Daryl Cagle kicks off an Indiegogo campain to raise money for Bill Day who lost his job with the Memphis Commercial Appeal back in 2009. Daryl added up Bill to his line-up of syndicated cartoonists in 2011. Now we learn that Bill is close to losing his home.
From the campaign description:
Our goal is to raise $35,000, to be paid as a “salary” to Bill to draw at least four editorial cartoons a week, every week, for an entire year. Bill’s cartoons cover national issues, everything from the Presidential election to Wall Street, the dysfunctional Congress and our corrupt political system. We’ll produce two eBook collections of his cartoons – “2012: A Year in Cartoons” and “2013: A Year in Cartoons” that will chronicle the events of the year through the spectrum of Bill’s sharp with and pen tips.
And if we’re able to raise more; $70,000 or $100,000, we will keep Bill working at the important job of drawing political cartoons for the next 2–3 years. All donated funds will be kept in a segregated fund for Bill’s salary; CagleCartoons.com will not share in any of it; all of the funds, after Indiegogo’s share and expenses, will go to Bill, in exchange for his commitment to continue his great work, and to provide the donors with great premiums, including Bill’s original artwork.
While Bill Day is a fine cartoonist and his financial circumstances are indeed regrettable, this raises an interesting question: Is syndication doomed as a viable way for an editorial cartoonist to make a living? Wouldn’t increasing syndication and reprint fees be a more sustainable proposition for a greater number of cartoonists? As it is now, newspapers replacing staff cartoonists with syndicated content plus downward pricing for syndication are a one-two punch for cartoonists. If depending on the kindness of strangers replaces responsible syndication and reprint pricing, the value of all cartoons is diminished.
While some comic strips made big money from syndication revenue, editorial cartoonists made much less by comparison. Today, there probably isn’t any editorial cartoonists making enough money from just syndication to survive. Frankly, even in the best of times only a handful of editorial cartoonists made decent money from syndication..and those days are long gone.
Regarding fees, if the syndicates attempt any kind of rate increase in this market editors will simply drop them. Syndicates spend a lot of their time trying to negotiate with editors who call to cancel for budgets reasons in a effort to try and keep them as clients. This often means lowering the rate the editor currently pays. Editors are trying to find any and all reasons to pinch every penny they can right now.
Were is his idol Qbama now?
Where are his Union minded rabble kinfolks?
Noe you want others to bail him out for his own mismanagement; get real.
Maybe Obama will give him a government job in the transportation department painting signs.
Don in Iowa
Don in Iowa: This is not a Obama/Romney issue. Go troll somewhere else.
I see cartoonists as heading the way of musicians, produce their work, offer/distribute it on line, build an audience and maybe attract sponsors.
I know some artists who have had luck with the Kickstarter/Indiegogo model, but perhaps a defined ink on paper product, rather than a salary is a more practical goal in general.
Good luck Mr Cagle!
I completely support a fundraiser to help someone save his house, pay for catastrophic medical costs, show support for a colleague down on his luck, etc… however, this is troubling. So in effect, people are asked to bankroll a cartoonist to continue working for a syndicate which sells reprints at a low price? This doesn’t make any sense.
I can sympathize, as I’m sure other editorial cartoonists who have freelanced can, the frustration at not being able to earn a decent living. Even after winning a pulitzer, I still had to take on other art jobs to supplement the income I received from syndication. I remember many years of questioning myself whether or not to stay in the profession.
This is a good test for aspiring and working editorial cartoonists; see if you can spot the irony.
I’m one of those cartoonists who have had to sell my home and move into another phase of life knowing my newspaper income is behind me. It isn’t easy but it’s sometimes what life brings. I tend to agree with everything Ann says here. I’m doing all I can to just continue drawing. It’s what we do. It’s what we were born to do. But finding the market, is, well, not easy these days. Just saying, there are a lot of us who have had to make significant lifestyle changes in midst of the collapse of the newspaper and print media market.
From what I can tell, the only difference between Bill Day and a few dozen other editorial cartoonists is Bill has a friend who’s trying to raise $35k so he can continue to supply said friend w/ cartoons to sell thru his syndicate.
-and he has a job at a bicycle repair shop.
Luckily for Bill, there’s a future in bicycle repair.
(thank you Drew Litton for sharing an all too familiar story).
Happy Birthday! May God bless you in all that you do. I’m a firm believer in today’s sennimett whose corollary is: If you want to see how a man will treat his wife, look at how he treats his mother. Have a great birthday!