12 Cartoon Rejections

Here at the Mike Lynch Cartoons blog, I try to be positive about cartooning -- particularly magazine cartooning. I've written about how cartooning requires a leap of faith in the beginning (The Cartooning Business); that selling one or two cartoons out of a batch of 10-15 cartoons is a good professional average (Cartoon Sales Batting Average); how to persevere, despite rejection (Mike Lynch College of Gag Cartoon Knowledge -- Rejection, Rejection, Rejection). But, occasionally, the Black Dog, as Churchill calls it, comes and gives you a nip, and you wind up in the doldrums.


Some people get depressed over the holidays. Cartoonists are no exception, seeing as rejection is all part of the profession. At least when we vent about it, it turns into a cartoon.

A number of Christmases ago, I mailed the above card to only a few cartoonist friends. All of these were true things that editors told me -- except for the last one. The last one is true, but it wasn't said by an editor. Here's the breakdown:

1. Standard rejection letter phrase.
2. A famous cartoon editor told me this face to face while looking at my work.
3. An advertising client who thought I'd lost it after loving my first batch of cartoons.
4. Better Homes and Gardens, etc.
5. My mother-in-law. And she has a point. Color cartoons are better.
6. Nothing like an editor who places his finger in your cartoony pie.
7. Esquire Magazine.
8. Rejection letter, Funny Times.
9. See #2
10. The New York Daily News.
11. Several clients. Yes, really. They underestimate their audiences.
12. My wife.

And there we have it! Gosh, whatta bitter person I am!!! I guess I drew back a nub after my encounter with the ol' Black Dog of Depression! You see why most people who want to cartoon professionally quit after an average of 6 months! Ha ha ha!

OK, now I get back to drawing ...