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Cartooning Dos and Don’ts (Advice to a Young Cartoonist)
Got this a few days back:
My name is (name omitted) , and I just graduated from Baylor University in May with a degree in English Lit. While there, I also cartooned for our campus paper, The Lariat, for a good five semesters or so. I just narrowly missed getting to work with our new assistant media adviser, (name omitted), but she has mentioned that she knew you from school and that you’re open to advising students looking into cartooning as a field. To that end, I’m writing to see if you have any practical advice on making a living off of drawing. I’ve visited Andertoons and read your FAQ (so trust me, I plan to “draw, draw, draw”!). But do you have any stories or advice regarding the path you took? Maybe mistakes you learned from or things you got a jump on? I figure any advice I can get from those who have gone before would be super-valuable.
I’ve offered advice before, and regular readers will know that I don’t often tend to wax poetically about art and inspiration and all. I’m assuming that’s a given.
When I look back, the help I needed most was nuts and bolts advice. So, some Dos and Don’ts for you:
DON’T - Bet it all on syndication
That’s not to say that the syndicates aren’t all very nice, but it seems there’s fewer and fewer breakout strips, and the newspaper industry isn’t in the best of health anyway. Don’t get me wrong, there’s always room at the top (and I haven’t looked at your work) but the odds are pretty long on making a good long term living with a syndicated strip. You might be better served to…
DO - Promote yourself
I’m going to assume that your cartoons are really good, so that means you’re about a third of the way there. Get your site working well and get it noticed. Blog. Look at your competition and see what they’re doing and do it better and more often. Eventually you won’t have to do so much of this, but count on thinking about it hardcore for the next year at least. That being said…
DON’T - Create what you think will sell
Trust me on this. Doing what you think will sell because you need/want to make money is the wrong way to go. It comes off false and readers sense it. Do what you think is funny and find people who think the same way. You’ll be happier, funnier and make more in the long run. Hence…
DO - Be a business
Learn what an invoice is and make yours clear and professional. Get up to speed on some basic accounting. Invest in good materials and equipment. Have your W9 ready to fax over. Be professional on the phone. To a client you shouldn’t be Johnny Someguywhocandraw, you should be Johnny Inc., who knows what they’re doing.
OK, that’s about it. There’s a ton of other really good cartooning blogs out there for more help and inspiration. Check out Mike Lynch, Tom Richmond and Mark Heath for sure.
Good luck!
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Comments
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Daily Cartoon
If I may throw in my two cents: When you buy a domain name (a ".com" name), use your own name. When you become a cartoonist, your name will be your trademark, so it is best to have a .com with your name, as opposed to some made-up word. (Andertoons.com is an exception because Mark incorporated.)
Posted by: Greg | Aug 30, 2008 at 9:33 am
Also, put "cartoons" in the URL. Wish I'd done that.
Posted by: Andertoons | Aug 30, 2008 at 1:19 pm
And stimulate your imagination by playing with Lego building blocks
Posted by: Fontessa | Aug 30, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Well now that's just a given…
Posted by: Andertoons | Aug 31, 2008 at 8:51 pm
Mark, thank you for the sound advice. Sounds both practical and inspirational– good to know that it's worth sticking to your instincts rather than selling out. I'll start working on polishing up the site.
-Ben
Posted by: benjamite | Sep 5, 2008 at 10:25 am