Aiming High

Once upon a time, my advice to you was if you want to get your name out there, if you want to make a living with your art, you have to have things in circulation.  Today we set up websites and place drawings on a facebook page, but there are at least a million others doing the same thing.  The world is changing, but the previous way of doing things is still best, and that means mailing stuff out.  Illustrators should have postcards out to magazines, and Cartoonists should have stuff out to the Syndicates.

My career took off when I made it a habit of always having something in the mail, or in transit to somewhere, whether it was cartoon submissions to a magazine, or a short story, or comics to the syndicates.  Of course, once my freelance work took off, I didn't have time to follow these goals, but at the same time I didn't need to.  I was working, and sometimes making money, and that was where I needed to be.

However, my goal has always been newspaper syndication, and so I finally returned to that quest.  The industry is in a state of flux, but for me, that is where I need to be, and where I am sure my particular audience is.  For me, catching the brass ring of syndication will give me the focus I need.  In the years since my last submissions to the syndicates, I have been busy with my freelance career, but always cartooning at the same time.  As you know, one project is The Inquiring Minds comic book, The Ghost Pirate Skeletons of Three Craters Lake.  Loosely based on my comic strip, and begun in comic strip format, it is not something the syndicates would look for, being a storyline for one.  Since it is definitely a comic book project, I need to treat it like one.  HappyGlyphs can publish it, of course, but to get it into the comic book stores requires a lot of time and capital, and is a risky venture that requires complete dedication.  And so that project is on hold for now. 

I have also been working on my comic strip Knight and Day, and managed to complete my graphic novel 3 Knights in India, again, loosely based on the comic strip, but not syndication material.  Oddly enough, though, the graphic novel was serialised in the India Post, a weekly newspaper serving the Indian community, so for a while I did see my work in the papers, and was proud of that.  Still, syndication being my goal, I set aside time and created a new package of Knight and Day.  Some of these strips can be seen at HappyGlyphs.com and others at the HappyGlyphs Comics Fan Page on facebook.  Others will remain with me until A) I get syndicated, or B) failing that, I complete the strip on my own, and publish my second Knight and Day comic strip collection.

Another vertical comic strip: I love the freedom all that extra vertical space allows!

I worked hard to create strong strips that demonstrated well who my characters are, and created a package of material that I am really proud of.  Now, I just have to wait and see how the market is, and what mood the syndicates are in.  Once upon a time Knight and Day came very close to getting syndicated.  Bad timing made that dream fall through, but now it's an all new strip, and a different world, so we'll see what happens.

I've worked hard for this, and will work even harder if syndicated,  Wish me luck!  Sometimes a little luck can give you the edge you need. :0)

All the best,    JOHN :0)

On my iPod?  Nothing!  Ack!  Can't decide what mood I'm in today. :0)

Press Release: Once Upon A Times... the Early Comic Strips of John Steventon

Press Release: Once Upon A Times... the Early Comic Strips of John Steventon
For Immediate Release: April 10, 2010

John Steventon and HappyGlyphs Comics are very proud to announce a brand new comic strip collection, Once Upon A Times... the Early Comic Strips of John Steventon.  As the title implies, this is a collection of John Steventon's early work.  John is best known for his two comic strips Knight and Day and The Inquiring Minds, and this book explores the origins and evolution of these two comic strips and the characters that reside within.  "This book explores my growth as a Cartoonist," John says, "and follows my various attempts at newspaper Syndication.  There is a lot of fun stuff for the casual reader, and a good deal of valuable information for anyone wanting to learn about the craft of Cartooning."

Basically, the book is made up of chapters defined by John's various attempts at newspaper syndication.  Each chapter contains a new comic strip, and starts out with material submitted to Syndicate Editors.  This includes plot synopsis, character sketches, and cover letters, as well as the strips themselves.  Also included is John's thoughts on the strips, comments received from Editors, and other hard earned information as to why a strip wasn't picked up, and what could have been done better.

The strips are not the stinkers you may expect from a Cartoonist just starting out. "Actually," John says, "I left out my really early stuff, and my attempts at magazine cartooning.  What is here, though, are the origins of my more popular characters, and their evolution through various looks and even name changes.  Some of the early chapters may be a little rough, but I think the humour is very good, and surprisingly there's some nice art here."  By rough, the Cartoonist explained that his early material doesn't follow the standards of the newspaper comics page. "I didn't use the character's names in every strip, and my first strip was an adventure that needed a bigger platform to tell its story than a comic strip.  The reader may wonder what the heck is going on at times, but I do give a synopsis to get things started, and hopefully I can be forgiven for stumbling through my first attempts at Cartooning".

Over all, there is a nice progression to the book.  As the Cartoonist learns from his mistakes, the strips get better and easier to follow, and will hopefully leave the reader wanting more.  For that, the reader can turn to John's first book, Take Me Away From All This!!, a Knight and Day comic strip collection.  Knight and Day was created immediately after the completion of the strips in Once Upon A Times..., and this new book serves as a delightful prequel to Knight and Day as well as The (new and improved) Inquiring Minds that soon followed.

Once Upon A Times... is a must for any fan of HappyGlyphs Comics, and anyone interested in developing a comic strip of their own.  Once Upon A Times... will be available through HappyGlyphs Comics, and Lulu.com. Click the store name to visit that site.


Iris Knight, April 10, 2010

Learning Curve

It's my busiest time of year, and there are dozens of projects on the board. However, Fall has always been a good time to reflect, reinvent, and start something new. In that light, I've finally begun my new comic strip.

I know, I'm also in the middle of The Inquiring Minds Big Summer adventure, which has a long ways to go yet (although summer's almost over!). However, as much as I love this storyline, the audience hasn't been growing fast enough. I know, school has started, and everyone is busy, but a strip needs an audience, and I need feedback. Also, I'm so confident in this new strip that I need to get it started.

Twice now I've come close to syndication. With this new strip, I am 99.9% sure of it's syndicatibility. I would say 100%, but there's no such thing. Knight and Day might have been syndicated if not for a rival Syndicate offering a strip about newlyweds, and beating us to the punch by a few months. That strip is long gone, while I am sure Knight and Day would have thrived, but it wasn't my decision. The Syndicate made a judgement call, and my life changed... or didn't change.... depending on how you look at it.

Years later, I know what I need to do. I need to write and draw and develop every day until I have an irresistable package to present. I will continue to work on The Inquiring Minds, but at a slower pace. I also have a bunch of Freelance work to do, so I will have to budget my time accordingly. The problem with the new strip, though, is that I am starting from scratch.

Starting a new comic strip is exciting with potential, and frustrating with execution. I've got 2 notebooks full of notes on the new strip, but now that I have started drawing, it all takes on a sense of permanance. Once the characters are in ink, it will take a lot of work to change their look. Every word I put down becomes a part of the story, and the continuity. Exciting, yes, but one must learn not to sweat it. I'm not in the newspapers yet, so if I make a mistake now, I can always go back and rewrite, and redraw. Sure, this is frustrating when you look at the clock and see how much time is wasted. However, a Cartoonist has to look at the Learning Curve. Whether a beginner or a pro, you must see mistakes as the learning experience that they are. Make sure that you learn from them, or they will be a waste of time!

I began this new strip with a Sunday strip. I know... that sounds crazy, and a lot of work, but I wanted to start this right. I wanted this new beginning to be monumental! So of course I am already needing to redraw the whole darn thing, and not because of the characters, or the words, but because this is something new, and I'm learning what size to draw, what size text works best, etc.

I've drawn close to 500 comic strips in the last few years, and yet this is something new. New characters, new situations, and for the first time in years I am drawing with Syndication as the only goal. I need to follow newspaper formats, and it is hard to do, especially with the Sunday strips. Believe it or not, but I think I only drew 2 or 3 Sunday strips for Knight and Day. Back then I had problems, and I guess I avoided those issues at the time, so have to face them now. The Inquiring Minds have a different format, and I'm used to drawing them larger Suddenly, the new Sunday format doesn't seem to fit my paper! I have to draw smaller, and it is not working... yet.

Details. I've mentioned before that creating a comic strip right is not as easy as it seems. And if you want to go somewhere with it, you have to do it right.

I've got to get back to work, so please wish me luck. :0)

See you in the Funny Papers! JOHN :0)

PS Since I like to add art to these posts, I'll share with you the above. I love restaurants that give you crayons and paper tablecloths to draw on (you know, the really classy places). Depending on how slow the service is, you can get a lot of drawing practice in, and lately I've done some work that I'm quite happy with. Unfortunately, I don't always have a camera with me, but I finally got smart and just ripped this on off the table before leaving. Working in crayon is not easy, but I love monochromal sketches like these. Using more than one color just doesn't work for me for some reason, but I like stuff like this. That's Bobby and Albert, by the way, camping.