What’s the big deal with consistent release schedule?

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

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?

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!

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.

Same here.

I’m making a comic in my spare time because I enjoy it.

I have enough stress and deadlines as it is.

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.

Many creators who release as they go realize they cannot produce content consistently and quickly this way, and take constant increasing breaks, and cause themselves stress and burn out. So for most people, it's easier to build a buffer first, and work on getting on a schedule they can maintain. It's less "everyone must do it this way" and more "a lot of people struggle with this, and this seems to be what helps".

New creators also do things like drop multiple episodes in a day instead of spreading them out, so another reason for recommending a schedule to help them work better algarithmically and to pace their content- it's not all about a day and time, but being thoughtful about what you can realistically do.

That counts, IMO. It's always most important that the individual does what works for them.

For readers I think it's about the flow of the story, anticipation for releases, and to look "professional". I don't think readers care as much as long as they're getting a relatively consistent flow of content. But I definitely anticipate my favorite comics, and I like knowing when content will release. But I still read comics that don't have a strict schedule. It's not a deciding factor.

I think the nature of the internet and things being highly accessible Unfortunately breeds expectations to match.

I really appreciate the patience and joyful anticipation of things to come, but many people come online for the purpose of having on-demand or on-scheduled new content quickly, even if it's not particularly great quality. Sometimes the audience can inadvertently hold the creator hostage since their demand has more power over the industry than they may understand. Cultivating an audience that puts creative and quality goals first unfortunately is an art in itself that extends beyond common marketing methods.

I think as a fine-artist myself and fan, I have a personal responsibility to actively support Creators who are trying to nurture and cultivate creative quality first, and accept the state of "the business" and those who produce within it's accepted construct.

I think many have given good ideas about this topic already - but for me I feel like I would be a lot more stressed about getting content out if I just posted it all right away rather than just having a buffer and posting one page a week.
I like to keep posting even when im in a big dip, and for me that can mean going without being able to draw for weeks or months (longest time was a year) and it would stress me out more to suddenly go on a hiatus like that I think

I didnt start posting my comic until first chapter was done, which gave me a good time to just keep drawing on the next chapter without feeling pressure or stress to keep getting content out to readers (even if most readers seems very friendly and understanding and patient when Ive seen it happen to others here on tapas- I would still feel that pressure on myself)

I honestly is not much aware of what update days most of the comics I follow have, since tapas notify me when they update but I have to admit that some comics I have followed that havent updated for a long long time is sometimes hard to catch up to, I forget very easily

But its really up to what works for you! what you are comfortable with and want to do with your comic - as you said, we are giving out free content so it really is up to the creator to decide

Yeah, you can do whatever you want, it's a free comic after all.

But, there is a computer algorithm that will reward you based on if you do things consistently. Whether or not it's on Tapas, we know it's on twitter, we know it's on Instagram, and other social media sites where we advertise. So, it's just become a way of the internet, because it will get you more views and engagement when things are on a schedule, it's been pretty much proven at this point.

But if that doesn't matter--then who cares, having updates of about 2x-3x a month, will make a lot of people happy, hell that's more than I update, and I do it based on a schedule, so to each his own.

Having been on the platform for a few years and having tried a couple of different uploading styles, I'm inclined to agree with your philosophy, Ghost Dog

I think that Frequency ultimately is more important than Consistency for independent comics on sites like Tapas and Webtoons. The Featured/Original/Premium works have to release to a set schedule, of course, as they're publishing a formal and professional product. But for self-published series, I genuinely don't think most readers care too much about or pay attention to specific release days or times.

I've had the following experiences with 2 comics:

1.) Very consistent post schedule - Page a week, same day, similar time each week.

My first comic on Tapas and Webtoons started out in this manner. It performed well, and having heard about buffers and consistency I figured that was probably why.

2.) Similar frequency, but less consistency than 1

Towards the mid-point or 2/3 point of the same first comic, I ran out of buffer and didn't want to stop to rebuild it, so I started just working release to release, aiming for my same consistent upload day but often missing it by 1 or more days. What I found during this period is that... no one seemed to mind. I went from ~4 releases a month (weekly) to closer to 3, but the frequency was still up there, so the comic kept doing about as well.

I will say that I do still wish that I had had a buffer during this time, because keeping frequency up without one was kinda stressful lol. Notably I work full time and just do comics as a hobby, though, so it was just a lot of content to have to produce each week with no breaks. Thankfully the comic was only 70 pages long so I only did this for a few months.

3.) Pin-point consistency, but low frequency

My most recent comic project followed this model. I wanted to try doing longer episodes (~3-5 pages per episode rather than 1). which meant that I could only upload once a month. So I picked "First wednesday of each month" and ran with it. Losing the frequency killed it in the short term though lol. Having longer episodes doesn't matter if no one sees it, and having consistency doesn't matter if you don't have many readers. I recently dropped this project (granted, for primarily other reasons) and will take the lesson going forward that frequency is at least as important as consistency when starting out, if not more so.

Bonus.) A case made for inconsistency

I will say, there's a consideration to be made for being a little inconsistent too tbh. I've noticed sometimes when I miss scheduled upload days or times that I often pick up new readers anyways. I think it can be a little dangerous to be too homogenous with your uploads because if certain readers only skim the app certain days or times, they may never see your comic in Fresh. Posting on a variety of days and times has some merit in that regard. For example, I posted my "indefinite hiatus notice" episode on the 2nd comic discussed above, which had been having releases on wednesdays, yesterday (monday) and immediately picked up a new subscriber on Tapas... despite the new episode being a notice that the comic was stopping presumably they saw it in fresh and thought it looked cool, which I appreciate. And maybe hadn't seen it on the wednesday upload days? Dunno.

Edit: The thing that I do think keeping a schedule is good for, though, is keeping creators on task. Without deadlines, not everyone can maintain that frequency very well- it's easy to be lazy or procrastinate. I'm admittedly like that myself. One release strategy that I am considering in the future is one that I've seen a webtoon canvas author do where they release on dates rather than days of the week. For example, an episode on the 1st of the month, 10th, and 20th, or whatever. That way they have a schedule, keep that frequency up, but also land on different days of the week I dig it.