Helping Others Helps You

You rarely see "help wanted" ads for cartoonists and gag writers. In order to find work in the area of cartooning you have to make contact with other people in the same field and be willing to help them. I've found that when you help others, by giving them information, leads or referrals, the same type of help comes back to you. I've referred a cartoonist looking for a gag writer to another gag writer because I didn't have the experience in the type of writing they were looking for. This gag writer then gave me a lead of a cartoonist who uses writers and this has led to many sales. I guess you could say what you give to others comes back to you.

It's really important to keep in touch with as many people as you can in the cartooning and gag writing field. Be the first to ask them what's new - what they're working on. Take an interest in their work and who they work with. Congratulating them when you hear about a sale, or a book deal, or a cartoon that's just been syndicated. People love to talk about themselves and what they do. All of a sudden you're in a conversation about who buys what, who uses writers, who uses cartoonists - it's a wealth of information. Then you have to act on it. If someone tells you so and so uses writers you have to make the first move. You have to do the research and figure out if you can provide the type of writing that this person is looking for. And then you have to find a way to contact them, whether by email, social media, letters (who writes letters anymore?) or picking up the phone. Then you have to sell yourself by letting people know what you do, what you can offer, all in a professional manner.

Good luck...and keep in touch!