Art Licensing: The Real Money In Cartooning
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by: RickLondon
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There was a time when a cartoonist had to be newspaper syndicated to "be somebody" (with apologies to Steve Martin in "The Jerk"). But even then, as now, the real money was not in newspapers. Besides, the chances of becoming a part of a major newspaper syndication are close to a million to one. One should just buy lottery tickets.
The real money in funny pictures is in art licensing. Art licensing is a huge business, almost 100 billion dollars per year, yet not many know about it. Basically it is the process of putting an art image on a manufactured product from lunch boxes to tshirts to greeting cards. Most of the public rarely sees this business activity as they are too busy buying the end product.
Licensing works like any other business. It is basically a trade for money. The artist approaches a manufacturer with a piece of art that he or she thinks would help enhance a product and the manufacturer and firm makes a decision. If it is positive, a licensing deal is made. Businesses also license to each other. Like a beer company logo to Nascar (or vice versa).
LIMA is the industry association. One does not have to be a member to be in the art licensing game but it doesn't hurt. Such associations are a great way to make contacts.
Occasionally a licensing deal works backwards. A manufacturer, of say, school notebooks will approach Hanna-Barbara and ask for the exlusive rights to license Fred Flintstone (or the entire family) onto a notebook or series of notebooks. This is a little more complicated, but is done all the time and is quite lucrative to both firms.
I startes as an unknown cartoonist thinking I would be syndicated within the first months or so because "my concepts were so good and different". I was fortunate to learn that was my ego talking. So I approached a several trade journals in need of theme cartoons with their articles and sold them for what I could. I slowly built a portfolio and finally was able to take it to a manufacturer/drop-shipper who was willing to take a chance and make the products with a royalty split. I did not have a licensing agent so my attorney handled the contract for me. It is always a good idea, if your strength is in art and not numbers to have a professional in another area (like an attorney or agent) do that part of the job.
In time I discovered more manufacturers who made different products than my first ones and was able to make deals with them, using the same contract.
The old-school tradition of cartooning was dictated by the big syndication firms. First you become syndicated, then you get to sell your products and create wealth. Those days are gone thanks to the Internet. One can enter the field in the way one feels comfortable. I am yet to be officially syndicated though my cartoons appear worldwide on a daily basis.
If you are new to cartooning, or even a veteran looking for new outlets, the Internet offers many. It does not happen overnight. It took me a decade. But it will happen if one is persistent.
A decade ago, I launched my business in a broken down tinl warehouse and had less than a hundred cartoons up on a free domain (I couldn't afford a www domain). Now I have 8 websites, 7 e-stores withclose to 80,000 products in about 100 different categories, from tshirts to clocks to aprons, and the most visited offbeat cartoon site on the Internet, Londons Times Cartoons with over 8500 original images and almost 9 million visitors. That's not so bad for ten year's work, at least not for me.
Did I pay a price? Sure. Anyone does who sets his or her goal high. Was it worth it? I wouldn't trade it for the world.
About the Author
Art Director Rick London and his artists has created over Over Eight Thousand Cartoons original offbeat cartoon, Londons Times Cartoons Cartooning: Where Is The Money?
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