I've loved cartoons as well as cartooning ever since I was a kid. At age of 10, I tutored cartooning at class breaks in exchange of nice treats at my school cafe. On our field trips, my classmates in the tour bus clustered together and enjoyed my comic books that I brought to share. I still remember that I always reminded my readers of going back to do their homework instead of getting addicted to comics, which was a common problem for many parents at that time.

I grew up and chose a very different career as an engineer - a rigid training that most of cartoonists would have tried to stay away as far as they could. Here in U.S., I'm facing a different culture and market. Since the birth of Cartoosh, I've wondered how cartoonists in the U.S. make a living. Here is what I found out: working and dreaming to become a "syndicated" cartoonist.

What is "syndicate"?
A syndicate is a company that do everything to bring you your favorite cartoons or comics except the creation which is certainly the job of the cartoonist. The syndicate screens the cartoons, identifies the ones they can sell well and profit, edits, packages, promotes, prints, sells, and distributes them to the newspapers, magazines, and medias.

Why do cartoonists dream about being syndicated?
Simply put, that's how cartoonists make a living. When a syndicate identifies a cartoon or comic strip, they'll sign a contract with the cartoonist. The contract typically describes how many cartoons the cartoonist has to provide and when. It also sets the price or the compensation the cartoonist is going to receive for his or her work. How much can a syndicated cartoonist make? It depends on how popular those cartoons would become or the number of newspapers/publications purchase the cartoons. In general, a syndicated cartoonist can make between $20,000 and $150,000, while a few superstars may make over a million.

Who are the syndicates? The most popular syndicates here in the U.S. are (in no specific order): What has changed in the syndication industry?
Twenty years ago, a syndicated contract typically lasts 15 or 20 years long. If that is the first contract, you can image that the terms wouldn't be very favorable for the cartoonist. The cartoonist may see his or her work getting popular, yet his income has remained flat. Worse, most syndicated cartoonists lose copyrights of their work to the syndicate under the contract. Few may be able to negotiate a better contract and/or retain copyrights, when the contract is finally due. In February 1987, Mr. Richard S. Newcombe founded Creators Syndicate with an intention to grant shorter contracts (typically 5 years) and let the artist to retain the copyrights. Since then, the industry practices have changed to favor the cartoonists or writers a bit.

Ever since the Internet changed how news was distributed, the newspapers and the syndicate industry have undergone series of consolidation and merges over the past decade. The recent economy turmoil makes it even worse, as the advertising revenues went down the hill. As a result, many newspapers have either stopped publishung cartoons or cut back on the number of comic strips they carry. Even for the cartoonist who may survive the storm, they'll likely find a portion of their income perished. Some cartoonists are urging their readers on their blog to voice their favor of their favorite cartoons and to keep them published on the newspaper.

What's the chance of being syndicated?
Well... very small... and it's getting even smaller. A syndicate typically receives over 5,000 submissions in a year and chooses only 2 or 3. Is it still worth going after the syndicates? In my opinions, I'm not so sure any more. I'll discuss your new ways of syndication or making a living later. By no means, I'm trying to discourage you from submitting your artwork to syndicates. I think that's every cartoonist's dream and every cartoonist ought to give it a try.

Note that every syndicate has different submission requirements and guidelines. Use the links above to find out the details. Some syndicates require 24 cartoons or comics to get a sense of consistent quality of work. The review process usually take 6 to 8 weeks. If they like your work, they'll definitely be in contact with you. Otherwise, they may not.

Keep in mind that rejection of your submission does not mean that your artwork is not good enough. There are many factors that affect outcomes of the screening process. You should keep submitting your work to the syndicates at regular basis, knowing that you might not hear back from them.
 
What else can you do as a cartoonist?
Over the past two decades, the Internet has opened up the avenue of distributing information to the public. Everyday, people around the world surf the Internet for news, cartoons, and information, while the syndicates are still requiring artists to submit their artwork on papers. The old syndication and revenue models by signing a syndication contract to make a living have got to change.

The RSS subscription has replaced a good portion of traditional newspaper or magazine subscription to deliver news, articles, cartoons, and so on. Some are fee-based, and others free of charge. If your artwork are news related, publishing on popular sites like iReport.com - a user-generated news site sponsored by CNN helps promote yourself as well as bring traffic to your own website. Many artists puts out their artworks for sale on the self-publishing sites like Fine Art America and deviantArt, others make their artwork available at the print-on-demand sites like CafePress and Zazzle. (Read my post about creating your own Zazzle gallery, if you want to learn the details.) Even publishing artwork on the artist's own blog can introduce some amount of passive income.

All these developments are new opportunities to a cartoonist or an artist. I foresee new technologies and Internet applications like Web 2.0 will help cartoonists and artists realize their dreams faster than ever. Also,read my post - "San Francisco Chronicle Is In Jeopardy" related to this subject.