How do you feel about Update Schedules?

ArcoJawa · Post by **ArcoJawa** » Thu May 31, 2007 8:44 am

I don't really have a schedule right now... but I more or less feel I will be expected to if my comic becomes populer (and we all want popular comics). For some people a schedule is easy, but I sometimes wonder if I wouldn't start losing quality if I attempted to schedule things.

Fabio Ciccone · Post by **Fabio Ciccone** » Thu May 31, 2007 8:58 am

I see the update schedule as a major factor why readers return to my website. In my original site, where the updates are 3 times/week, the difference in the number of reader in the update dates to the other days is enormous. Plus the number of readers increased a great deeal when I begun to use the schedule, and I receive a good number of email asking me where the heck is the day's comic if by any reason I miss the date.

Schedule rocks! You know what they say, a good idea is made of 99% transpiration and 1% inspiration

Even if that means less sleeping, waking up earlier or get to work some minutes late

Yeahduff · Post by **Yeahduff** » Thu May 31, 2007 9:04 am

Get a schedule.

Magpye · Post by **Magpye** » Thu May 31, 2007 9:10 am

Not having a regular schedule leads to laziness and procrastination, and to that dreaded occurrance, the indefinite hiatus.

Schedules are the best way to get motivated to update, provided you don't burn yourself out in the process.

Nima · Post by **Nima** » Thu May 31, 2007 9:58 am

Speaking as a reader of webcomics I find schedules immensely important. I love interest in and generally forget about comics without a set schedule. Two or three times a week is ideal, I think. More than that and it's a bit much for me.

As a creator a schedule really helps me keep a steady flow ideas going. When I first started doing comics it was part of my once-a-week blog, and I found that to be too infrequent for me. Comics would be sitting around and I'd lose interest in them by the time they went up. I'm now a twice a week schedule and that's working much better for me. I think 3 times a week might be even better for me, but I don't think I could handle the load.

I think even more important than a set schedule is an RSS feed, though. I find it very difficult to follow a comic without an RSS feed (but I make a few exceptions).

Perk_daddy · Post by **Perk_daddy** » Thu May 31, 2007 11:06 am

I think they are one of the most important parts of maintaining a comic that you actually want people to read. That being said, I don't have one myself, because I can't. All I can promise is once a week, but I don't specify a day. Someday, though.

Tyras · Post by **Tyras** » Thu May 31, 2007 11:17 am

If I didn't have to get the comic up on specific days, I'd never get the damn thing done.

Geekblather · Post by **Geekblather** » Thu May 31, 2007 11:26 am

I think that consistent updates are a part of the quality of the comic being presented. People are creatures of habit. Some (like me) are easy to please, and will keep a running list of comic links in their bookmarks that they'll check almost every day regardless of updates, but a lot of people aren't like that. They want to know what days they can expect a new comic, and they want it to be there when they get there.
After all, it's kind of hard to expect 'regular' readers, when the comic itself is irregular.

Tim · Post by **Tim** » Thu May 31, 2007 11:39 am

Fabio Ciccone wrote:Schedule rocks! You know what they say, a good idea is made of 99% transpiration and 1% inspiration

Thomas Edison wrote:Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.

Nima · Post by **Nima** » Thu May 31, 2007 12:19 pm

geekblather wrote:After all, it's kind of hard to expect 'regular' readers, when the comic itself is irregular.

Wow, that's a really awesome quote. I'll have to remember that.

Ezra · Post by **Ezra** » Thu May 31, 2007 12:24 pm

I find the primary use of schedules as a comic creator is to boost traffic, in both new visits and returns. I don't have a problem with schedules myself, I have a problem with readers getting impatient or even angry when you miss an update.

For instance, a favorite comic of mine Dr. McNinja is sometimes a little late getting the comic up. I personally have no problem with this. We know how it is, we all have lives. Furthermore, I think the art is rather nice, so I don't mind waiting because they don't want it to look like crap. However, one of my best friends has repeatedly gotten upset over a little bit of a delay in updates in this and other comics. Getting upset at an artist for missing an update by a little bit, or even a lot if it's free like all of our comics, just plain pisses me off. Yeah, we need and like to have the traffic of our readers, but they have no right to throw a hissy fit when we're late. We write the comics, draw them, put them online, and maintain lives at the same time. We're giving them free stories, they have no right to complain. That's my issue with update schedules.

RSS feeds simplify all of this a great deal. I just wait for my RSS ticker to scroll across the updates for several of my favorites and then I'm off. I don't really think about what day it is in the case of those.

Which reminds me.. I need to figure out how the hell to make one of those.. >.>

Kirb · Post by **Kirb** » Thu May 31, 2007 12:36 pm

Schedules are ESSENTIAL.

Derenge · Post by **Derenge** » Thu May 31, 2007 1:04 pm

Schedules are not something I am a fan of really. My goal has always been an average of at least fifty pages a year but beyond that I really don't have a schedule that is very set in stone. I take long breaks and find I don't like to force the comic- mainly because I don't have to, but also because I find that when I take the time to think about what I'm doing rather than rush it can turn out better for it. I try to update m/w/f when I'm in the right frame of mind and have the time to, but it's never really been a very solidly set schedule.

Reading comics I like for them to update regularly, but there are ways to make sure readers know you've updated that can mitigate the effect of being erratic. RSS and those update services and all that can keep readers informed without them having to check the site. Doing rss myself might be a good idea, but I'm not personally troubled by the notion of someone only looking at my site once a month and just catching up that way rather than watching it like a hawk for updates. Not like I'm getting ad revenue off of it or anything.

Tyras · Post by **Tyras** » Thu May 31, 2007 1:11 pm

Ezra wrote:Which reminds me.. I need to figure out how the hell to make one of those.. >.>

You already have one.
All CG comics have them built-in.

Jekkal · Post by **Jekkal** » Thu May 31, 2007 1:12 pm

Getting a schedule makes me feel more like a real cartoonist.

If my readers are like me where they use an aggregator of some kind (or even Morning Coffee in FireFox, which just opens up the sites you specify for a certain day of the week), then suddenly keeping a schedule becomes even MORE important, because people just plain expect the comic to be there.

Also, having a schedule allows for me to build up that all-important tool of the trade, a buffer, so even though I work a little harder now, I won't have to work so hard later. I'm currently midway through August buffer-wise, so if I keep this up by the time I get back to college (and thus won't be able to work so hard on the comic), I'll have regular updates from here to my birthday.

If I just 'updated when I finished', then I'd be having a lot of updates now, and almost none when I returned.

Better to keep readers on a slow but steady diet so I can bribe them with faster updates in exchange for their donation-... er, I mean, than to get complaints when I'm not working at my fastest.

Ezra · Post by **Ezra** » Thu May 31, 2007 1:38 pm

Tyras wrote:
Ezra wrote:Which reminds me.. I need to figure out how the hell to make one of those.. >.>
You already have one.
All CG comics have them built-in.

*gasp* Why didn't I get this memo? Or the one about the TPS reports?! *waits, hanging in mid-air for someone to laugh*

Well.. that made my task a lot easier! Thankies!

Dooky · Post by **Dooky** » Thu May 31, 2007 2:02 pm

The reasons for having a schedule are twofold... self-motivation, and keeping people coming back to the comic. Early on, I think the first reason is the most important. I can't speak for other readers, but I don't think I've ever bookmarked a comic on my first encounter with it... I have to see it at least twice before I'll decide if I'm sticking with it or not. So in the early stages, you probably won't have to worry too much about keeping readers happy with regular updates, but this very lack of regular readers means you might need an extra kick in the pants to keep updating.

My mian tip for maintaining a schedule is this: Try to have a backlog of comics. That way, if you have a nightmare week when you can't get any new comics done, you'll still be able to update on time.

Valkyrk · Post by **Valkyrk** » Thu May 31, 2007 3:14 pm

I made the n00bish mistake of not keeping a backlog and posting my entire backlog in one week. If I hadn't done that, I wouldn't be behind right now where I'm trying to get GIMP to work with me and not against me.(I expect my thread in the techniques section to hit at least 80 before I figure this out.) Moral of the story, get a schedule so you'll get a backlog. Stat.

Ataraxia · Post by **Ataraxia** » Thu May 31, 2007 3:42 pm

As for the question of maintaining quality while on a schedule, I don't think it's really an issue. You just have to pick a schedule that's appropriate to your drawing speed.

Nima · Post by **Nima** » Thu May 31, 2007 4:22 pm

Valkyrk wrote:I made the n00bish mistake of not keeping a backlog and posting my entire backlog in one week.

D'OH!

Comic Genesis Forums

How do you feel about Update Schedules?

How do you feel about having a schedule for updates?

How do you feel about Update Schedules?