The Business of Cartooning

Updated on 4/16/2021

The following are resources and articles in regards to the business side of the cartooning profession. It’s culled from various sources that I’ve found helpful or informative over the years. It doesn’t cover everything, but it can be used as a starting point.

1. Comic News Blogs:

• The Beat – Heidi MacDonald
• The Comics Journal – Edited by Tim Hodler, Dan Nadel and Frank Santoro
• Bleeding Cool – Comics, TV and Film
  by Rich Johnston and friends
• Comic Book Resources – Comic book news and reviews.
• Editor and Publisher – Covers the newspaper industry and syndication.
• Hogan’s Alley – Magazine of the Cartoon Arts.
• The Daily Cartoonist – Mainstream & Syndicate News.

2. Contracts:

• 15 Ways to Negotiate Better Rates of Pay
  by Jim Thacker
• F*ck You. Pay Me: The Necessity of Contracts
  by Mike Monteiro
• The Creator’s Bill of Rights
  1988 Comic Book Artists “Summit” – Scott McCloud
• DC Contract to Dave Sim
  2005 – With Dave Sim’s annotations.

3. Resources/Articles:

• Colleen Doran – Advice
  Colleen Doran gives sage advice regarding working in the trenches.
• What I Think of Art School.
  by Kate Beaton
• The Specs on Specs: The Critical Importance of Following Guidelines.
  by Chris Tugeau
• Ten Common Mistakes in Resumes and Cover Letters.
  by Petrula Vrontikis
• You Have to Have an Agent to Get a Book Deal / You Have to Have a Book Deal to Get an Agent
  by Gina Gagliano

• Creative People Say No.
  by Kevin Ashton
• Advice to Unpublished Authors.
  by Alan Moore
• 25 Things Writers Should Stop Doing.
  By Chuck Wendig
• 10 Things Every Creative Person Must Learn.
  By Chase Jarvis
• 6 Harsh Truths That Will Make You a Better Person
  Cracked.com article by David Wong
• Succeeding in the Arts
  Neil Gaiman’s commencement speech – Philadelphia’s University of the Arts
• When to Give Up
  by First Second Books editor Calista Brill

• “Keep Them in the Dark” – Predatory Publishers
  From the Beat
• Looking for Magic Carpets
  Open Letter to Fellow Writers (and Artists)
  Steve Bissette on drawing a graphic novel.

4. Print On Demand Publishers:

• Ka-Blam
• RA Comics Direct
• Lulu
• CreateSpace Amazon
• BookMobile Minneapolis, MN

5. Self-Publishing Resource Articles:

• How Do You Promote Your Small Press Comics?
  By Andy Oliver
• The Path to Becoming a Bestselling Graphic Novel
  By John Shableski
• The Reality of Mainstream Creator-Owned Comics
  By Jim Zub
• Okay, But What About Digital Comics?
  By Jim Zub
• The Creator as Retailer
  Beat Article – by Mark Andrew Smith

• Stickman Graphics
  Self-publishing resource guide.
• Tyler Page Blogspot
  2010 blog relating experiences with self-publishing.

• JasonThibault.com
  The Definitive List of Comic Publisher Submission Guidelines
  Jason Thibault – Circa 2019

6. Convention Resources:

• ConventionScene.com
  Convention Calendar
• imPhotoGraphics.com
  Banner Stands
• www.hotflips.com
  Archival Products: Top Loaders for Original Art

• First Time Con Set-up Notes
  by David Petersen
• 13 Things I Learned at SPX 2013
  by Whit Taylor
• How To Make a Million in the Comics Business
  by Darrin O’Toole
• Networking and the High Cost of Comic Conventions
  by Jim Keefe

7. Cartooning Schools and Organizations:

• The Kubert School
  A three-year course of study – located in Dover, New Jersey.
  Also offers Correspondence Courses.
  Founded by Joe Kubert.
• The Center for Cartoon Studies
  A two-year course of study located in White River Junction, Vermont.
• The Minneapolis College of Art and Design – BFA & MFA in Comic Art
  Check out student work on the MCAD Comic Art Tumblr.
• The University of Wisconsin Stout – BFA in Entertainment Design – Concentration on Comics and Sequential Art
• The California College of the Arts – MFA in Comic Art
  Campuses in Oakland and San Francisco
• SCAD – BFA & MFA in Sequential Art
  BA in Visual Communication/Concentration in Sequential Art – offered online

• Graphic Artists Guild
  National union of illustrators, designers, web creators, production artists, surface designers and other creatives.
• The National Cartoonists Society
  Artists/members mostly from newspaper syndicates – but growing to include artists from all fields.
• www.CartoonistConspiracy.com
  Active groups in Minneapolis, San Francisco, Pennsylvania and Montreal.

8. Financial Aid:

• The Writing Center – Grant Proposals
  Source: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• The Jay Kennedy Scholarship – Yearly award for best college cartoonist. Applicants must be students at a 4-year college in the United States, Canada or Mexico.
• Kickstarter – Funding platform for creative projects.
  Every project creator sets their project’s funding goal and deadline. If people like the project, they can pledge money to make it happen. If the project succeeds in reaching its funding goal, all backers’ credit cards are charged when time expires.

For more info you can check out my Resources page. It includes all my work related posts on cartooning – Pricing your Work, Tools of the Trade, Recommended Books on Drawing & Cartooning, and much, much more…