*Super Update*
My apologies if you couldn’t see your comments the last few days.
There was a security issue that had to get worked out. It’s all fixed now, so thanks for your patience.
*UPDATE*
Hey guys.
I’m having some problems with the comments not posting. I’ve replied to everyone,
and there are new comments not posting too. I’m working on fixing the issue. Stay tuned.
I’m thinking I might end Hominids right after I reveal “the Creature”.
I’m a bit burnt out and besides a few loyal readers/comments (Thanks guys),
I’m at a bit of a loss as to whether the comic has any relevance or impact. Maybe I won’t go so extreme, but I’m considering cutting the story shorter and moving on. What do you do when you just aren’t reaching the audience level you were hoping?
What say you? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
I’m curious, too, to know why your webcomic doesn’t have more readers. I only found it yesterday and voted for it at TWC. I went to check what rank it’s at and it’s 183. That’s surprising to be because your story is good and your artwork superb! I read a number of webcomics but there aren’t many I’ll vote for every 24 hours. I’m going to be including yours among them.
One thing I would like is the ability to click on one page to take me to the next as I do with others. If I do with yours, it opens your page as a jpg into another tab. I read on my tablet so enlarge the page to see more detail. I have to scroll up to the top of the page to click “next”. It’s a small thing though. Perhaps you could put the navigation tabs right under the image page instead.
I’ve certainly hoped it would have grown faster. I must admit, I’m not super savvy when it comes to making a website work to the best of its ability. I know there are a lot of things I can do to improve the site.
However, Hominids has really grown on Webtoons, and the experience on mobile is really pretty pleasurable.
Hey jordan I have to agree with everyone else Hominids rocks. I began following along early to midway in chap.6. Liked what you were doing enough to go back and start from the beginning. I’ve been hooked ever sense.
Thanks so much, Odd Dog. I’m glad you did, especially since I took a big break after Chapter 6. Thanks for coming back!
So, hey. I read the comic regularly, but this is probably the first time I’ve commented.
Part of the reason is that, well, I hate your website. Not the content, the site / site organization itself. For some reason it’s easier to view your comics at full resolution (which I find *very necessary*) in my RSS reader than it is on the actual website itself. At some point I stopped questioning that and just accepted that visiting the site itself was counterproductive.
Also, due to (perfectly reasonable, justified) artistic choices, this comic is technically NSFW, which limits the hours I can be here/viewing at all.
Thanks for the honesty, Asterai. I’ve thought about switching things up and going for a more traditional type webcomic layout. If I do though, promise me your feedback, okay?
I’ve been a lurker for quite some time and I’ve gotta say, the story and art quality of this comic is amazing, and it’s become one of my favorites. For my part, this comic ties in well with my love of paleontology and I look forward to each new post. I hope you don’t end the comic early, because I’m hopelessly addicted to your work, but if you are burned out and need a break, I will be here when you return, and I’m sure most of your readers will be as well.
Thanks Anya. My hope is to not take any breaks. Thankfully, I’m not burnt out on the work itself. I think I just want to figure out how to better engage with you guys. Maybe you’ll all be up for a Q & A in the future?
Hey, I’m so sorry to hear that you’re feeling like you’re not making an impact. I’ve been reading off and on for a least a year or two now, and I really enjoy Hominids. I’ve definitely had a few segments where I disagreed with the character’s points of view on certain subjects, but I think that’s what kept me coming back- I wanted to see why they thought or felt something.
I’m a bit of a career lurker, so I hope I can speak for a few of us in saying that we’re here! I just don’t always have something worth saying, and I don’t like just saying the same empty thing every time a page comes up ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ It feels like I’d be doing the comic a disservice if I’m not adding substance to the discussion, I guess. But I can see how that would be super discouraging for the artist. Do what you need to do for you- but I for one would love to see the comic keep going 🙂
Thanks Sabriel. I appreciate it. I think maybe I’ll try for a Q & A discussion in the near future and see what kind of questions you guys have. Especially if you have things you might disagree with. It might make for a really good conversation.
Nooooooo……. don’t do it! Don’t quit now! Remember that for every commenter there are 1000 or more lurkers who love your work but are too shy/lazy/busy to let you know that we appreciate the unique story you’re telling!
Thanks Travis. That’s good to remember. Sometimes it’s hard to visualize that.
If you do something out of obligation, it’d begin to show. Take your own pae, leave where you must. I’ll still be saving this one for my kids to read, should I ever have any. =)
Thanks Void! Fortunately, I’m not burnt out from the work itself. I just had to wonder who was out there. I love to hear from you guys!
I feel your pain. I go through periods when I get pretty burnt out, usually in the middle of a chapter. We’ve got some very loyal readers, but it’s a slow process trying to build readership (especially for us) and sometimes it seems like we’re spinning our wheels a bit on that front. We decided from the start that we had a story we wanted to tell, and any audience we built was gravy, but after 3, 4, 5 years you start to question whether that’s enough of a reason to keep going.
I don’t really have any great advice, other than taking time off has been good for me when I start to question why I keep doing it. Even a week away from the comic helps recharge the batteries.
For what it’s worth, I’m a big fan. I really dig your art and the story you’re telling.
Thanks Al, and you know I’m a big fan of you guys. I’m sure we’ve more often then not had the same feelings. Overall, I’ve been pretty patient. Just sometimes you want to knock and see if anyone is out there. The encouraging thing is, they are. I just need to find good ways to engage.
I think it’s a great comic and I would love to see it continue, but I understand your frustration. What I had to do with my own writing was narrow my goals down to the minimum thing I was looking for: in my case, build up a library of books over x number of years so that, if I hit gold with one of them, I have a nice back stock of books for a reader to find. When I started out, that x was 10 years. 3 years later, I feel a bit like I’m fooling myself that I can do this for 10 years with little to no success, but I’m still trying. If sales were my goal, or reader interaction, etc., I would have to stop, because I’m clearly not meeting those. But getting those things so fast is a bit like winning the lottery.
So it sounds like you need to really decide what your goals are: massive audience, passion project, small but active core readership, happiness, etc. And then go from there. You’ve clearly got the talent to do what you need/want to do toward meeting whatever goal you choose, so go for it.
All that being said, what kind of interaction are you looking for on the comic? Commenting on each page can feel repetitive, but something like Robin does on Leylines, where there is a Q&A or reader check-in at the end of an issue, might work.
Best of luck.
Thanks for the encouraging words Andy. I do know my goal is to make the comic I want to make. In a lot of way, I just want to see what impact it has for other people and to see if people are out there. For instance, if I were to write that blog post and only the 3 people who comment were to reply then I would rework my priorities. I do have other stories I want to tell and maybe I would let this be what it was and move to those. However, there’s been a really good response and I think I want to figure out how to engage better with the audience I do have. I really like your suggestions. You’re right. I don’t have to have something every week, but a Q&A and check-ins are great suggestions.
It happens. A few of my favorites wound up stopping mid-arc. It doesn’t have to be the end though, you could just take a break to do another project?
I appreciate your work. Not only is the art fantastic, but it’s a well thought our story.
Thanks for the kind words Liz. It’s much appreciated. I don’t want to take a break but I think I want to get engagement to increase with the people who are reading already. Which I think means better blog posts and questions directly to you guys to encourage discussion.
I’ll never end the story mid-arc. I couldn’t do that to myself or you guys. But I think I can tighten up the story and get things moving to the resolution I’m aiming for.