Sorry about the double post but the more I scroll through this thread, the more I see that pisses me off. I feel like I need to adress a few things.
"BL is a FETISH"
This one pissed me off the most actually, so I'm taking this one first. Quite honestly, my jaw dropped. While it is true that gay love is fetishized among many, it is simply WRONG to say that it's a fetish altogether. Quite insulting, and it contributes to a destructive attitude in society. For the longest time, religious people have accused gays of being sinful, using the argument that our drive to engage in these relationships isn't love, but SEX. You calling boyslove a fetish altogether contributes to this, and thus lengthens the time it takes before our love is considered truly natural in society. If this isn't something you wanna be doing, I suggest you say "BL is fetishized by some/many straight women" rather than "BL is a fetish". Small difference in wording, but it makes a huge difference nonetheless.
Please do not compare my love for other men to a foot fetish, by the way. It's not a fetish. It's love.
"Slapping BL on a thumbnail will automatically make it popular"
This one I am lifting because it's actually true. I used to be all for this, but my mind has been changed and now it actually kind of bothers me. We are people, not a sales tactic.
"THEY ALL LOOK LIKE GIRLS!!!! and "I HATE THAT THEY CROSSDRESS!!"
Men that act and dress feminine get a lot of shit in society. Promoting their right to do this isn't bad at all, and sometimes one author might just have that kind of preference. I crossdress. I look feminine. I prefer feminine looking men. Am I not a real gay man? Do I not deserve to express myself and my preferences? Many men still in the closet, whether it be about being gay or just about liking "feminine" things, will see these kinds of statements and think "wow, so if I come out noone will think that I am a real man".
I do agree that bears and masculine men deserve more visibility in bl comics though. Simply because I am all for variety. If no variety is shown, it will create a stereotype and everyone will think that gay men are basically girls with dicks.
"If your comic isn't BL, you have no chance!!!" and "MY COMIC IS DEAD, I BET IT'S BECAUSE BL IS STEALING THE SPOTLIGHT!"
This is bullshit. Tons of artists do just fine without making BL. Many of the most popular creators on the site are non-BL creators. Don't blame the popularity of something else for your comic not working. My second most popular comic is a horror comic. Not a BL comic, a horror comic. And I first came here to post horror comics. In fact, if it weren't for the following I had from my first horror comic, my BL comic probably wouldn't have gotten the attention it got at all.
Building an audience takes time, hard work and patience. You also need to study statistics, update times, update rates, you need to communicate a lot with your audience, and you better do it all well. If you don't do these things, the only chance you have is if you get lucky. Yes, jumping onto a trend train might raise your chances of being lucky, but without the things I mentioned you will most likely not reach TRUE success regardless.
Also to the person who said they only got tips on days when they updated: this is normal, lol. When you don't update the internet gets busy with something else. As someone who's trying to be a proffessional you should have realized this about your business climate already. If you haven't realized this about tapas and other platforms like it, then this is probably why you aren't successful. You haven't thoroughly studied statistics and the mannerisms of the place where you post. If you hadn't cut yourself short by blaming BL and calling it a day, you could've worked out how to make great success on Tapas. Guys, stop biting yourselves in the ass this way and start doing things that will bring you positive results instead.
I don't want anyone to feel specifically targeted, I just feel like some people here got very critical of the genre, or parts of the genre, and decided to blame it for their own frustrations about how their comics aren't doing well enough, etc. Some people also said a lot of very ignorant things that I don't think they would have said if they realized what it sounded like, so I'm pointing it out because I have faith that they will take it into consideration for the future.
Don't look at the popularity of LGBT comics and feel discouraged. Look at the popularity of comics more similar to yours and figure out what it'll take to get you where they are. If you clog your mind with negativities, you'll never reach success.
I have an open mind when it comes to the content other people create. I just wish others would be more openminded towards creators like myself.