What is the importance of readers vs subscribers?

[midnight_rendezvous]

I'm quite a newbie on Tapas (start of my 3rd week here, woohoo) and so far it's been a great experience. One thing I'm a bit unsure about is the importance of subscriptions. I've got a few questions related to this matter. I apologise in advance if some of the questions seem very specific, but alas my brain is wired to be a menace.

1. In pretty much every story/comic I read, the writers urge their readers to subscribe to their story. While, I understand that writers are eligible for ad revenue after getting 250 subscribers, is there any benefit to getting more subscriptions after this number?

2. Do readers get notified of a story update even if they aren't subscribed to the story?

3. Adding to this, if a reader adds a story to their private subscription list, does that add to the subscription tally of the story or does the writer not get notified that they have a new subscriber?

4. Finally, I've noticed that there is quite a large deficit between the number of readers and the number of subscriptions that I have. If I've calculated it correctly, I know that the number of chapter reads does not drop off as readers progress through the story. So I'm wondering if there's something I'm doing wrong, and that's why readers aren't being converted into subscribers. For example, if I increase the update time between chapters (currently update between 1-2 days), would readers be more incentivised to subscribe? Does it even matter?

Thanks in advance!

[ninjashira]

In regards to the "purpose" of having more subscribers, there are algorithms to track how many people like and comment on your pages that can move your comic up to some of the more visible sections on the front page like "new and noteworthy" or "trending" so you get more attention. From a purely numbers perspective, the only other milestone is having to have 2,000 subscribers to apply to be a premium comic.

Readers do not get notifications for a comic's new updates unless they are subscribed to it.

If a reader adds your comic to their subscription list, you get a notification about it. There is no "private list" where they can subscribe without the creator knowing about it or it not counting toward the subscriber numbers.

The subscriber/reader/liker/commenter ratio is always going to be like that. People will always subscribe to more than they read, read more than they like, like more than they comment, and comments are infrequent. A lot of people will subscribe to something with the intention of reading it and never get around to it, or wait until it has more pages up so they can read a lot at once, or subscribe just so they can share it with a friend. Lots of reasons.

Personally, I have about 1,000 subscribers right now. Of that, about 700 actually read each new page, 70 people like each new page, and about 7 people leave comments. That's just the nature of Tapas.

[cherrystark]

I am still pretty new to this site and don't know all the ins and outs. Someone could give more insight than i could. I know that subscribers are important to get financial benefits like ad revenue and tipping. More subs beyond 250? I'm flattered for every sub i get, and would love to pass the 250 mark.

I've often heard that reads are more important than subs for the algorithm. Not all subs frequently read the work they sub to, so there is going to be a difference in reads versus subs. You also don't have to subscribe to read a story. Often readers might stumble onto your work and read several chapters of your work without ever subscribing. I have to feel a strong enough connection a series and support the artist to sub. Other stories, if I don't sub but want to keep reading, I remember the title and will find it again later to read.

My biggest advise to increase your stats is to advertise and be involved in the forums. There are a lot of good people on this site who will check out your stuff once they know about it. Give yourself time for your numbers to grow.

[midnight_rendezvous]

Ah thank you so much for this response! Your breakdown of the subscriber/reader/liker ratio explains things a lot. You're right; there are so many reasons why this occurs. I didn't even think to myself that people subscribe to stories as a way of bookmarking it, until the story is completed for e.g. (even though that's something I do myself).

I'll bear this in mind moving forward!

[keii4ii]

The biggest reason creators want more subscribers is because they hope subscribers will actually read. After all, why wouldn't someone subscribe if they fully intend to follow the story? You only get notifications for updates if you are subbed.

That being said, active readers who don't sub are probably more desirable than inactive subs. It's definitely better for algorithm, at least. And active commenters who leave insightful comments full of love are worth their weight in gold, whether or not they are subbed.

[midnight_rendezvous]

I had no idea that an algorithm was being used to display stories. I guess that puts things into perspective now. Subscriptions are useful, but in the case of bookmarking stories you've read, the 'recent' tab also does the job. I'll stop focusing on the numbers in that case haha and try to do a better job at self-promotion. Thanks!

[nickolaidas]

A thousand subscribers and only 7 comments. That's brutal.

I think most readers don't click 'like' because honestly they forget about it. Heaven knows how many times I've skipped pressing like to issues I honestly enjoyed. Only once I became a creator myself I became more careful with that.

But the lack of comments is what kills me. When you tell a story you probably want to hear what people liked/disliked - just like when you walk out of a movie theatre. Not a single comment can be truly disheartening, especially if you poured your heart and soul on that specific issue.

But like you said, that's how it goes.

[midnight_rendezvous]

why wouldn't someone subscribe if they fully intend to follow the story?

Ah yes, this was my mindset when I first noticed the subscriber feature. But reflecting on everything now, plus all the insight you've all provided, I understand that active readers play as important a part as subscribers. And yes, it truly does put a smile on my face to read the comments that a few of the readers have left

[ninjashira]

Yeah, and that number can fluctuate a bit depending on the page and the content - I've had pages where I get closer to 30 comments. That usually only happens when a BIG DEAL happens on the page. I think the best way to increase reader engagement is to ask them a question in the author's notes so they feel like they have something to respond to. So the pages where I have "What do y'all think is going on?" or "I don't have anything interesting to say about this page, so tell me about your pets!" are the ones with the highest number of comments.

[getawayfromme118]

In regards to comments, because I catch myself doing this sometimes, when I am binge reading a series I usually don't bother commenting anything because I automatically swipe left to read the next chapters to see what's happened. Although once I've caught up with the series, I usually leave a comment on the latest chapter.

As a creator myself, I really need to start leaving more comments on things I love reading as I know how important it can be for the creator of that series!

[midnight_rendezvous]

It truly does make a difference. For one of the stories I was following on AO3, I would read it on my laptop so I could leave detailed comments haha. I was bit behind on the updates for like a week or two and when I left my next comment, the writer was so happy and left a really sweet wall of text about how they'd noticed my absence. It really made me aware of how writers notice every little comment, even if they don't reply.

[uglygirlnextdoor]

I am more a creator myself than a reader. Writing an on-going novel and an ongoing poetry book takes my time. However, we do feel the weight of the numbers. For example, after one week (I update my novel every Sunday), not having any views or likes is sorta passing the message "you're not doing a good job.
So if you are a reader, at least alike even if it is on the last chapter (we do understand that is sort of immersion-breaking to like each page)

[migxmeg]

As you said about clicking like, readers forget! Especially if they're immersed in the story they are not imagining how much the author would love it if they left a comment 🤷‍♀️.

[ButterflyEmpress]

Unfortunately for #2, you do get notifications for comics you're not subscribed to, mainly the big name comics on the front page. I'd be nice if we could opt out of those.

[Ordinaryaverageguy]

I think there's a mistake made when we equate Views (which are reported in Performance data) with Readers.
I've experimented with my own 1-page stories & with looked at View data on my longer ones & I'm convinced there's no distinction on Tapas between a casual click on an Episode (e.g. they may look at the first sentence or two & go away) and a click where they stay to read the whole episode.
You may notice odd numbers like (example) 40 Views on Episode 5 but only 10 to 20 on the 1st 4 Episodes. To me that indicates Ep 5 got a lot of non-Reader clicks.

[EEdwing]

In all honesty, I really wanted to hit 250 subs, but then I realized after checking other writer's or comic artist's ink donations that even if you do hit that amount, theres no chance that hoards of people will donate to you. What then?

For me, I just feel happy seeing people reading my works. People say to write for yourself, but I already know my plot, I imagine things all the time. What's the point if what you're writing doesn't get across to anyone else? That's just for me though.

I wouldn't be able to go on if no one read any of my works honestly.

[Ordinaryaverageguy]

GDReree, I totally get you. A big part of the satisfaction in writing this year (my first) was anticipating how scenes, plot, dialog would 'reach' readers & maybe move them. The scarcity of readers (real readers, not just click-thrus that don't really read a episode) and of comments has been, to be honest, a bit depressing lately. Esp after I realized "Views" was not the same as "Reads".

[midnight_rendezvous]

It's a weird state of being, as I first and foremost write for myself, but then at the same time, it's also nice to share stories with others. I guess it's human of us to want some sort of attention and shared understanding/appreciation of the effort we put into our work.

[midnight_rendezvous]

I think the dashboard only shows "Views", which I believe is just people clicking on your story. I'm not sure how to determine the number of "Reads", but at this point, I'm satisfied with what I have.

[Ordinaryaverageguy]

I think there is no way of determining Reads. Or the number of Readers with any certainty. There is a way to program webpages to query the viewer when they try to move on or close a page (you may have seen the dialog box asking if you're sure you want to leave a page). Using a tool like that, Tapas could possibly make a guess at how long someone looked at a page & set a time vs wordcount threshold for assuming the visitor stayed long enough to have been reading the page.