Content syndicates are businesses that syndicate content to businesses that need content for their platforms— newspapers, magazines, tv and radio stations, websites, etc.
King Features Syndicate Editorial Director for Comics Tea Fougner has tweeted a short essay on current syndication practices with a bit of history.
The way syndication works today is that we are much more agnostic when it comes to newspaper group affiliation, and we also syndicate content to a lot more different types of publications than just newspapers.
The thread is illustrated with Tea favorite Segar's Popeye, among others
Tea looks at both sides of the business:
On the creator side…
On the editorial side…
With a take on the new age of syndication:
Digital syndication is more flexible in terms of format, content, and cadence. Print syndication has pretty strict requirements as far as the aspect ratio of a comic, what language and imagery is allowed, and the frequency that it comes out. Digital has fewer guardrails.
Read interesting insights on syndication in the here and now.
Thimble Theatre starring Popeye © King Features Syndicate
In an addendum Tea points cartoonists to KFS submission guidelines.
Below are submission pages of various syndicates.
Washington Post Writers Group (scroll to bottom)
Ink Bottle Syndicate (contact page)
Torstar Syndication Services (FAQ page)
King Features Weekly Service (contact page)
Nice to have this info gathered in one place from time to time. I honestly didn’t know a couple of those syndicates were still in business. Thanks, DD!