Your Cartoon Business

When you draw gag cartoons, you usually work several months in advance.

For instance, today it's just beginning to feel like fall and an editor has asked for cartoons about the snowy winter holidays.

Above: I have an old habit of jotting down my list of cartoon submissions with their number and then a brief description. I don't HAVE to jot this down on paper, but I do. My writing is messy because I am the only one who will read this.

When I draw a cartoon, I scan it and save it as a sequential number. I keep a description of the cartoon in a database. The database also has information on when a cartoon was sent to a client and what happened. If it was sold, then I note that. If I hear nothing back after 30 days, I assume it's been turned down and it gets sent to another client.

Now, in addition to this, I am doing other work: soliciting illustration work, pitching other projects, etc.

One of the important things about cartooning is to keep moving: keep your work out there! For instance, if you are my friend on Twitter or Facebook, you got to see a page I drew from RACONTEUR #3. No one else saw this and I haven't posted it here on the blog. The more eyes look at what I do, the more will be interested in buying my comic or hiring me to draw a cartoon or illustration.

This is by way of a long introduction to Mark Anderson's blog today, which has an indispensable entry about the cartoonist and self-promotion. Mark explains it all, and better than I can.

Keep drawing!