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How
to Become a Cartoonist
How
to Get Hired to Create Cartoon Books
The
market for cartoon books has never been better than
it is right now.
The
market for children’s cartoon books is especially strong,
because most children learn to read from picture books.
The adult cartoon-book market has also been taking root
in the last ten years.
Cartoon
books come from three different sources. One source
is recycled comic books. The line between comic-book
‘graphic novels’ and cartoon books is blurring, if not
fading. Another source of inspiration is recycled comic
strips. The third is original material, designed for
the cartoon-book format.
The
Job: Opportunities and Working Conditions
Cartooning
for cartoon books is either a solitary operation or
a partnership. Most partnerships are writer-illustrator.
In the case of a writer-illustrator partnership, the
writer is usually expected to handle the business of
getting a cartoon book published, although both writer
and illustrator may be obliged to help sell the book.
The
illustrator of cartoon books spends as much time alone
in the studio as any cartoonist, so make sure your studio
is ready to spend time with you. Make sure it’s well
lit and well ventilated. Pay attention to the ergonomics
of your work. Is your art board allowing you to sit
up straight? When you’re writing the book, are your
hands the proper distance over the keyboard?
As
for starting pay, Robin Koontz puts it
this way:
“Writing
for the children’s book market is seldom as lucrative
as writing for the adult market. For a thirty-two page
picture book, you can expect to split 50/50 a $3,000-$8,000
advance with the illustrator, then each of you will
get 3.5 to 5 percent royalties against your advance.
Remember though, that your advance must be earned back
before you receive any royalties. Most picture books
sell from 5,000-10,000 copies in hardcover and go out
of print within fourteen months. Few go into paperback.”
Things
will go differently once you’ve established a reputation,
which is much easier to keep in the children’s book market
than the adult market. Cartoon books take a number of
shapes, sizes and prices so you can expect a wider range
of pay offers.
The
Employers: Prime Contacts
For
children’s books, the best place to look for markets
is the Children’s
Writers and Illustrators Market, by Writer’s
Digest. This book doesn’t end with book publishers;
it also lists magazines and other children’s cartoon
markets. It’s easier for some people to start as a children’s
cartoonist in a children’s magazine, then use that experience
and reputation to slingshot into books.
Here
are some solid children’s publishing houses for you
to consider submitting to:
Barefoot
Books
http://www.barefoot-books.com
Chronicle
Books
http://www.chroniclebooks.com
DK
Publishing, Inc.
http://us.dk.com/static/cs/us/11/childrens/index.html
Golden
Books
info@goldenbooks.com
Lee
and Low Books: Multicultural Literature for Children
http://www.leeandlow.com/editorial/voices.html
Lerner
Publishing Group
http://www.lernerbooks.com/cgi-bin/
wspd_cgi.sh/subpolicy.html
Orca
Book Publishers
http://www.orcabook.com/SubmissionGuidelines.pdf
Parenting
Press
http://www.parentingpress.com/mss_gdln.html
Peel
Productions
http://peelbooks.com/docs/mss.html
You
can find more children's publishers listed at the Writer's
Digest website. (Use the search box at the bottom that
says "Choose a Category" to look for "BOOK PUBLISHERS"
then "Children's".)
Writer's
Digest Guidelines
http://www.writersdigest.com/guidelines/
index.htm
Be
picky. Read the publishers’ submissions guidelines and
their previous works. Not all of them are interested in
publishing something like your book. For example, don’t
send a pre-school cartoon book to a publisher that deals
mainly with comic-strip collections. After your research
turns up the right publishers for you, you’ll be able
to concentrate your efforts on them.
Once
you have established yourself in the children’s book
market, other publishers than the ones listed here will
be open to your submissions, so eventually you’ll target
them too.
What
to Send
Read
those submissions guidelines and ask for them when they’re
not easily found. In certain cases, you’ll have to ask
your agent what’s best to send.
Some
publishers want only a query letter, while others prefer
the entire manuscript immediately. Send each publisher
what they ask for — no less and no more. You might think
a cartoon book is a quick read, but some publishers
have dozens, even hundreds, of proposals to wade through
in a week. You’ll get on their good side by sending
them exactly what they want.
Whatever
you send, be sure it is neat and easy to read. As in
magazine illustration, even the roughs should not be
too rough. And even if you have a proposal for an unusual
format, keep your proposal itself on 8.5"x11" paper.
Use a plain font and double-space, and be sure to find
out beforehand what department or editor you should
send your submission to. This information is listed
in most submission guidelines.
For
another method of submission, Aaron Shepard,
author of The Legend of Slappy Hooper, takes
the unusual approach of a ‘checklist query’ that describes
a small number of stories in short, 2 to 4 line pitches.
The approach seems to work for him; he currently has
six contracts pending.
Breaking
the Rules
The
nice thing about cartoon books is: you never know when
you have one. Take this story for example.
At
26, Lynn found herself pregnant for the first
time. While being examined by her obstetrician, she
dryly remarked that she needed something to look at
on his ceiling.
He
challenged her to fill it up. Lynn made 80 one-panel
cartoons for the ceiling. Needless to say, people in
the hospital, including the patients, were quite impressed.
In
the few years afterward, Lynn, now a single mother,
found freelance employment as a cartoonist for a library,
a local paper and advertising agencies. Eventually,
though, she turned to full-time employment as a packaging
firm’s layout artist.
Murray
Enkin, the obstetrician who had challenged her earlier,
gave her a call one day. He invited her to his house,
where he had gathered her 80 cartoons, and announced,
“Kid, you’ve got a book!” Enkin and some mutual friends
helped Lynn find a publisher. She added 21 cartoons
to the 80 originals, and in 1974 published David,
We’re Pregnant!
Cartoonist
Lynn Johnston has published two cartoon books
since, in addition to her For Better or For Worse
collections.
This article is
an excerpt from the fabjob.com How to Become a Cartoonist.
Visit www.fabjob.com
for information.
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