Hey all. I was wondering if I could get some opinions on this:

Right now I'm doing weekly updates. At the end of February, when Chapter One is set to end, I had wanted to start updating twice a week. I've got 32 pages ready to go, which would give me a staggering four months to make the next batch.
But now I'm thinking perhaps I should upload 3 times a week. That would give me about two and a half months to script, draw, and ink the 3rd chapter.

While I'm pretty sure that by updating more frequently, more people are likely to notice the comic, and it would be easier for readers to follow the story, I'm kind of worried that I won't be able to keep up. It takes me about 12 hours, from blank page to finished inks, to complete an average page. Right now I can do 3-5 pages a week, no problem. But I'm not sure what the next few months are going to bring, in terms of jobs, moving, etc.

I guess my question is: Is it better to go ahead and do the "thrice weekly" updates, and bump it back down to two/week later, if I have to; or to just stick with the 2/week plan, knowing that I can keep up with consistently, no matter what?
Thanks for your time. :)

I used to update more frequently, and while I miss that more frequent interaction with readers and steady pageviews, it is much less stressful and has given me breathing room and flexibility to reduce updates. Now I can pursue other hobbies, focus on important "life" things, get in extra drawing practice, and allow for stretches of writer/artist block, illness, crisis, or a case of blahs. The way I chose my update schedule was by figuring how many pages I could comfortably do each a week -- then subtract one.

Plus, I think it's better to have a regular schedule than to update frequently for a bit and then have missed updates, hiatus, etc. -- especially if you have readers who aren't on DrunkDuck and check your comic for updates on specific days.

Not that it would hurt to try more frequent updates and then cut back.It can be fun to challenge yourself, and you never really know until you try. I've changed my update schedule twice so far, and no one seems to mind.

Since I only write I guess I look at this from a different point of view, but to me it seems like I have to update at least three times a week to have any sort of readership at all. Not to mention in order for that readership to grow.

Quality>quantity.

Skullbie
Quality>quantity.

Definitely agree with this. Although there should be a little balance and consistency!

I find I agree with the 2nd Red Baron, everyday is way more than I can do, and I'm not sure it really helps in the long run. Posting everyday can net you a short term rank increase, but as soon as your archive hits a certain size--you'll drop off (new readers are intimidated by huge archives and won't hook-up...older readers fall off over time. If the story is really compelling you will get new readers, but they probably won't read the archive...) I find that MWF works the best for me. I can do the work without too much stress, my readers know what days to look for me, and my archive grows at a reasonable pace. I would like to put out my comic monthly as opposed to bi-monthly--but it just ain't happening
...sigh.


My goal now is to find a way to make the archive more appealing and accessible... still thinking on that one!

I think the key is consistency. And by consistency I mean keeping a regular and consistent update schedule. If you're updating 1 time a week, I'd recommend keeping that schedule. Even if you have a big buffer like you have, it will catch up with you before you know it if you change your update routine. It's something you have to adapt to I think. Also, people in general stick to regular routines. If your comic updates weekly, chances are your regular readers are used to a weekly update. Changing this may attract new readers but you could potentially alienate older ones. Whichever decision you make, I think the key is making sure that you actually MAKE your scheduled updates. Once late updates start happening or the update schedule becomes infrequent, that can spell the kiss of death for a comic.

Look at how the big boys do it. Penny Arcade, XKCD, QC, all of the big webcomics keep a consistent update schedule and they never miss updates. Whatever you do, though, I'm sure you'll be just fine. :)

hmmm....certainly poses quite the delima.
you know we've been struggling with the update issue over at PJ:
we update daily (which i'm mostly fine with, and only miss a day here and there for special days-like my birthday weekend for example). and we have also been sporatically, updating 2 times a day as of late.
personally, i think this sort of updating is a bit TOO frequent, but i also have a HUGE archive to go through (103 pages of story, by my last count). and with only a handful of newer material intersparsed through out, it will be many many months before we finally get to the NEW NEW shit. if i update too fast....i'll lose people and it might be hard to follow along if you miss a few days or a week (like poor warefish). but if i switch to a very regular MWF updating schedule, it will take me more than 6 months to get to anything new.....

in the case of the Hub, however....i would say twice a week would be good. it keeps the updates often enough to keep people excited, but also gives you enough of a buffer to produce new work and have a social life. a MWF schedule can be almost too much to handle. PJ used to be MWF when it was one here 6 years ago, and it felt like a chore at the time....i started with all new stuff, and i didn't have any buffer of work. so it felt like i was drowning at times for a book i wasn't even getting paid to do. not fun!

Also the guys over at webcomics.com have a good article on choosing an update schedule. Worth checking out.

http://webcomics.com/2009/01/05/choosing-a-schedule/

I update once a week so as to avoid too much preasure on my relationship with my wife!
If I tried to do it any faster, there would be deadlines looming all week, where as here we can all just brace ourselves for the excitment of Mondays when there are usually get two pages at once to enjoy.
Also it means if I have any problems or commitments I can do a smaller up date of just one page that week and thus have not missed any updates.
The only downside is my infamous lack of patience!
Curses! I hate midweek waiting!

Other than a month or two of hiatus in the middle (which I regret as it crippled my daily pageviews), Din Krakatau has been updating consistently three times a week, monday wednesday friday.

I'm hoping that in the future, on my b&w projects, I can allow myself to go 5 or 7 times a week. And hopefully on two books at once :D

Thanks for the input, everybody! I'm thinking now it's probably best to stick to the twice a week plan, despite my impatience to get on with the story. If I develop a crazy 100 p. buffer or something, I can always up it. :)

I update seven days of the week for three of my comics. If it's possible, usually I can stick to this schedule, but it becomes a bit hard at times. (I also forgot to mention two out of the three of my comics are backed up by several hundred pages.)

Walrus
(I also forgot to mention two out of the three of my comics are backed up by several hundred pages.)

Oh, now you're just bragging. ;)

Weekly is good, that'll give you time to get more done. Don't worry about how quickly or how many you post, just as long as it's catchy and a clincher. I'd say try going out and commenting on people's pages and adding the comics you like as Friends or Favorites. If you need any help with Photoshop, let me know....I used to be a graphic Artist myself.

I've just been posting as I get stuff done. Usually at least once a week, sometimes twice a week.

I wish I'd made a buffer, but I'm just too busy with work.

I also made the last minute decision to make my comic a color comic instead of my intended B/W.
Which definitely adds more time to production.

I'm probably more impatient than anyone, but I'd rather do consistent work than put out rushed work that I"ll regret later on.

I had thought I could keep up with 1 page a week, but I realize that is not going to work very well with 4 different comics. I need to change the schedule and try and keep up with 1+ page a week for the main one, and 2 more less demanding ones a week if I can. The 4th I'll just need to work on as I find time.