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Self-syndication seminar set for September
As mentioned before, Bill Kellogg, the marketing/sales guy who has taken Chad Carpenter’s Tundra from a handful of papers to over 275 in just a couple of years will be hosting two 2-day seminars on how to self-syndicate your feature. Also invited to speak are known cartoonist/speakers who have found creative ways to monetize their cartoons beyond the traditional syndication model (internet, licensing, merchandise sales, etc.)
The seminars will be September 26-27th and the 28-29th at the Tuscany Suites in Las Vegas. Seminar admission is set at $500. You can repeat the seminar (take all four days) for an additional cost of $30 per day. You’re responsible for travel, food and lodging. The Tuscany has a $85/night rate for the 25th and 26th and $45/night for the 27th and 29th.
The guest speakers include:
Chad Carpenter and Bill Kellogg – Chad and Bill will discuss how they managed to get Tundra in 275+ newspapers without a syndicate including some of the largest papers in the US and Canada. They will also talk about self-publishing books & calendars, licensing and distributors.
Amy Lago – Amy is the comics editor for the Washington Post Writers Group. Being a big syndicate boss, she will look over attending cartoonists’ strips and give individual suggestions as well as talk to the group about what the syndicates are looking for. Be sure to bring your best samples of material. Who knows, she might find the next syndicated cartoonist at our seminar.
Andrew Feinstein – Andrew is the co-creator of Girls & Sports, a comic strip about dating and sports that has appeared in over 300 newspapers nationwide. What began as a comic strip for college newspapers, Andrew self-syndicated Girls & Sports into over 200 college and non-college newspapers in 2004, making Girls & Sports the most widely self-syndicated comic strip ever at that time. Girls & Sports is now syndicated by Creators Syndicate.
Mark Anderson – Mark is the creator of Andertoons. He will discuss his “mostly web-based” model including selling to magazines as well as selling to individuals and businesses for newsletters and presentations.
Howard Tayler – Howard quit his six-figure salary job in 2004 to concentrate on his webcomic Schlock Mercenary and has grown the strip, books sales and merchandize to a modest (near six-figure) income. See “Howard Tayler’s journey to profitable webcomics” for a good summary of Howard’s success.
Adrian Raeside – Adrian is the creator of The Other Coast. He is also the editorial cartoonist for the Victoria Times-Colonist. His editorial comic is self-syndicated in about 100 newspapers and The Other Coast is self-syndicated in Canada but syndicated in the rest of the world through Creators Syndicate. Adrian says he is about 95% sure he will make the seminar.
More information will be posted shortly. If you have questions or suggestions for topics you’d like to hear from any speaker at the seminar, contact Bill at bill@tundracomics.com.
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February/16/2009
@ 12:35 pm
Sounds like a good seminar. Very tempting indeed.
February/16/2009
@ 1:16 pm
I’m excited about this, and not just because I’m presenting.
I’m excited because I’ve had very little opportunity to date to rub actual shoulders with my peers in the syndication world. I shall be a human sponge, soaking up everything I can from attendees and fellow presenters alike.
I’ll also come loaded with information on how my business works, obviously. Everything from building an audience and a community to shipping 1500 packages in a single day. I’m not sure how much of it will apply to those seeking self-syndication (ahh, alliterative!) but at the very least I shall be the bacon bits in Alan’s Salad Bar analogy.
(Unhealthy, tasting faintly of smoke, and ABSOLUTELY IRRESISTIBLE.)
February/16/2009
@ 10:34 pm
This is interesting because I attended the SCBWI conference “Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators” in NYC at the Grand Hayatt Hotel , which was a 3 day seminar of epic proportions. This thing was huge. I was in awe of the amount of people and the huge auditorium with the duel Jumbo-trons. People came from around the world and across the US to attend this thing. If you never wanted to be a children’s book author or illustrator, you would leave this thing wanting to be one.
This seminar is every year in NY and LA and open to both industry pros and unpublished authors and illustrators, while giving rookies a chance to show their portfolios to editors, peers and art reps. The first day illustrators got taught photoshop tricks by industry pros, followed by lectures in class rooms where publishers from different houses would give us submission tips .
There were speeches by recently published authors (Jay Asher) and a panel of agents who talked about how they did business and what they were looking for.
I couldn’t help thinking how many cartoonist hopefuls would attend a conference that featured speeches by cartoonists and syndicate editors.
Certainly would be something I’d go to if it were to grow and come to NY.
February/17/2009
@ 10:21 am
Just to add some momentum to Phil’s comment: is there any chance of this or something like it coming to the East Coast within the near foreseeable future?
February/17/2009
@ 12:17 pm
Josh, As far as our seminar is concerned anyway, we are going to wait and see how well attended the first one is before we decide if and where we will do it again. We checked Southwest ticket prices from all corners of the country and found that you could get to Las Vegas round-trip for $348 or less from anywhere when you book early.
We chose Las Vegas for the first one because overall, it was the least expensive location; but we are not opposed to doing one on the East Coast if the first one works out.
February/17/2009
@ 3:56 pm
Yep, it looks like a $1,000 trip anyway you slice it. The only way to avoid that would be by being is someone’s backyard. One has to weigh the cost-benefit, but it is tempting for sure. Looks like you’ve put together a nice format. I like the back-to-back conference idea; makes it more worth-while for the presenters and gives attendees a bit of flexibility.
February/17/2009
@ 5:29 pm
red number 36 for a thousand.
February/17/2009
@ 7:35 pm
red number 36 for a thousand.
And THAT’s why Comic-Con International will never move to Vegas. Vendors want the disposable income that arrives in the pockets of attendees to be handed over on the convention floor, not in the casino.
But for a non-commerce event like this one Vegas is a perfect venue.
August/30/2009
@ 5:40 pm
I would be so interested in how the convention goes off I am trying to self syndicate my cartoons
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