How I became a syndicated cartoonist stories

Alan Gardner November 25, 2008 1 minute 5 comments

I’m sure Sandra Bell-Lundy wasn’t the first to pen a multi-part narrative of her journey to become a syndicated cartoonist, but recently several others have offered up their stories as well.

First we have John Hambrock with his feature The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee. Part 1, 2 and 3 The creation of an early work of a strip entitled “Second Nature,” its rejection and attempt at self-syndication. Part 4 is about a new strip called Bill which was a precursor to the Edison Lee strip in many ways. His latest in the series deals with the creation of a strip called Edison and the gamble to submit it to the syndicates. More is still to come.

Next we have Paul Gilligan of Pooch Cafe. Part 1: talks of his formative years in elementary school, sure of what he wanted to be when he grew up; Part 2: A divergence into animation and a return to illustration and Part 3 delves into college and doing illustrations for the Ottawa Citizen Newspaper. Watch Paul’s blog for more.

Lastly we read about Karen Montague-Reyes, the creator of Clear Blue Water. Part 1: Her first two submissions and rejections, Part 2: The Clear Blue Water submission and a call from Universal Press; Part 3: Working for the development contract and Part 4: The worry of not knowing whether the development work was going to make the grade, meeting Lee Salem and getting THE phone call saying they were going to syndicate her.

Comments ⁵

Jesse

Great stuff, really enjoyed Karen’s blog especially

Larry Levine

Great links, thanks for posting them.

Del Hastings

I read all of them. Really good insight.

T.J. Hill

Great stuff! Thanks for bringing them all to our attention!

Timorous Ted Dawson

You know, what’s even more interesting and valuable to know is how one stops being a syndicated cartoonist. There’s more drama, more heartbreak, more adjectives… More can be learned from one’s failures than successes. Alas, these depressing stories are never told except in dark, stinky bars.

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