What’s the big deal with consistent release schedule?

[Ghost-Dog]

So I’m new here (hello!) and I’ve been reading quite a bit about the importance of having a buffer. But this all seems based upon the idea that having a consistent release schedule is super important.

But I can’t really get my head around that. My attitude with my new comic is to create it at my own speed and release episodes when they are ready.

This will probably lead to two or three updates per month which is in itself a type of consistency. It is just that it will not be any particular day of the week or time between episodes.

So my question is how is this going to be such a challenge for my readers? Why is this going to upset them? I just don’t get it. The app informs people when your episodes are ready. It’s not like anyone is putting comic release date on the calendar.

So to me it just feels like there’s a huge assumption that it needs to be done in a particular way, when maybe it doesn’t. I’m sure many other people already do this. Please let me know if you do it as and when and how it’s going. Am I dreaming in thinking I won’t allow myself to be time pressured?

So, even though I have already locked in my decision, I really would genuinely like to understand

why if you keep a consistent schedule you believe it is important to do so
and
what you fear may happen if you dropped that consistency.?

I mean heck this is something we are giving away for free. I just don’t understand. Help me understand please

Thanks in advance!

GhostDog

Here’s my new comic that I launched over the weekend for which I have no buffer and do not intend to have a consistent release schedule!

The Naked Self | Tapas

[ivanskilling]

Hi and welcome to Tapas! Hope you've been enjoying the experience so far.

So normally, the easiest way to gain readers is by appearing on the Fresh section (of your genre) on the Tapas page. To get on Trending or Popular requires more effort because it implies gaining enough likes/comments on your comic/novel. Getting on Fresh, however, only requires you to update your comic/novel. So the more episodes you release on a weekly basis, the higher the chance your comic/novel gets exposed to more readers.

Another plus for weekly releases is the fact that readers still remember what happened in earlier episodes. Unless, of course, each of your episodes are standalone, then that doesn't matter as much.

Hope that answers your questions!

[Ghost-Dog]

Thanks for replying. I totally get that but what you are saying is that updating frequently is important. So that would relate to the number of times per month you post. But nowhere in there is a need for it to be on a set day of the week or with equal intervals between releases. Would you agree with that? Or is there something about consistency of interval or a regular day of the week?
P.s. I should add to that but I do not intend to leave big gaps so I don’t expect a problem with people forgetting what happened in the last episode. I am going to be working consistently.

[Ghost-Dog]

I realized that I do need to be clear that I will be doing this full-time so I will be releasing content regularly. They won’t be big gaps. I will be working consistently so readers will feel that there is always something coming in the next week or two, they just won’t know exactly when it is.

[ivanskilling]

Ah I see!

Yeah there's no need for it to be a set day of the week or interval length - at least from what I've seen. But don't take my word 100% since I haven't experimented with that! Maybe others can weigh in on that if they've tried it before.

[Ghost-Dog]

Thank you for the welcome

[ivanskilling]

No problem! Hope you'll enjoy your time here!

[suyaa3838]

it helps make your comic a part of people's weekly/bi-weekly (etc.) routine. some people do ask about update schedules if none is specified in the description or none is apparent from the previous uploads. kind of a psychological thing where it can help people grow more attachment to your series.

on a lot of sites there's also algorithms rewarding you for this type of consistency, but i don't know if that applies to tapas since a lot of promotions seem hand-picked.

personally, i do not care in the slightest, but i also target the complete opposite of casual readers. nothing wrong with doing whatever works for you.

[Ghost-Dog]

I am enjoying it. I chose to start my comment on Tapas because of the community here

[Ghost-Dog]

Thanks Suyaa, that makes complete sense. Good to hear that you just see it as a personal preference though. Thanks for taking the time to reply.

[Ghost-Dog]

The way it worked for me is that I decided on what I felt would work best for me which is just at work and release, work and release. The idea of sitting on stuff just doesn’t come naturally to me. So that was how I decided to do it, and then I came on these forums and it seems like everywhere I was reading not to do it the way that I am doing it. So I guess I’m looking for some reassurance and to see if there it’s something I am not understanding as I can’t see a problem.

[Ghost-Dog]

As I am demonstrating by this string of posts, I love the immediacy of publishing on the Internet. I want to still be in that feeling of the connection of what I have just created when people are reading it.

[RainbowCat]

When I started publishing my novel on Tapas, I just posted chapters when they were ready. Then I read about the consistent schedules that everyone thinks are so important and started publishing once a week. To me, it seemed like I got more views that way on each chapter but I'm not sure if that really has to do with the consistent schedule
But as a reader, I can say that I prefer knowing when the next episode of a comic/novel gets published (mostly because I get too many notifications and just ignore them or they disappear) It's also nice to see that a creator has already scheduled the next episode (something I really like about Tapas). But I think this really has more to do with personal preference and doesn't really get you any bonus points in the algorithm

[Ghost-Dog]

Good to know RainbowCat. Thanks for sharing your experience.

I did try using the scheduling feature for my second episode (but just to release it a few hours later in the evening), but it seem messed up so I just published it in the end. On the website it said it would be available in 10 hours when it was going to be available in eight. And in the app it said it will be available the following day even though it was going to be available at 9 PM the same day. So that turned me off the scheduling feature. But I did like how readers could see that it was posted and coming.

[RainbowCat]

Oh... hmmm... that sounds like some glitch or something because that never happened to me. I have 9 chapter scheduled and they all have the right now on the website and the app, I just checked Maybe try again, take screenshots and see if other experience the same thing?

[Ghost-Dog]

Good to know it normally works well. Maybe it was just a temporary glitch. Thanks again.

[AwesomeSoFar]

I think the point of a consistent upload schedule is to allow readers to expect and anticipate exactly when the next chapter is coming out, which helps to keep them coming back to it. but you should definitely prioritize doing what you feel is right for you!

[Ghost-Dog]

Thanks AwesomeSoFar. I think that hits the nail on the head. I’m taking that as - It is preferable in ideal circumstances but it isn’t necessary if it doesn’t fit with your work style.

[thedude3445]

I am not a very good serial reader, so technically sporadic release schedules don't impact me very much, as long as every X months I can go back and read a bunch of new stuff. But webcomics in particular are canceled and abandoned so quickly that you can really lose readers like me, the occasional bingers, if you go too long without an update. Normally, if I see a comic that hasn't been updated in 4 or 5 months, and nothing in the creator's social media or blog says anything special, I tend to say, "Oh well, this thing's probably dead," and leave it at that. That's especially true for stuff I haven't started yet, and I assume it's true for most readers.

For web novels, prose is honestly so much easier than comics that big breaks are tolerated a whole lot less. You're expected to have a backlog and to keep consistent updates, fair or not.

I don't think having a specific schedule is all that important unless it helps your own workflow, but being consistent (such as 2-3 episodes a month, as you say) is still pretty important if you want readers to keep following and then to draw more readers over time. You don't HAVE to do this, but the story will have an easier time if you do that. I also think buffers are important no matter if you have a schedule or not, because you always want to have backup updates just in case something happens.

[Ghost-Dog]

Thanks thedude. I hope not to ever have a gap more than 3 weeks, and will be aiming for every two weeks. I may also occasionally do mini updates like a character sheet or something if I’m working on a particularly long episode (so there isn’t a big gap)

I understand about the buffer for helping with external circumstances stopping you working, but my plan on that is simply transparency with my readers. I am someone with health issues and occasionally that could mean I can’t work for a week or two and, if that happens, I will just tell people and they will either understand or not.

Thanks again for sharing your thoughts. I appreciate it.