What do people think of Author’s notes before comics?

[RosesnWater]

I’ve recently begun an update on my comic and decided to put a little authors note and a page that will be dedicated to a nature book sort of Like an encyclopedia but for faeries and fae creatures that I show in my book.

My question is although the authors note answers a bunch of potential questions readers have without skimming all the notes left on every chapter I post and it has a little picture before the note so it’s not an eye sore, does this turn some readers away?

[KRWright]

Generally, you want to put as little between your "work-work" and the reader as possible. You want them to get straight into it. I wouldn't put it at the start, but maybe at the end of the episode where some readers might look at it before they click away? Authors notes are great and some people really do love them, so it will depend on your own audience too!

[ninjashira]

I wouldn't put anything before the comic itself, personally. You want the first thing people to see to be your actual comic page. But if you want to do encyclopedia entries between chapters, or at the bottom of an episode after the comic pages, I think that's a good idea. I follow several comics who will do encyclopedia-style informational bits between chapters in order to give them time to catch back up on their page buffers before jumping right into the next chapter, and I always enjoy those.

[RosesnWater]

Do you think the authors note would work after a prologue perhaps?? The prologue is only seven pages long and the author note is actually quite small as well.

[RosesnWater]

That’s actually a great idea!! It’s kind of like character profiles that way. I didn’t want to put it at the end because the end is always changing but at the end of each chapter feels really relevant ^^ thanks for the advice!

[Rhonder]

I think they can be okay in book-books (i.e. graphic novels or something) but I'm not fond of them in webcomics tbh. Especially this style of author note posted above where it's like... explanatory and semi-apologetic in tone and nature. There's no need to apologize ahead of time for story differences or graphic choices, just have faith in your work and put it's best foot forward

I think if those sorts of things absolutely need to be stated, then the author's comments that appear below each episode is a better place to do it rather than having this take up a large amount of visual real estate in the episode itself.

[jcmraz]

I put nothing. My comic should speak for itself. If you want more information there are places to find more like my patreon or you can ask me. But I'm trying to tell my story in a way that doesn't require pages of exposition just to follow. That should be the goal. That the reader may not understand everything right away but that over time, through the writing and world building they will understand more and more. If something leads off with exposition notes to explain the world building or rules I pretty much immediately stop reading because that tells me that the writing isn't going to get me there on its own.

[RosesnWater]

Fair enough lol I I think the reason it feels a little apologetic is because people have asked the questions before, for instance ‘can the comic be in colour’ is one I’ve had MANY times and I respond individually. This way I only have to do it the once and people will know what they’re getting into before 100% committing.

[KRWright]

Yeah definitely put it at the end of the prologue or where there's a natural break in the story for it and not at the beginning then. You'll have hooked people then who might click off if they see a bunch of uncertainty from you in the beginning. Another big part of your opening is winning your reader's trust that you know what you're doing and that you're going to take them through an entertaining tale - so don't let them know anything that's going to make it harder for them to trust you right off the bat!

[RosesnWater]

Rather than exposition (if it’s the encyclopedia info you’re talking about) I think it would be like fun tidbits, like a Q+A about creatures in the book with information that isn’t critical to understanding the world and plot but can be a fun way of the readers exploring the world in a little more detail than the story dives into.

[RosesnWater]

Ahh oh no, does it read as uncertain? I really only include the authors note to let readers know what they’re getting into and relieving some of the doubts in the beginning such as ‘is this all greyscale or not’ And ‘are there mature themes’

Looking at it again there’s definitely some rewording that needs to be done, But I do still hope to include it, since although I don’t mind answering questions, once readers have some perspective an insider knowledge they can be more sure about whether this is the story for them. Even if I do lose some potential readers, I’d rather it be because they knew they wouldn’t like my type of story, slow burn or greyscale or whatever the the reason rather than following it for months and growing increasingly bitter and dissatisfied With the content. (Which I have seen in the comments of other people’s works)

[jcmraz]

It can be. If it's in the Glossary of a book or a wiki or in a place where interested readers can go look deeper. But not part of the reading experience. If you're doing it because the story needs context then your story isn't pulling its own weight. If you're doing it for fun and front loading it then it's just noise for the readers that don't want to go further. You can't assume that your readers are as invested in your world as you are. You don't have to go over every detail in the book and if you leave some little things that could be gone further into as well as telling a compelling and followable story then readers will read your extra info. But that should never be out in front or alongside all of the pages except in very specific circumstances. Brandon Sanderson, as an example is a master of this. He always has a glossary and appendix in the back of his books for more information and you can find MUCH more detailed information on a wiki related to his books. And the way he spliced some bits into his series Stormlight Archives is by utilizing that one of the character is an artist and scientist and would do sketches and write notes in the margins. The notes were normally not in english, but in the language the characters would be writing and speaking in world and occasionally in the chapters you'll see a page devoted to some relevant sketches that she has done of things that she sees and shows interest in.

[KRWright]

Have faith in your story. Your confidence will rub off onto the readers. Also you will always get disatisfied comments. I get about a comment a day on one platform or another from someone having a good old complain at me about something. It's part and parcel of putting your work out there.

Just use Tapas' author's notes feature at the bottom of the episode if you really want to, but don't put it into the actual comic itself.

[Rhonder]

I was struggling to find the word but @KRWright nailed it on the head: uncertainty is definitely the vibe that these sorts of prefaces give off, to me at least! Yours isn't saying this but the other type I see a lot is "gee so like, I know the art starts out bad but please stick with it, it gets better later I promise!"

Like... please, don't start out by telling the reader the art is bad xD that's not good for reader retention. Art is expected to get better over time so you just gotta put your best foot forward and believe that the work can speak for itself.

Looking back at yours (since again, the above is a general commentary on a different sort of note I see a lot, but not relevant to yours ), an example here is:

You know what would be a way more fun reading experience than being told "the comic starts out in grayscale but gradually adds color until (until what?)"? Just reading the comic and watching that process unfold naturally it sounds like a cool concept to have the comic's aesthetic change over time thematically! But it gets into "show don't tell" territory for me- I don't need (or even want) to know that up front, it'll ruin the surprise. I'm sure the first time a glimpse of color appears it'll be super fun, and then as more and more show up... awesome!

The part about mature themes warnings is good, but could probably fit in either the author's note section that appears below the episode or series description and then incorporating the actual warnings into each episode as they appear at the top (as you've stated). Further, the very first sentence is synopsis type content that should probably just be worked into the series description somehow.

[MidoriCrush]

Normally, I wouldn't read them, but since many people effort so much to make them I read them now and have some comments... But since I don't like them I didn't make one in my comic but people had ask me to make them, so I don't know, I don't think I'll do them eather way haha

[vblairehawthorne]

I personally believe it will be distracting for me to read a note before the content itself. Even if it's at the end, I'd probably still ignore it if it's not that important. I think the episode description is a good enough way to leave notes and engage with readers?

[RosesnWater]

Yes I was guilty of the whole ‘it gets better’ tho I only replied with that to comments so luckily I don’t do that self depreciation stuff now ^^’

Good points all around, now I just kind of want to include some sort of preface if only to justify the art which I spent a bit of time on. I’ll definitely take all the helpful suggestions into consideration tho and not bog down the beginning with info!

[RosesnWater]

If you don’t mind me asking, what were your readers asking for?? Like did they ask for extra info or q+a or something?

[Kura]

Originally I didn't have one, but I had to add one later because I was really fuking tired of explaining again and again and again and again in the comments section that I have health issues, so my page quality will be inconsistent and my update schedule not very dependable, and REALLY tired of people complaining about how I made them 'look like a jerk for complaining about the update being late because how were they supposed to KNOW???' Like I duno, maybe don't be a piece of shit when an update is late? I mean I don't have to be physically handicapped for you not to be a fuking piece of shit to me.

But yeah, anyway, I have an authors note stating that my health will get in the way of updates and can cause the quality to fluctuate. So that they know before getting into the comic so I hopefully stop getting harassed by them, and also can't be accused of 'hiding it' 'making it hard to find' so that I can I duno... make people feel bad when I mention it???? (really not sure why people seem to think I want to do that to them but OK) Cause it's right at the flipping beginning of the damn comic, like if you skipped that, it's on you. Not me.

Obviously the author's note is not story related and more a heads up for my own physical limitations in making a comic so I stop getting harassed. So if the readers do skip over it, then it's not gonna affect their reading of the story. Just how I'll respond if they pull the "Why is the update LATE??? ARE YOU BEING LAZY??!???" comment drop with me cause I am really fking sick of having to respond to that.

[RosesnWater]

First of all WOW I cannot believe you drew like almost 2000 Pages for a comic 2nd I totally get that, like I said before I’ve had to explain the colour thing so many times, (tho granted readers have been very nice to me about it and polite) it’s not that I want to obscure my writing with pointless filler, it’s just I think the things I say in there aren’t relevant to the plot but to the number one biggest questions I get-