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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
Surprised no one's mentioned a reader's potentially large library of comics to read and their memory of everything in there lol
One other reason to do it consistently might be for the sake of relevance in a reader's mind, if the last time you uploaded was say three months ago but you didn't announce a hiatus or anything, that might be enough time for someone to think about you and your comic and go "oh I guess they gave up on their comic.. well, I got a big list to keep up with so this one's off the list"
Maybe an extreme example, but I can see it happening lol
I think for a lot of readers, knowing what day they can look forward to your next episode generates a kind of excitement and internal hype. As such, when they receive the update alert, they've been looking forward to it, and will be more likely to view/like/comment.
Knowing when release days are also helps those readers you may pick up who aren't actually signed up to tapas.
For me, looking forward to a webcomic episode feels a bit like looking forward to the next episode of a favourite Saturday morning cartoon as a kid.
I completely agree with you! I mean, as a reader, I get it too... You wanna know when the next episode is coming! BUTTTTTT as a writer as well, I totally understand that these episodes don't just magically appear on command - we have to make them happen and that takes time, effort, and IDEAS which are the hardest to come by.
Hey and welcome to Tapas! So I'm a casual updater because I also do not enjoy the pressure of needing to update multiple times a week or once a week (for both my novel and comic actually). I also just posted my chapters whenever they were ready, building my audience from my social media rather than depending on the community here. I didn't even know we had a forum until...a year later after I joined I think haha.
While I'm also a reader and of course love to see regular updates, I don't want creators to feel pressured. Update whenever, because this is free content. And ain't nobody gets to moan and mewl about free content. Find a schedule you like, or update whenever you can. There are many ways to build your audience, so explore what can work for you.