hmmm I'm guessing offending them but Deleting comic is good than hurting people's feelings
First of all, great points that every creator should be aware of:
So true! All of them.
I wonder if people don't know that you are NOT supposed to please everyone. (In fact you simply cannot and will most likely end up displeasing everyone instead) On the contrary you should be trying to find your audience and thanking anyone who gave your story a try; even if they didn't like it. (Or left when it evolved later on, just as you probably evolved as a creator)
When someone isn't part of your audience then you should not want them as much as they do not want to read your story. Why would you ever waste your time and energy on them? Isn't it better to use that energy to keep working and putting your story out there with the hope that your ideal reader will eventually come across it?
Would any of you do work you do not like simply to keep a subscriber? Would you NOT grow and change as a creator over the years?
Simple rules you can keep in mind?
- Treat others as you would like to be treated, even when and if they are being rude.
- Always focus on creating the best work you want. Work you will be happy with.
- And most importantly, get it done. Finish it.
I probably lost a lot of potential subscribers by chosing to posting all my older comic pages of my comic, POW! Right in the Nostalgia6, leading up to my newest pages as before I chose to mirror my comic here on Taptastic, I already had over 569 pages under my belt (counting guest pages and art), and I just figured posting the older stuff first and then getting to my current stuff ASAP would be a good idea.
Just my thoughts for myself here, but otherwise...
I'd definitely say the fastest ways to lose subscribers is defenitely going lenghtly periods of time without updates either a new comic or even just a post to tell people what's up. Life can get pretty hectic, and unless your comic IS your full-time job, it can be difficult to manage all the time. Just letting your audience know what's up is a good idea rather than go weeks without at least a 'peep'.
27 days later
Beating the crap out of them physically to get them to subscribe and then once they are out of your site, they typically unsubscribe. Just from my experience....
15 days later
I did that once...ok twice....ok ok i did three times man , relax! i won't do it again trust...ahahahahaha
when they basically post the same joke, looking at you shen and sarah.
And when there's not enough plot, I once started reading a comic here cause it was on the front page all the time. Didn't realize it was bl till I caught up, now i dont care about bl but i subbed for the plot and when the bl was focused more and more I got tired of waiting so i gave it up.
Speaking from reader experience... When 50%+ of the "new update!" turn out to be KS or Patreon promos. Promos are ideally made together with an update, not instead of one, or readers will feel cheated. Once is fine, but I've had comics where update after update after update only was about a KS, and while I understand that it's a big, important thing for the creator, making the reader first excited about a new update and then only giving them what's essentially an ad is simply not smart.
But I have to say, there are so many great tipping comics! So many creators went out of their way to make it a fun bonus, and for that I'm definitely willing to throw tips their way!
1 month later
If that's the case then I'd argue you had already lost those subscribers, it just wasn't reflected in the number yet.
It'll be a combination of things. The amount you update (or rather don't update) is a big one.
The pacing of the comic long term is probably a really big one. If it's really drawn out in a way that isn't interesting then people are going to end up un-subscribing
Not finishing the comic is also a big reason. If you stop part way through and then go "ok guys I'm rebooting this" you're bound to get unsubscribers. Especially if you do it more then once. I would rather a comic gets finished then stopped part way through and then re-uploaded just to update graphics when I've already seen those episodes.
i always lose subs when i update?? i was on the daily snack for the christmas collab and got a boost in subs so i guess its just those people forgetting they subbed to me but its a lil upsetting.
I'm going through the exaaaaact same thing right now. I had a huge wave of new subscribers when I got a daily snack and now, even though my pages are doing better in regards to likes and views, my sub count is just barely breaking above even with gaining subs for every one I lose.
Maybe it has more to do with the fact you were a daily snack? You;d have likely gotten a lot of impulse subscribers that have since then lost interest. Without talking to each of those that unsubscribed it's hard to tell for sure.
That's what I was trying to say. Like Stnmaren was saying, every time I update, it sort of reminds that huge mass that followed me over night that my comic is there and they might realize it wasn't their cup of tea (especially because they might have followed me for my tipping comic and not realized they were subbing to a sci-fi comic). It's not really a complaint, more so an observation and it was kind or relieving to see someone else has gone through it too.
17 days later
Honestly, I don't have many subscribers so I can't really say. BUT, I would imagine that causing drama in forums or in comment sections could get you a bad name, and also not updating regularly.
not communicating with your subscribers is the fastest way to lose subs. Ignoring them and not taking there opinions into account is the fastest way to lose them.
14 days later
It really seems like there is a point where it's inevitable. As a creator, if you want to be true to your vision you'll eventually lose people. But the preventable aspects are there like respecting your readers and not overpromising. It's just a relationship, be kind and respectful and don't go out with that hussy Amanda behind my back.
I disagree. I have three comics actively running right now. (The other two on my account is one that is just a random "hey my life" comic that I've considered deleting because it turned out I do better with story comics and the other one is completed.) One updates daily. The others update 5 times a week. I do them all because I love them, and I am planning to start two more without messing with the update rates on the other ones.
I did 2 updates a day on my most popular comic at the beginning of this year and it DROVE PEOPLE AWAY. While the comments were full of people saying how they loved the fast update rate, the statistics clearly showed that a huuuuuge silent group were just annoyed that I updated TOO OFTEN o_o
So I was like "hey. I have more ideas I wanna do. And it's in my best financial interest to not pour all my energy into this comic. Screw it I'mma go for it".
So. It depends from creator to creator. But if a creator a bazillion comics that update once in a blue moon, or of which most are abandoned, then yes I do agree that it would be better to focus on fewer projects and just stick to it.
If you can manage them all, more power to you! I'd love to be able to manage more than one series consistently xD"
I'm talking about the creators who can't but still try to over and over again. The ones you mentioned at the end of your post. There's one creator specifically who always comes to my mind when I think of someone who has a million series but never really finishes them and just drops them a few chapters in. I know a few other creators who do this, but that one takes the cake lol