Someone once told me there are two things to consider when thinking of
becoming a cartoonist: 1. You must be funny and 2 You must know how to
draw.
I love cartooning but I'm not a great artist. I can write as well as
the best of them. Thanks to some of the leading cartoonists in the
country, they showed me how it can be done, without even drawing a
straight line. Their names are Leigh Rubin (Rubes), John McPherson
(Close To Home) and Dave Coverly (Speed Bump). The year was 1997. My
confidence level was at an all time high. My pocket book at an all time
low. Could I make it? Would there be landmines? The best and worst was
yet to come.
I won't bore you with too many of the details of my beginnings. Let's just say it was not a piece of cake.
The secret is simply to learn, research, and act. Keep working. If you
draw, draw your cartoons. Send them out. Post them on the net. Let
trade magazines know you exist. Blog. Do article marketing. Do
everything you can. You will succeed if you don't give up. You will be
one of the 1% or so who does.
No neon light went on that said, "You've made it. Artists will start
seeking you out now. They simply did. It was a process. It was slow.
But it happened.
Being funny is enough. Find someone else to draw if you can't and split the profits.
Not all cartoons are meant to be funny. However, if you are billing
your cartoon as a funny one, I might suggest you either be funny, or
have a funny ghost writer.
One does not have to stop with a cartoon site. There are ways to
produce revenue from them, such as making Ecards, creating a membership
site, or selling the cartoons to magazines and newspapers, but the big
money is in merchandising and licensing, that is, creating products, or
letting others do it, with permission to use your cartoon images.
Another Shakespeare: "To Thine On Self Be True". Nothing is more on
target than in writing and cartooning. Especially on the Internet.
There's another saying, "The Internet will always find you out", and
that is so true. If you are not yourself, even on the Internet, you
will be like the Wizard Of Oz behind the curtain, not so big (mainly
because you are not being yourself).
The tell yourself you know you are going to come across rejection. If
it were easy, everyone would be doing it. I cannot begin to tell you
how many rejection letters don my walls. I remember the first one that
was from an angry New York literary agent. I wanted to do a series of
cartoon books and queried agents (before I was even a little-bit well
known). I received one letter back; it was the one I sent her and she
merely wrote at the bottom "What do I need with another failed
cartoonist?". I braced myself for the emotional blow and kept going,
knowing that Margaret Mitchell had over 40 rejection letters for Gone
With The Wind. Isaac Asimov had his share. So did many others. So why
not me? I had fun putting myself in the league with literary giants who
were used to rejection. Suddenly I felt a bond with them.
I highly suggest buying a domain name and use it to brand yourself. You
can point it to your server where your cartoons are parked, do a bit of
promotion, and you are in business!
If you have been a starving artist or writer for seven years, you know
what to expect. It is not fun, but it is familiar. Suddenly success
comes and you don't know how to act. My advice, don't buy a new red
Mercedes convertible just yet. But be prepared. If you've put in the
legwork and laid the foundation, you may just be one of the 1% or so
who "make it".
Charles Schultz and the other early pre-Internet pioneers are the true heroes. They had to work 1000 times harder than we do.
Like my mom, a former schoolteacher, words, and the turning of a phrase
was important. Mom was right. More right than I knew at the time
Once upon a time only the Rockefellers, Perots, Rothchilds and others
had access to very important business tools. As you can see, that is no
longer the case.
Our founding fathers probably had cartooning in mind when they expanded
upon Freedom Of Expression. There can be no purer form, in my humble
opinion. And for those of us who truly love to express ourselves in a
very different way, this forum was built for us. Good luck to you all!
4.5 million visitors click on Londons Times Cartoons by Rick London each year at offbeat cartoons and his new unique comic merchandise gift shop, Londons Times
Superstore, and new designer clothing line store Rick Londonwear. He
launched his venture in an old warehouse in Ms. in 1997. You are
welcome to reprint this article - but get your own unique content version here.
