§ Cartoonist Matt Bors sits down with Kevin Allman, editor of The Gambit, an independent alt-weekly out of New Orleans, to talk about the recent weekly comic holocaust. The result is sobering but informative:
The cutback in cartoons has less to do with the budget than it does with page counts going down. Let’s face it: you guys aren’t paid shit for what you do, and it’s got to be infuriating to feel like your measly $25 is the first place editors look to cut. We don’t. It’s a space issue.
Good lord. You’ve sited the home town weekly on The Beat. I feel so included.
I think the locals only really read The Gambit to figure out who is playing at what club. Who knew they had actual content.
It’s time to re-invent the wheel. A cartoonist now has to be a salesman. His characters have to sell products. Soon cartoonists will sell their strips as content with advertising attached. They will have to get a sponsor to help them. It will get tougher, it’s a matter of survival. You have to hit Twitter, Facebook and as many social groups and brand your strip. You have to forget what you know. Pencil and ink is not enough. Word of mouth and the internet are now your added tools. The newspaper is dead thanks to Google Ads and Craigslist.
As Bob used to say…
Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won’t come again
And dont speak too soon
For the wheels still in spin
And there’s no tellin who
That its namin.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin.