RELEASE SCHEDULE FEEDBACK NEEDED!
Important feedback needed from RUNNERS UNIVERSE readers!
As you probably know, I’m pretty new to the whole webcomic thing, so I’m currently having a bit of a dilemma. Unlike a lot of webcomics, which are strip-oriented, my series is long-form and thus requires a lot of up-front development time in scripting each new story arc in its entirety and concepting new characters, locations, and objects. And then, each page of penciled, inked, colored, and lettered sequential art takes a good deal more time to create than your average 4-panel webcomic strip. So obviously, I won’t be able to sustain a 2-page-a-week update indefinitely. I can do it through the remainder of this current arc, “The Big Snow Job,” but I won’t be able to follow that up immediately with arc 3.
As readers, would you prefer to get only 1 update a week starting with issue #3 or a break in between arcs? If I reduce the weekly update from 2 pages to 1, it will take longer for the story to post, but that would give me time to get ahead on the next one. There could then (potentially) be an uninterrupted transition from arc 2 to arc 3. Or I could continue posting 2 pages a week, in which case the story will post faster than I can get ahead on the next one, so there will be a break of several months before the next arc can start posting.
I initially wanted 2 pages a week since I thought 1 page a week might be too slow. But then, that’s me. Maybe more seasoned webcomic readers are accustomed to that kind of schedule for long-form stories. I also thought a hiatus between arcs would be okay since it wouldn’t be that different from titles like, say, Hellboy. Back in the day, Mignola would put out a miniseries as he was working on it, and once that finished, there would be a long stretch of time before the next one since he obviously couldn’t keep them coming out non-stop. So I figured comic readers would be used to breaks between arcs. But again, webcomic readers may view things differently and not want an interruption in routine. Plus, I worry about losing regular readers if the site goes on hiatus. Of course it wouldn’t be totally on hiatus since I’d do regular updates of blog posts and work in progress, but the story continuation itself would not post for a long while.
So my poll to you readers is this: Which would you prefer and think will be best for the long-term success of the site?
Vote either:
1) One page a week starting with “Snow Job” issue #3, with no break between story arcs, or
2) Two pages a week for the current arc, with a long break (potentially 6 months or even more) between arcs
I’d like to get as much feedback as possible so please use the Comment area to cast your vote, as well as any additional thoughts. Even if you don’t normally post Comments on regular pages, if you’re a regular reader at all, this may affect you, so please cast a vote so I can get as good a cross-section as possible to help me determine the course of action.
Thanks everybody! And as always, thanks for supporting RUNNERS!
Discussion (41) ¬
Probably would prefer the ‘one page a week’ model.. Simply cause it’d stop me completely losing track of the story. I subscribe to the site using RSS so even if I ‘forgot’ about the site, I’d still get the updated posts if you went for the second option of ‘hiatus’
Put me down as a soft “one page a week” man. I’d prefer not to have to wait six months or more between arcs, but wouldn’t be too upset about it if that’s what you decide.
I would actually (slightly) prefer the 2-a-week option. I find that reading something intensely for a while before taking a break from it is a better way to keep my interest than simply having a small amount of contact all the time.
Like everyone else, though, I love the comic and I’ll keep reading whatever you choose!
I think I’d rather see a break between arcs and two pages a week. One page a week comics are fine, but I tend to loose the gist of the story with so long between pages. 🙁 And I’ve got you on RSS, so it’s not a problem remembering when you start up again.
(Unsolicited advice: you could try posting non-story stuff during the break, if you had time. I posted a paragraph of random worldbuilding with my equivalent of a sketch on some of my breaks, and people just ate it up; from the way people are responding to your strip notes I’d say your audience would do the same. But then, turning out 300 words of infodump is sadly easy for me…. :P)
My vote is for one-page per week. I wouldn’t be heartbroken if you went with the other option but I’d love to have little to no break between arcs.
I’d probably prefer going to once-a-week rather than a six month break. But, as others have said, I use RSS to keep track of your comic, so I’ll see whatever you post whenever you post it.
I heartily second the idea that you could drop in text posts with world-building, background, silly stuff, or whatever, and you’d have no problem keeping my interest whether you add that in between weekly posts or you do that during hiatus. More info about your truly great comic would definitely be appreciated.
I vote for one page a week.
Definitely one page per week. Keep it consistent and keep folks coming back rather than take a hiatus. I know from whence I speak 😛
Sean I think you need to think about what your goals are for the strip while making the decision. If you are trying to build a web audience, then once a week won’t cut it. Even twice a week is considered a soft schedule. And trust me I know how much work it is to do a 2x a week story strip, and yours is way more complex than mine.
However, if the online comic is a merely a promotional tool for your books, then things are different. Maybe then the break is fine.
In either case, I’d hate to see you lose contact with your following that you’ve built by not posting anything for 6 months or more. You really will lose a lot of people that way. You might think about what else you can post in the interim, or post development work once a week or something to keep interest up.
Most sequential comics I follow online update a lot. Evan Dahm’s Tales of Overside updates 2x a week – 3 pages each update (B&W only), Gunnerkrigg Court updates 3x a week, a full color page per update, those come to mind. Both have very good followings. It’s easy to stay engaged with their stories because an update is always close.
It’s a tough dilemma. I think you are doing this on the side in addition to other work? I’m sure that makes it hard to put more time into the project. If I had to vote one way or the other, I’d go with the once a week. At least that way you have a chance to keep people engaged. It’s harder to build an audience that way, but I think there’s less chance of losing people. Good luck!
One page a week.
I have you on RSS. so I think I’d personally prefer twice a week with break. I’m not sure if frequency or consistency is more important to readers in general. The long-form comics in my reader seem to mostly update at least twice weekly. You might try building some shorter breaks into your update schedule to try to prevent a longer hiatus.
Being used to long-form comics, I personally prefer 2x a week with delays. (I’d even prefer more times a week with a delay between each issue, but that’s just me.) I don’t think I’m a normal webcomic reader, though.
I think the best suggestion so far was from Joe The Denver — Can you generate enough filler stuff to keep people interested between stories? (I know that you do a lot of world-building when you work on this story. How much work would it take to make some of that feel like a publishable “extra”?)
I don’t know if it’s possible, but the best solution might be to join forces with someone else. That person could serialize their story while your comic is on hiatus, and then they take a break to finish up their next story when it’s time for your comics to appear again.
I say one a week. You risk losing folks with that huge layoff.
I vote once a week, but it’s not a strong opinion. I’ll still come back regardless.
Once a week is better than a six-month break, I think. That’s a lot of time, and random sketches and world building stuff, while interesting, probably won’t hold everyone’s interest over that amount of time.
That said, I like Nevin’s idea of teaming up with another cartoonist and alternating issues.
I’d vote for twice a week with hiatus, but that definitely seems a minority opinion. I think either way you go, the suggestions above to make some news posts and the like to keep/generate interest would be a good thing. Maybe posting the development notes separately after you post the page, on different days. I read a lot of webcomics and its been my experience that regular readers enjoy getting any kind of updates from the artists they follow, be they news updates, personal, notes on the last comic posted, mentions of new or upcoming projects or products, whatever.
I get your comic via RSS so new pages will show up when you post them, so my vote is for a break and then twice a week updates.
I’d like to point out that a break on your comic would probably lead to lose of readers on your page, getting them back might be a bit of a hassle as well.
I also favor the once a week for the reasons mentioned and the fact that it would ease up on my reading schedule. I have a major backlog in my RSS feeds.
I’ll just troll in here and make a rude suggestion to split the difference. While I usually plug updating by chapter for long form comics… for Runner’s Universe I think one page a week with sketches/extras posted once/twice a week is probably worth considering. That would let you keep the most momentum without having to produce finished art twice a week. If you showed roughs mid-update, for example, you may discover that readers like that hint of what’s to come.
Maybe switch to one page a week updates now and then take a two week hiatus after you finish each arc. You may then be able to get ahead a few pages and create that mythical buffer thing that everyone always seems to suggest. =)
Thank you for soliciting our opinions, Mr. Wang!
I’d rather have two pages a week, with breaks in between arcs, for all the good reasons that you mentioned. I don’t regularly read your commentary after every page, either, so the hiatus in between stories would give me something to do during the wait. Keeping a faster pace for individual issues is important to me, and I’d appreciate being able to read an extra page a week.
Keep up the great work, and happy New Year!
Personally prefer once a week with no break. 🙂 I don’t see why long-form webcomics can’t be weekly. Maybe because I read you via RSS… but doesn’t everybody? 🙂
i think once a week is better than twice a week with a long hiatus.
Please do NOT reduce the frequency of posting – it’s already almost impossible to remember what is going on without reviewing the last 8 or 7 archives. If you drop to only weekly, then the story arcs will take months and months… Although your artwork IS excellent, perhaps you could simplify it, reducing the time each strip takes? After all, we end up seeing only an 800-pixel-wide drawing, 4 or 5 inches across on the screen. Do you really NEED to spend so many hours putting in details that aren’t noticeable?
I’d prefer 2/week with a break. It’s easy to reread the old stories to remind yourself of old plotlines, but for new stories I prefer the faster pace.
I’m voting for a page a week. Successful webcomics use a model of consistently delivering content, even if it isn’t every day. Making it an irregular schedule could cause people to forget to check back after a month off.
I like more pages a week, but I think I would prefer in this case 1 a week and the consistent schedule.
My preference would be once per week rather than having the long break. I definitely want to look forward to new stuff every week.
I think the twice/week updates with gaps in between arcs/issues would work better for the story you’re telling, and with the habits of readers. I believe that dropping to a once/week schedule would put too much time between story pages and it would be difficult to maintain the story flow for readers. As you’re developing the story with ‘natural’ story gaps between issues, I think it would make the most sense to take advantage of that in your update schedule.
Once a week is my choice.
Go with the once per week schedule. We’ll can always reread whole arcs at single sittings anytime, and this keeps everybody coming back on a regular schedule. It’ll allow you to plug away at a steady pace, and build up a reserve so you can take breaks without us even noticing and keep you from burning out.
I’m with the minority opinion. Being in the same boat (but without the burden of having enough readership to concern myself with losing anyone) I know it’s slow to create. Don’t compromise on the art or storytelling to speed it up. I’m thinking post full arcs at a time with a couple month gap in between. I’d rather read a story thru and then wait for the next “issue” than read one page a week when the story pacing might be compromised. Nothing sucks more than an action sequence that in story time took 5 seconds but in publishing time took 5 weeks.
Thanks everybody for the feedback! It’s great to hear from so many people, and please feel free to keep posting comments as I love to read them. I’m still weighing my options and there have been a couple interesting suggestions posted here that I’ll take into consideration. I do have a couple additional questions:
1) If I do go down to 1 page/week, I know that will draw out the story longer than I’d like for readers. But what if the graphic novel collection came out in print when I actually finished the story content, NOT when it finished posting online? In that case, the graphic novel could be out many months before it finishes posting online. That might help me sell the books since they’ll be out earlier than the web content, and that might make readers happy since they won’t have to wait so long to read the entire story. But would that be weird for the webcomic itself? In that case, the webcomic would no longer be the source for “new” material (except for the commentary) since that content would then be out there in print form. Would that lose weekly readers?
2) If I supplement 1 page/week of story with 1page/week of non-story content, would you like that extra content to stick to RUNNERS? I could show pages in progress (either before or after the finished pages post), concept sketches, and diagrams and turnarounds of characters and props (since I could use that reference myself!). But would people be interested in non-RUNNERS-related posts, IE normal blog-type stuff? For example: convention recaps, other work that I’m doing (although in most cases I can’t post that kind of stuff), movie reviews, etc. I know some readers like to get this kind of “daily life” info from creators, but I’ve wondered if the site should be less of a “Sean Wang blog” and more of a “RUNNERS”-only site and stick to just that universe.
Any input you guys have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
BTW, in my most recent post (Jan 7) above, the two questions aren’t an “either/or.” So don’t feel like you have to vote for one or the other. I’m entertaining the idea of both (early graphic novel and non-Runners-related blog posts). So feel free to post your comments on both ideas. Thanks!
Go for solution number 1! And if you needed take a break but keep a entry once a week with news or sketching.
Cheers!
Dave.
Solution one is the way to go.
I prefer reading one page on a regular basis and I’ll be very tempted to buy the graphic novel so I can finish reading the story sooner. And after I finish reading the story I’d still be back here every week to read the commentaries as I find them very interesting.
3) keep the current pacing (2 a week) and fill the gap between arcs with all the things you mention in option 2) focusing mostly on Runners supplimenting with “Sean Wang Blog” when needed, particularly convention type things. Just a thought.
Solution 1 if that makes the book come out faster.
I would rather you go with a one page a week update, because those long long break inbetween would be laborous to us readers, and many might just lose sight in your comic. while the no break once a week update makes that set day the Day. Oh boy, Runners is updating today, i can hardly wait!. Your artstyle and background, as well as the universe itself has really drawn me into your comic, and this is me, giddy as a madman waiting for the next page! ^^
Great job.
Scott Christian Sava (Dreamland Chronicles) shows you can do frequent then breaks, with about 2 months max between. He uses fan art and “making of” materials as filler during that time. The caveats are that you do need something to keep people in the habit of looking in, and you probably don;t want to stretch a break beyond 6 months, or you may well reset the audience to zero.
Sorry, that was wrong… you don’t want to stretch the break more than 2 months, or you may end up having to build your audience back from scratch.