Mike Peters, creator of Mother Goose and Grimm
What I like to advise people is to find out what it
is that makes them happy. What do you love to do? If you truly love what you do and
you apply it toward making a living doing it, people will throw money at you to do
it. But you will always have to work hard at it. I have to draw every single
day of my life. I have to draw about 20 ideas just to have 2 or 3 sprout out of
that. My advice would be to take aside a certain amount of time each and every day and
make yourself draw or whatever. Especially when you don't feel like it. That way you
will be able to perfect your talent and it will always come easily to you. One of my
heroes would have to be Bill Mauldin. He helped me get a career in political
cartooning. He could make a statement with very few brush strokes.
The first step in getting syndicated would be to go to your local library and ask for the "EDITORS 7 PUBLISHERS YEARBOOK" for the current year. When you get this book, find the names of the top syndicates and their presidents. After you find these, write down their names and addresses (you should have around 8-10). Keep this list and update it every year.
Next thing you want to do is create at least 40
cartoons. Take the best 20 of your ideas and make them into finished pieces. To do this,
you would want to duplicate them with ink because if you were in a professional cartooning
job, that is what you would be using.
The next step would be to write each of the 8-10
syndicate presidents a personalized letter. In this letter, explain who you think would be
reading your work, or in other words, what group do you think you would be targeting.
After you complete these, send all of your
syndication packages enclosing the personalized letter in the appropriate envelope.
Now as soon as you send out these packages, start to
create a brand new strip with all new characters. Don't get married to one idea because if
your idea gets turned down then you will give up. And always remember, if you receive a
rejection from any of them, keep in mind that you are working on something better. You
will be working on something new and more exciting and the rejection letter will not have
any impact. With this in mind...EVENTUALLY YOU WILL BE SYNDICATED!
Mike's Bio Information!
(thanks Mike!)Mike Peters is recognized as one of our nation's most prominent cartoon artists for his outstanding work as both a political and comic strip cartoonist. Mike's work is syndicated in newspapers worldwide and frequently appears in national publications and on national television.
Born October 9, 1943, Mike was educated in his birthplace of St. Louis, MO, where he graduated from Christian Brothers College High School in 1961. In 1965 he was awarded the degree of Bachelor of Fine Arts from Washington University.
Mike has been interested in cartooning, and particularly political cartooning, since childhood. After college, he began pursuing that career by joining the art staff of the Chicago Daily News in 1965. The following year he began two years of service with the U.S. Army as an artist for the Seventh Psychological Operations Group in Okinawa.
Upon completion of his military service, Mike returned to the Chicago Daily News for a few months until, through the recommendation of cartoonist Bill Mauldin, he was asked to join the Dayton Daily News in 1969. In 1972, his editorial cartoons became syndicated nationally. They are now syndicated by Tribune Media Services in over 400 newspapers. In 1981 he won the Pulitzer Prize for Journalism.
His political cartoon books include The Nixon Chronicles (1976), Clones, You Idiot, I Said Clones (1978), Win One for the Geezer (1982), The World of Cartooning with Mike Peters: How Caricatures Develop (1985), The Gang of Eight (1985), On the Brink (1987), and Happy Days Are Here Again (1991) as well as 12 Grimmy books and 2 syndicated television series.
His work is featured frequently in such publications as Newsweek, Time, U.S. News and World Report, and The New Republic (several of which have also featured him in articles about political cartoonists). Besides many local television appearances, Peters has also appeared on NBC's Today Show, ABC's Issues and Answers and Good Morning America, the CBS Morning News, and The Joan Rivers Show. Most recently Mike has appeared on Equal Time, CBS This Morning, C-SPAN, MSNBC, and CNNFN.
In August 1995 a Mother Goose & Grimm cartoon became the topic of discussion during the O.J. Simpson trial. The cartoon was related to Johnnie Cochran and had slipped through the censors. There was concern that it would possibly sway opinions.
His awards include the Sigma Delta Chi Distinguished Award for political cartooning, 1975; ACLU-Ohio Award, 1980; Distinguished Alumni Award, Washington University, 1981; Pulitzer Prize, 1981; Headliner Award, 1983, 1988; WICI Headliner, 1983, 1990; NCS Award for Editorial Cartooning, 1983, 1984; NCS nomination for Cartoonist of the Year, 1985; the Ohio Governor's Award, 1985; National Planned Parenthood "Maggie," 1987; Esquire's Top 40 Achievers, 1988; WICI Man of the Year, 1988; Humane Society Man of the Year, 1990; Cox Newspapers Citation 1988, 1990; and the 1992 Reuben Award for Cartoonist of the Year; National Headliner Award 1993. In 1994 the Dayton Daily News celebrated Mike's 25 years as their editorial cartoonist with a "Roast." Many respected cartoonists gathered in Dayton for this spectacular event that entertained over 500 people including Senator Howard Metzenbaum and Senator John Glenn. The Governor of Ohio, George Voinovich, designated September 24, 1994 as "Mike Peters Day."
Other awards include Ohio Associated Press, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1988; two Overseas Press Citations; Overseas Press Award, 1991; two Robert F. Kennedy Awards; two Cleveland Press Awards and two Cincinnati Press Awards. His cartoons have been shown in galleries across the country including Steinberg Gallery, Washington University; University of Dayton, Kennedy Gallery; Firelands Arts Gallery, Oberlin (Ohio) College; Jane Haslem Gallery, Washington, D.C.; Walter Kuhn Gallery, Cape Neddick, Maine; the permanent collection of the Milton Caniff Library at Ohio State University; and Rosenfeld Gallery, Philadelphia; Salley Harvey Fine Arts Gallery, (Colorado); Chuck Jones Showroom (California and Santa Fe, Mexico); Fascination Street Gallery (Colorado) and the Library of Congress (Washington D.C.).
Peters is also a popular lecturer and makes appearances at editor and publisher conventions, on the college lecture circuit and before political groups. College appearances include Iowa State University, University of Alabama, West Virginia University, Washington University, Earlham College, Oberlin College, Alma College, Georgetown University, Harvard University and MIT.
Peters is particularly proud of his animated editorial cartoons. 3Peters Postscripts,2 shown on NBC's Nightly News. It was the first time animated editorial cartoons appeared regularly on a prime-time network news program. Peters also has done a 14-part interview series, The World of Cartooning with Mike Peters, for PBS.
In October 1984, Mike began the comic strip Mother Goose and Grimm that is syndicated by Tribune Media Services in over 800 newspapers in all 50 states and 12 foreign countries. The first book of Mike's collected comic strips was simply titled: Mother Goose and Grimm, and was published in 1986. Subsequent volumes include The Portable Mother Goose and Grimm (1987), Oh God, It's Grimm (1987), Steel Belted Grimm (1988), Four Wheel Grimmy (1989), Grimmy Come Home (1990), It's Grimmy (1990), Grimmy Best In Show (1990), Grimmy Pick of the Litter (1990), Grimmy, Night of the Living Vacuum (1991), Grimmy, Top Dog (1991), Temple of Groom (1992), Grimmy: Bone in the U.S.A. (1992), Grimmy: On The Move (1992), Grimmy: The Postman Always Screams Twice (1996), Grimmy: Friends Don't Let Friends Own Cats (1996) and Grimmy: King of the Heap (1997).
In September 1991, Mike brought his popular comic strip to television with a weekly Saturday morning animated series on CBS. The half-hour program featured all the established Mother Goose and Grimm characters plus a variety of zany new comic personalities. Riding on the heels of a successful first season, GRIMMY remained the #1 cartoon show for its time slot. In 1992, GRIMMY moved to the coveted 12:30 p.m. EST (11:30 a.m. PST) time period, targeting a wider audience base -- teens and college kids. The show was renamed "GRIMMY.2 GRIMMY now airs throughout the world.
Mother Goose & Grimm has a website (http://www.grimmy.com) on the internet which has a record of over 1000 visits daily from all over the world. Mike often participates in on-line chats.
Thanks Mike!
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