It’s been a crazy busy week for me… on top of my other illustration work I’ve been managing my ebook launch and doing a lot more coaching than I thought I would. Not a bad thing, I actually find it really inspiring to talk one-on-one with cartoonists and figure out how they can make more money with their work or take their game to the next level. Here’s an sample clip of an email reply I just received from one of my new clients after yesterday’s coaching email:
“Wow, DJ, thanks for the reply. Hell that email was worth the price of the book! Yeah, i’ve read some of the heat you’ve copped … but so far, i’m very happy with the purchase.
All the advice you’ve given is gold, and i’m eager to try it out. The SEO and tag advice is a real eye opener – yes, i’ve always just slapped on ‘webcomics’, ‘humor’, ‘tags on my posts and I would never have thought using ‘skin rash’! But it makes sense….”
The email went on about more specific stuff related to his work, but I didn’t ask for permission to repost it, I just wanted to share a little bit of what made me feel awesome this morning getting this reply. I’ve always enjoyed having conversations, both public and private and one-on-one talking about the business side or… well, getting creative about making more money with your creativity. I know it’s not possible for everyone to go and quit their jobs doing this work, but I have no problem with that being someone’s ultimate goal and working hard toward that, and it’s totally not a pipe dream.
Of course, I have skeptics and cynical cartoonists as well. It was expected. Instead of falling into name calling and negative bashing, I want to steer the conversation back to the main goal… making money for cartoonists. Here’s an example… this morning I went and read the comments on this thread at Dailycartoonist. You’ll see Ted Rall, (who’s cartoons I LOVE and the man has balls of steel) pretty much say my ebook was a scam and pyramid scheme of some sort. That hurt. I decided to respond in defense of what I’m doing there. The conversation is ongoing now, but Ted’s point after calling me a pyramid scheme was:
The truth is, there is no magic way to make BIG BUCK$ out of cartooning that you couldn’t find out by sitting down with established cartoonists over a beer or two.- Ted Rall
Ted is absolutely right. I agree. There is no magic bullet for making big bucks with cartooning. He’s wrong on one point there, there’s no “magic way” even by sitting down with established cartoonists either drinking beers. They’ll all agree that it’s a lot of hard work and persistence, and what works for one guy won’t always work for another. The thing is, nobody on this side of the tracks is saying my “Cash For Cartoonists” ebook is a magic pill to earn more money. It’s a way to show a full spectrum of proven ways for cartoonists to earn more money with their work. Period.
If guys like Ted Rall or Scott Kurtz want to say it’s bunk… well, I also have professionals who say it is not and find great value in the product. Ultimately it will be up to individuals to decide if it’s worth it to them or not. It won’t effect me either way.
You know, I consider that conversation at DailyCartoonist as a conversation without beers… so I’ve asked the critics to post their ideas about earning more money with their art. I’m curious to see if they have any ideas they’ll share with other cartoonists who will be reading that thread, of if they’re just hocking their own books and services. I’ll gladly share some ideas there. In the end THAT is the conversation and goal… how to make cartoonists more money.