Success in Comics: Creator Syndicate President Jack Newcombe

Creators Syndicate president Jack Newcombe was the second speaker. In what I’m assuming was a grab the audience’s attention, he told us he was going to talk about pirates, porn and ________. It got my attention, but only 2/3 of it. “Did he just say porn?” By the time I refocused, I missed the third intended topic.

Notes:

• Pirates don’t follow the rules. They’re different. Creators Syndicate is a pirate
• We’re in the middle of digital revolution. Newspaper will be profitable for number of years, but is on a terminal decline. Embrace it and move on
• Change can create an irrational fear of loss. 2012 will be hard for a lot of people; there will be pain and nostalgia for a different era
• Creators is in its 25th year and having the best year ever. They’ve doubled their sales staff
• His father, Rick Newcombe, decided to start a syndicate that gave the copyrights to the creators
• The 2008 recession hit and many newspapers had borrowed too much in good times. It was a blow for the industry.
• There is hope. Porn!
• In 1969 the US Supreme Court ruled on porn. When asked to define it, one of the justices said, “I know it when I see it”
• We’re in entertainment business. What’s funny? “I don’t know, but I know it when I see it”
• There is no formula for success. The only way to get better at something is to do it over and over again
• When doing something creative, there is no standard for success except your own
• In the future Creators will use different mediums to distribute work
• They’re getting into the ebook business, podcasting and a comedy site to promote their cartoonists
• Asked about their submission process: All submissions are read by 2-3 people. If good, goes on to editors and if enough like it, the offer a development contract
• Creators will roll out a new comic website. Better than GoComics. It will be cool. Have a business model. It will serve the same purpose of as comics in newspapers