunks before starting to begin with, so if they're the type to make whole chapter, stop a long time, make another whole chapter, then it's fine by me.

Becomes a problem if they just go radio silent though. Page stops halfway through the chapter and nothing in the description, no updates, no wall messages, their social goes on like a comic never existed? I'm unfortunately unsubscribing, there's little hope it's coming back. If they straight up disappear I'd get worried of course, but also I'm a random person on the internet that happens to be a fan of their art, I can't tell if something bad happened, or they lost the drive to make more and couldn't muster the courage to say it outright/can't admit that it's not coming back in this form.

(Not implying that's a horrible artist sin and you should always make those decisions, life is hard, mind stuff gets in the way and the comic is just a bunch of pretty pixels; just that from the outside, there's no longer a point in waiting)