Last time we talked about how what format your comic took could have short and long range effects on your brand new webcomic. This time we’re going to look at something just as important to the success of your work: what update schedule you decide on.
If you spend any time reading webcomics, you can see that there are as many update schedules as you could possibly think of. Some comics update five times a week, others three times a week. Some only update once a week and then there are the really ambitious types who post a new comic 7 days a week.
The bottom line is that you have to decide on a schedule that you can meet without problem. The last thing you want to do is alienate readers because of missed deadlines and delays of new comics. You have to be comfortable producing however many comics a week you decide on and be able to actually get them dome. This is of utmost importance as you start out.
However, that being said, you also have to realize that how successful your webcomic will be is directly related to your update schedule. For the longest time, I updated my own webcomic once a week. At the time I was in school and working a full-time job. One comic a week was about all I could handle. And I honestly thought I could still bring in readers even with only one new strip a week.
I was wrong. My readership never grew past single digits because there was no rhythm to people reading my comic. It should have become part of the reader’s ritual of going online. To ask someone to come back once a week to read my comic was a lot to ask.
If you are just starting out, you have to update at least three times a week to develop any kind of regular readership. You don’t really have a choice. I have begun three times a week updates and have seen my readership steadily grow each and every week. And no, what type of comic you do doesn’t change that fact. It doesn’t matter if it is a full color, full page comic or a three panel black and white gag strip, you need to update at least three times a week. On the internet, content is king and the more new content you have, the better.
There is another, more important reason why you should want to update more often. Think about how long it will take for you to compile enough content for a book of any type with one or two new comics a week. If you figure you’re going to have two comics per page of your book, and you are going for a 120 page count, then you wouldn’t be able to put a book together for almost 5 years! Think about that. At least with a three times a week schedule, I can put a decent sized book out in a couple years if I want. That is something to remember if you plan on making any kind of living off your work.
I don’t mean to scare anybody, but this is just the truth of the webcomics system. Now, if in all reality you simply can’t do three comics a week, should you not bother? Absolutely not! If you really want to create a webcomic, which from experience is one of the single greatest joys I have had, than go for it. Update once a week if that’s all you can manage. Just don’t expect to get a huge following. If you’re not interested in page views and the like, then update at any pace you want.
But if creating, maintaining and sharing your webcomic with as many people as possible is what you want to do, then you have to hunker down and stick your nose to the grindstone. Posting three new comics a week, as well as blog content (that’s an article for another time) is not easy. But the reward makes it more than worth it.
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