I’m fortunate to have lived a life of varied and, to some, unusual experiences. I was a stockbroker, a Special Warfare operator, a Special Agent with the railroad police and a cartoonist. Throughout those experiences, I’ve had the exceptional good fortune to meet a wide variety of people in an equally wide variety of contexts. I’ve socialized with carpenters, roofers, doctors, lawyers, all ranks of military people, CEOs of corporations, bankers – even a politician or two (after which I thoroughly washed my hands). And not one of them, at least to my observation, had anything resembling the excitement of a cartoonist or illustrator when the moment of inspiration comes.

Here’s an experiment worth trying, if you have an interest in putting our good fortune into its proper perspective. At the next party, social event, or anyplace where there’s a sizable gathering of friends from other backgrounds, pose the quesion: when was the last time you got out of bed and raced past the bathroom, coffee-maker, and tail-wagging dog to jot down an idea for your work that had you so excited you had utter disregard for your own physiological state? Unless there is another cartoonist or artist in the room, I suspect there will be few to none whom, after considerable contemplation, can answer in the affirmative.

Forget (for a moment, anyway) money, forget poularity, forget fame if that’s what you’re pursuing. The greatest reward, to me, in this area of art is to have mornings like this one. There are no drugs that can reproduce this elevating sense, no beverage, and certainly no other vocation I’m aware of. Compensation in the form of immense gratitude, and the clarity which comes from knowing that what I get to do is a gift unto itself, is a treasure so few even know exists. But we do. Now shut up before they find out.

That being the case, I now offer what I hope will be an equally useful article on submitting art and cartoons to calendar companies – another great, but sorely overlooked market for many of my fellow artists.

Going back to some of the fundamentals of licensing your art, it should be among your critical first steps to research the calendar companies you’d like to approach. What sort of art do they buy? Do they have an active humor category and if so, is it cartoon art or some other form of visual humor? Have you noticed these calendars being offered by retailers near you? Are they open to freelance submissions or do they use art supplied by an exclusive source?

Another key question, and one that, like a tall glass of icewater poured down my pants, was both a pleasant and sobering point – how much art do you have available should they want it in substantial numbers? When I was contacted by Mead Westvaco in mid 2012, letting me know that they really liked my humor and my characters, and they’d like to license them for their calendars, I was excited. Very, very excited. I thought, I’ve gots lots of material – enough for a whole bunch of wall calendars. I received the proposal, and it was for a Mead wall calendar, a Day Dream wall calendar (we’re good so far), and a Year In A Box calendar – 320 cartoons. Um…what? Does that have a zero on the end? Yup, it does. Mind you, I had more than enough material, but this was a big deal, and only the best work should be considered for inclusion. I went into writing, drawing, inking, coloring overdrive to make sure that I was providing the very best I had in me, and I truly am happy with the results. As a side note, most would learn from that experience. I didn’t, and now I’m in Tasmanian Devil ink-slinging mode producing a whole new slew of work to be included in the 2014 calendar series. It’s important that when you make your submission, your body of work is large enough and consistent enough to support at least a single wall calendar that may include as many as sixteen images, and perhaps a good many more. The timelines for providing the work to their respective art departments will vary, but they’re typically generous – provided you’ve got a respectable number to begin with.

My experience in calendars is with a single producer, so the royalty ranges of other publishers are largely unknown to me, however in Michael Woodward’s book, and required reading on the topic, “Licensing Art 101″, the rate is described as between 5 and 10%. Advances against future royalty earnings are also not uncommon.

Something that I hadn’t thought about prior to working with a calendar company was the size of the image, and what that might mean if it needs to be enlarged. For example, when I draw my “Spectickles” cartoons, I use a fountain pen on Bristol board, and contain the art within a seven inch by seven inch box, with the text added below the box. That’s large enough that there’s not too much to worry about when the image is enlarged to its twelve inch size at 300dpi. On the other hand, I draw a separate cartoon I call “The Percenters” for business publications such as the Wall Street Journal and Harvard Business Review, that would need work in order to be expanded to that size. It’s drawn smaller and on paper that, when enlarged, shows the ink bleeding into the surface of the regular bond paper. I’ve just switched to drawing them on bleedproof paper to eliminate this problem, should I have the opportunity to contribute my business cartoons in the future to this format.

Now, the meat and potatos. Here’s a list of usual suspects worth researching, and if your work is appropriate, submitting to:

Avalanche Publishing/Lang - Submission Guidelines

Andrews McMeel - Submission Guidelines

Workman - Submission Guidelines

Brown Trout - Submsission Guidelines

Mead Westvaco - Submission Guidelines

These are U.S. calendar companies – don’t forget to explore the possibilities in other calendar countries with their own thriving calendar markets.

That should be a good start, and I encourage my fellow artists to explore calendars, if appropriate, as a viable area to consider for submitting their work.

Before we work our way into specifics, I would offer this recommendation: have a vision for your work. What is the ultimate outcome you’re looking for (other than, perhaps, becoming filthy, stinkin’ rich)? Have you developed strong characters that have broad reach and appeal and can be built into a brand? What sort of applications can you see for these characters? What products would your work be best suited for? What countries and cultures might you be able to connect with – could you see your work in other languages or are there barriers that would have to be overcome? Are there other forms of media such as animation where your characters might be suitable? Who is your target audience? How recognizable are your characters to the public now – where have they appeared thus far?

By answering these questions (and others) for yourself, you’ve got a roadmap to help you get where you want to go, and give a licensing agent a better grasp of your expectations. And remember, while you may have a passion for the characters you’ve created, be open to the feedback you’ll be offered. Licensing may not be a viable route for what you’ve got so far, but by being open to experienced input from industry professionals, you may be able to alter your current roster, or create new work that would be better suited to this specific business avenue. Flexibility, when in good measure, is a strength. Loyalty to unmarketable characters, from a business perspective, is a weakness  - you’ll have to decide what is more important to you, sticking with characters you’ve fallen in love with and feel like family but will never make you a dime, or making the changes necessary to make them appealing to  manufacturers and a buying public. That choice is solely yours.

It might be helpful, before you seek the services of a licensing agent, to answer this question, “How will this agent benefit from representing my work?”, which relates strongly to the series of questions we asked ourselves earlier. It’s important, because that’s what they’ll likely be asking themselves when they see your initial email. Here’s where brutal honesty will be your friend. How professional is my work? When I put the work out there myself to magazines, or wherever else you made it visible to the public, what sort of feedback did you receive? Has anyone been willing to pay you for your cartoons in the past? Have they been competitive markets or smaller local venues (Your Mom and Dad don’t count for our purposes). Have you approached the greeting card market (something I recommend both as a litmus test for your work in a royalty-based enterprize, and as a way to begin building a recognizable brand if you aren’t currently or have no desire to be syndicated – and you’ll open your mailbox and weep with joy at the checks that miraculously arrive every three months – how do you like them apples?) Listen to the feedback and determine what is genuinely objective and useful to you, then step up to the plate and make those changes. If you are pursuing licensing, it means you are a business, and your decisions need to be less emotional and more market-reality-based.

Now, here’s where the rubber hits the road. Which licensing agents or agencies should I be targeting for my cartoons/characters/brand? This is by no means an all-inclusive list, but Joan Beiriger’s Blog is a fantastic resource for this, and other art licensing industry information. Not on this list is the ‘Big Kahuna’ of character-centric licensing agencies, CopCorp. Their industry leadership, global reach, and track record of stunning successes (Hello Kitty, Happy Bunny among many, many others) puts them at the top of the character licensing spectrum. If you have the opportunity to attend licensing shows such as the Licensing Expo held in Las Vegas, you’ll no doubt be impressed by their presence there. If you should decide to approach them for possible representation, you’ll need to be at the top of your game – they represent only the strongest candidates for success. I would  advise against wasting their time with anything less, and make sure you’ve done your homework by answering the questions we’ve presented above.

If you start with an agent or agency that has a more regional focus such as the U.S., North America, Canada, UK, etc. but you believe your work has a broader appeal, I’d again refer you to the links to licensing agencies outside the U.S. Ms. Beiriger makes available on her blog,  and there are some very good and capable ones to be sure. I can tell you from experience that MGL Licensing is an extraordinarily effective agency (why, they carry the magnificent work of the charming, well-mannered, snappy dressing, tall dark and gruesome Bill Abbott! What more do you need to know?)

What can you, in return for providing broadly appealing, professional, timely, well rendered, and marketable material, expect from your relationship with a licensing agent? First, in the ‘getting to know you’ phase of the relationship, after they’ve decided to represent you, open, honest, and frequent communication is critical. Knowing your expectations of the agent, and their expectations of you will be key to creating a long-lasting and successful relationship. And to be clear, it is in every respect a relationship. You are trusting them to actively seek appropriate opportunities for your work and to follow the roadmap that you’ve sketched out in your discussions. In turn, they will expect you to deliver professionally rendered work on time, and be flexible to potential changes necessary to make the work suitable for the licensing categories where there’s a good fit. Your licensing agent will seek to obtain advances on royalties as good faith payments for your work, to be deducted from future royalties. Your licensing agent will handle the administrative functions required in your licensing program; negotiating mutually beneficial contract terms, seeing that the contracts are properly executed, managing incoming royalty payments and seeking remedies should there be issues with those payments. They will frequently travel to the numerous annual licensing shows and display your work for potential licensees to consider for the products. There are a number of other functions and services that they provide, but those are the biggies.

How will the licensing agent be compensated for representing you and taking on the considerable workload mentioned above? There are a number of ways, some I’d recommend, some not so much. In the agents and agencies I’ve worked with, there is a royalty-split arrangement, meaning we divide the advances and royalties at a contractually agreed-upon precentage rate. Those rates can vary greatly, and it’s something you’ll want to very carefully consider. The rates typically run from 25 to 50%. I haven’t heard of any that fall outside that range, but it’s certainly possible. There are many other very specific terms that will be contained within the contract you’ll be expected to sign with your agent, all of which you must be intimately familiar with, either by working with a suitable attorney with experience in licensing contracts, or from doing your own homework. Remember, nothing is written in stone. A contract is just an agreement between two people or entities and there’s virtually nothing that can’t be changed to reach that amicable middle ground. Don’t be shy – speak your mind – you’re legally binding yourself, so be comfortable with whatever you lay your signature down on.

What has been discussed above is a mere surface scratch on the enormous amount of information on the subject of character licensing. Yet to be discussed are such important topics as branding, character development, and so much more. As more questions come in, I’ll try to elaborate to the best of my ability, as well as seek input from other more seasoned professionals.

My intention in creating these articles is to arm my fellow artists with the information necessary to take meaningful and immediate action. The rest is up to you – will you step up to the plate or watch the game from the sidelines?

A fellow cartoonist emailed me after reading the earlier article and asked about publishing rights. Again, for a more complete, legal answer to rights and how they work, I’d refer readers to attorney and cartoonist Stu Rees, who happens to be the leading expert on this topic, particularly because his clientele is made up primarily of cartoonists. He has negotiated many syndicate contracts and is passionate about protecting the rights of his fellow scribblers. And he’s just a nice guy, which helps.

Here’s how I understand rights, and what I negotiate for as I make my work available in the publishing markets. I’ll preamble the remainder of the article with the understanding that all of what follows will be in regard to U.S. rights, since that is where the majority of my personal experience lies. As you negotiate with a publisher, the territory the rights are to apply to must be very clearly delineated – worldwide rights are sometimes required, but often unnecessarily broad, and become an avoidable hindrance for the artist. If a magazine distributes solely in North America, it should be sufficient to provide only those territorial rights. Negotiate for the actual area of likely distribution – remember, the more you provide, the greater your compensation should be.

First, and most advantageous for the cartoonist is “One-Time, Non-Exclusive” rights. What that means is you are giving permission for that magazine, book, website, newsletter or other media to use your cartoon one time, and that it will NOT be exclusive to them. Now here’s something to consider; as a professional courtesy, even though the magazine or other media may only be seeking these most basic of rights, I would refrain from turning around and selling that same cartoon to another entity in the same category, or a reasonably assumed competitor of the first. For instance, if you sell one-time, non-exclusive rights to use your cartoon in a golfing magazine, then in the same month sell it to another golf magazine, while you would be within your rights to do that, it is nonetheless bad form. Selling one-time non-exclusive rights to use your cartoons or illustrations permits you to maintain an active and expanding inventory of art – the more you keep, the more you can use that same cartoon in the future to bring income. At the end of the transaction, you still own all unrestricted rights to your work to do with as you wish, and that’s good business. When you are negotiating with a magazine or other publishing entity, communicate actively with them to determine what they really need in terms of rights. They may as a matter of course seek more than they really need, which is a detriment to you, and them, since the more rights they require, the more expensive it will be to use your work. It’s like buying a new car – you can get a completely unadorned basic model, or you can go full-on fancy schmancy, or somewhere in between, but you know going in that every additional ‘extra’ will need to be paid for. Same with our cartoons and illustrations.

Since I work in the United States, and at least at this time, the majority of my work is sold to U.S. publishing entities, this article will reflect that as we discuss the next tier of rights. I would be relatively certain that there are close parallels in the UK, Australia and other markets, but that discussion should be generated by someone with a more complete understanding of rights in those areas.

First rights are exactly that – the right to be the first to publish your specified artistic work. Here’s where it gets tricky; some publications purchase material far in advance of publication, which means your artwork will remain inaccessible and in limbo until that entity decides to publish the piece. I’ve heard a number of horror stories regarding this issue. For example, what if the magazine editor who loved your work leaves, and another who isn’t so enthusiastic comes in – your work could be held up for years. Only after publication will you be free to re-enter that particular work back into the marketplace. If possible, try to agree on a “publish by” date, or a release date so your rights to the work will be clearly specified and understood.

First North American Rights reflect exactly what the term implies – the right to publish your cartoon or illustration, which has not been published anywhere else in the past, for the first time in North America. As you can see, this is a bit of a step up in rights from the one-time, non-exclusive, and would be more expensive for the publishing entity. Once the cartoon or illustration has been published, all the rights revert back to you to sell again to another magazine. Nice, right? A caveat should be added here – English language should be specified within the agreement as North American rights, when discussing art rather than other goods, typically refers to the U.S. and Canada. Should Mexico be included, foreign language rights (Spanish) should be made clear and agreed to. Another feature that can be added to these rights is a period of exclusivity. For instance, if the magazine is seeking First Time North American Rights with one year exclusivity, they want the rights we have discussed above, and in addition to that, they don’t want anyone else to be able to publish for one year. Again, another warning: that period of exclusivity should have a clearly understood commencement date, such as at the time the rights to the work are purchased (to be published at a later date), or at publication, which takes us back to that fuzzy area that should also be made clear – an agreed “publish by” or release date.

There are other levels and nuances to rights, but we will cover what I consider to be “The Big Ones”, the above which we’ve briefly discussed, and now the last, all rights. While there are legitimate reasons to sell all rights to your work, they should be exceedingly good reasons accompanied by prodigeous amounts of compensation. Once you sell all rights, the work belongs entirely to someone else, and they may do with it as they please, including licensing it out for royalties, making it available to other publications, and sell it for their benefit over and over again, and you’ll never make another penny from it – your work. I have been approached on several occasions in the past to sell all rights to my work, but have yet to do so, as I have not yet been given a compelling enough reason, or financially substantial enough offer to surrender forever the fruits of my labor. And even if you should be given a compelling enough reason (like a gajillion dollars and all the free bon-bons you can eat), specific language should be included in the agreement that bans the creation and use of derivative products from your art. It would be understandable and perhaps necessary that foreign language translations be permitted, but that would be the reasonable extent of alteration to your work. This is especially important if you’ve created recurring or recognizable characters, which could end up being used in an infinite number of ways with no expectation of compensation to you, and in which method of use you may disapprove of.

This is a very brief, birds-eye view of rights as I use and negotiate them, but as mentioned, I’m not a lawyer or legal expert. My sincerest thanks to Stu Rees for giving this article a ‘sanity check’ prior to its publication – he has improved its content, accuracy and usefulness greatly, and through the course of more than one draft. I strongly recommend the numerous books on the topic, and I understand Stu Rees will be writing a series of articles on this topic for our benefit, which he anticipates having available sometime in the next few months. I suspect those will be required reading for anyone who is serious about their art and its commercial uses. I hope this helps and I’m always open to input for the illumination and education of myself and fellow artists.

The line of “Heavenly Humor” figurines produced by Westland Giftware featuring my “Spectickles” characters.

The often perceived path for aspiring cartoonists was to create a clever comic strip, send it to the major syndicates, wait for that life-changing phone call, then clear out the spare bed-room so you can stuff the avalanche of incoming cash there till you can close on your Scottish castle on the sea. The cartoonists of old operated in a much different world than the one we have today, and our approaches must reflect that.

In our internet-driven world of instant communication, unlimited access, and multi-tasking mania, the old syndicate models are out-dated, and the types of financial rewards in that arena are forever altered downward. We can refuse to recognise this change and spend our remaining days lamenting the stomping down of our dreams, much like the proverbial buggy-whip maker watching the Model-Ts rolling off the assembly line, or we can take stock of the new dynamics, and shift our focus to make it work for us. We have to re-write the cartoonist career path and support the new generation of artists rather than hold this information close to the chest in fear of letting loose a secret that others might benefit from. The more we work in a unified manner, the more we educate eachother as a cohesive group, the more we all benefit from better rates of pay, better terms on rights, and a general appreciation for the fact that what we do is unique, highly skilled, and worthy of compensation commensurate with the aforementioned facts.

A number greeting cards by one of the companies carrying the “Spectickles” line.

While licensing isn’t for everyone, it has the potential to be a substantial part of a cartoonist’s/humorous illustrator’s business. As I’ve mentioned in earlier articles, look around in your local retailers – what are they selling that has images in the same general category as yours? Who manufactures it? A little homework can go a long, long way.

Additionally, there are numerous licensing shows held annually all over the world – the Licensing Expo in Las Vegas (my wife and I attended in 2010 – just missed the chance to meet Tony Curtis) and was blown away with the possibilities, as well as the pool of talent out there. There’s also Surtex, which I believe is in New York City and is huge among illustrators working in the licensing industry. That’s just two of the many out there, where manufacturers go to look for art to add to their product lines. Not all these shows are suitable for all types of art, so look into them and see where there might be a good fit.

T-shirts and coffee mugs featuring “Spectickles” characters.

Licensing is a complex, dynamic industry – use the resources available to learn more, such as Michael Woodward’s, “Art Licensing 101″ which provides probably the best overview of the important elements of art licensing, including rates, markets, contracts, and so much more. Additionally, check out Joan Beiriger’s Art Licensing Blog for an incredible amount of well-written, straight forward and exceedingly helpful advice on the art licensing business. Tara Reed also has an art licensing blog, art licensing courses, e-books, and a host of resources very helpful to artists.

Like any other vocation or industry, the more you know, the clearer your vision, and the harder you work, the farther you’ll go and the more success you’re likely to enjoy. This series of articles has hardly scratched the surface of what there is to know, and what needs to be known in order to be successful in licensing your cartoons and humorous art. But put in the time – you might just re-invent your cartooning business.

The big question for most cartoonists and artists looking to get involved in licensing is, ‘where can I offer my work?’. Here’s an exercise I’d recommend for any artist seeking commercial venues for their work. Go to your local gift store, specialty store, greeting card isle – anywhere houseware and giftware might be sold. You’ll see shelves filled with coffee mugs, novelty items, statuettes – both humorous and inspirational, greeting cards, calendars, office products, and so much more. Then have a look around your own home – look at some gifts you may have received, have a look at the wrapping paper it came in. It won’t take you long to see that an artist, somewhere, created the art that adorns all these things, and there is a fair chance that they’re recieving a royalty for every design that gets used.

Based on my experience, although my opinion may be at variance with others, a great market for cartoonists, and artists of many styles, to begin building royalty-based licensing income is the greeting card market. There are hundreds of companies who must produce new products every season to remain viable in a competitive market, and they rely heavily on freelance artists and cartoonists to supply the artwork – an option far less expensive than maintaining a full-time art staff. If your work is selected, you can usually expect an advance on royalties, frequently in the $150 per design range, along with a royalty rate of 4-7% of net sales paid quarterly. If you should end up with a successful design, that could result in thousands a year in royalties. Then consider what the possibilities could be if you end up with dozens of designs in the market – not at all uncommon if you are persistent and hold your work to the highest standards.

Once you’ve established yourself with a greeting card sale or two, you can choose to continue seeking opportunities for yourself, or consider the services of a licensing agent, whose primary function is to seek good matches in the marketplace for your style of art. For providing this service, licensing agents can take anywhere from 25 to 50% of the net royalties earned from your art. As with all things, you can negotiate terms that you’re comfortable with, and it makes sense to seek the advice of a legal professional with experience in licensing contracts.

If you opt to represent yourself, grab a pen and paper and head out to that nearby gift store. Who produces those calendars with images that are in the same artistic category as yours? Who produced those clever coffee mugs? What about those really funny aprons? And more greeting card publishers you may not have noticed before – write them all down, then head home to the laptop and look at the company websites. Are there links to their submission processes? Is there a contact email? With a little rudimentary homework, you could reveal information that can completely change your business and your financial prospects. And, by all means, refer to my previous article regarding contracts - DON’T ACCEPT ANYTHING YOU’RE NOT COMFORTABLE WITH!! You own the artwork – keep as many of the associated rights as you can – it’s your inventory. If you give it away, you’re back to square one while someone else gets paid for your work. Good luck and happy hunting!

Having had all these wonderful experiences, it compels me to offer whatever assistance I am able to newer cartoonists who are trying to make their way in this sometimes confusing, if not daunting, world of rights. I’m not a lawyer, nor do I pretend to be an authority on copyright law, I only offer reflections of my own experience – something that may have value to my fellow cartoonists. For specific information, I would happily recommend attorney extraordinaire, Harvard Law graduate, and passionate cartoonist Stu Rees. Stu has written the definitive work on syndication contracts and has made it available for anyone with aspirations of working with a syndicate. Check out Stu’s site and the National Cartoonist’s Society site for more information.

First, I divide the rights associated with my cartoons into two broad categories. The first is licensing rights, and the second is publishing rights. In my Neanderthal head, it’s easiest to simplify things this way in order to better understand them based on their uses. Licensing, as I define it for my own understanding, is one entity granting permission to another entity to use it’s visual property for the purpose of producing products or materials that would benefit from having that visual property incorporated on that product or material. In other words, a guy who makes coffee mugs won’t sell many mugs if they’re plain, unadorned mugs. Put a “Spectickles” cartoon on it, and it will no doubt sell a hundred gajillion – at least. So mug-maker guy approaches me to ask if he can put my cartoons on his mugs in order to sell lots. At this point, we need to figure out how I should be compensated for it, and under what specific conditions he can use the cartoons, and what the geographic limits are – all of which have monetary value. In our discussions, we find that mug-maker guy has a big operation and produces a lot of mugs – enough to fill trucks that go to gift stores all over the United States and Canada. Sounds like he’ll need North American rights. Since he doesn’t (yet) distribute his mugs outside of the US or Canada, there is no need to provide rights outside that area. If he expands in the future, he’ll need to come back to you and seek permission to use your cartoon on his mugs in an expanded territory. And since mug-maker guy only produces mugs and nothing else, you need only grant him the specific rights for coffee-mugs. Since this is made clear in your agreement, you can then take the same image and offer it to greeting card companies, calendar companies, and so on – just NOT to other coffee mug makers in North America. If you are approached by another mug maker who happens to be in England or Australia, you would be well within the confines of your agreement to offer it in these places, as long as their distribution channels keep the mugs in their respective territories.

By carefully managing your rights, you can have a single cartoon used in a variety of licensing categories, all providing streams of royalty-based income. That’s without any mention of publishing rights, which are yet another source of non-conflicting income, separate from licensing. As mentioned earlier, I would recommend more specific discussions with someone like Stu Rees, who are indisputable experts in the world of rights as they pertain to cartoonists.