Business Considerations For Magazine Cartoonists
Cartooning is a fun profession, but it's also a business. The successful cartoonist has to
know how to handle business details the same as any other business person. Here are some
of the things you will want to consider along with notes on how I handle them.
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Copyright
One of the most frequent questions a cartoonist is
asked is how can you be sure somebody won't steal your work? Should you register a copyright
on every cartoon you draw? In my opinion it isn't worth the worry. Most decent-paying markets
wouldn't stoop to stealing a cartoon, and the small publications don't gain much if they do steal
it. After all, one reason they are small publications is because nobody reads them.
I can't really think of any instances where anybody has ever stolen my work
and even if they have I'm completely unaware of any damages I've experienced as a result.
The way I understand the law your work is copyrighted the minute you create it. Registration of a
copyright is mostly for purposes of proving ownership if a dispute arises. If you create another
Mickey Mouse, this may be a concern. But for magazine cartoonists, I don't see any need to
register copyrights. If you feel differently about this you should consult an attorney for
advice.
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Rights Sold
What a cartoonist should be aware of is which rights he is
selling to a publication. If you sell all rights to your work, you can't publish it elsewhere
without the permission of the publisher. This is usually considered work for hire. More
frequently you will either offer first rights or one-time rights. If you sell first rights,
you retain ownership of the artwork but you allow the buyer to be the first one to publish your
work. This is common with the larger, better-paying magazines. If you sell one-time rights
you are paid a fee for use of your artwork on a one-time basis and you are not offering any
type of exclusivity. Many magazines buy under this arrangement, which means you can sell
the same cartoon multiple times. When you submit to a magazine you should be aware of
which rights they usually buy, or in a cover letter you should specify which rights you
are offering.
Taxes and Licenses
In most localities a freelance cartoonist does not have to
have a business license. Since you are not reselling merchandise, you do not have a need for
sales tax exemptions or to charge sales tax on the licensing fees you receive. It is always
good, however, to check out these details with your city and state business authorities, or
with a lawyer or accountant. As for income taxes, you need to keep accurate records of your
earnings and your expenses, because you are liable for state, local and federal income taxes.
If you are not an expert at taxes, the services of a good tax man would be well worth your
money.
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Keeping Track of Submissions
In order to make a decent income on magazine cartooning,
you will need to submit a lot of cartoons. It's easy to forget what you have submitted where, so
it's necessary to keep good records in order to avoid duplication or missing a potential market.
Each cartoon you draw should be assigned a number, and you should track the submissions of each
cartoon by that number.
A database program is good for keeping track of submissions. I
have used the Microsoft program which allows you to set up fields for different types of
data. I will usually set up a field for each cartoon (identified by the cartoon number),
for the places the cartoon was submitted, and if there is a gagwriter involved, the name of
the gagwriter. You could also set up a field for the major slant of the cartoon and another
for sales (so you will know which cartoons are previously published). A good way to identify
the places you send the cartoon is to do so also by number, assigning a number to each market,
such as 1 for Saturday Evening Post, 2 for First Magazine, 3 for Medical Economics, etc.
Once you have your information input in each of these fields you can search to determine
which cartoons have gone to which magazines, which cartoons have been previously sold, and
other information you need.
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When you submit your cartoons you will generally want
to submit to the highest paying markets first, and the lower paying markets later. If you are
submitting to markets which purchase one-time rights, you can submit the same cartoons to
several places simultaneously.
You Need A Web Site
If you don't have a website you should build one. A
website can act as a portfolio for you. When you contact magazines with queries, you should
refer them to your website so they can see samples of your work. Also every now and then a
publisher will find you through their own searching. In many cases these are obscure publications
you would never find if they didn't find you. One of my best customers has been buying
a cartoon a week for almost ten years. This customer found me through my website. Your website
will find you customers that you didn't even know existed.
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