What’s the big deal with consistent release schedule?

[Legendofgenii]

My attitude with my new comic is to create it at my own speed and release episodes when they are ready.

Same here.

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

I have enough stress and deadlines as it is.

[Ghost-Dog]

Lol YES!

I feel like I’ve discovered a new passion with my comic (which is pretty cool at 49) and there is no way I’m going to let how I release it interfere with that positivity.

[ar-ninetysix]

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

[Kaydreamer]

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.

[emilylushbaugh99]

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.

[surenlicious]

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.

[SleepingPoppy]

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.

This will probably lead to two or three updates per month which is in itself a type of consistency.

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.

[LCT_m_a_d]

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.

[rumpenstiltzkin]

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.

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

[Ghost-Dog]

Such wonderful helpful replies! What a great forum

Thank you so much everyone. You’ve really set my mind at ease and I feel clear about what is and isn’t important here and how I can make it work for me.

Success to us all!

[rajillustration]

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.

[Rhonder]

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.

[Ghost-Dog]

Thanks for all the info. I hadn’t thought about it but yes, those that release on the same day of the week are missing out of readers where that isn’t a day they use tapas often. Now I’m even more excited by my plan and I think I will now go for shorter more frequent episodes. Thanks.

[Mallory]

I think a lot of the "must always update on the same day/time" wisdom comes from the days before free comic hosting platforms, when everyone who wished to have a webcomic would have to maintain their own website. Your readers would only check your website for updates a few times before they got bored and left; so if you could tell them "every X, Y and Z" day and deliver on that promise, they would add that to their online routine. Every Z day, check webcomic ABC.

Nowadays, you're right - most of these websites notify your subscribers about updates, so iron consistency isn't strictly necessary. Communication and reliability is. I don't wait impatiently for any free webcomic to update every week because (and I'm guilty of this too) most free comics just don't deliver enough content with every update, so I'd rather wait a couple months and then read all the updates at once. It certainly doesn't matter whether the updates were strictly on the 1st and 15th, or on the 2nd and the 18th.

[Ghost-Dog]

Ah! That’s interesting Mallory. It makes sense there is something Historic/ traditional in the attitude / belief.

[DiegoPalacios]

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.

This helps to get some of your readers to check your updates consistently. It's kinda like on the tv times where viewers knew a new episode of their show would be available every friday. It helps to consolidate viewership.

If for any reason you realize you won't be able to update you can always inform your readers beforehand.

The problem with an inconsistent schesdule is that people may think you dissappeared due to a lack of communication. That doesn't mean one shouldn't take breaks, but informing them and the time they will take can help.

Is up to you to set your own rules and work whatever way you prefer, but a schesdule has positive results if you can afford the time.