Susan Kelso, co-creator of Horrorscope
"Why
you decided to be a cartoonist?" I guess because I love humor -
reading it, writing it and performing it. I was ready my daily horoscope one morning
and it told me I would receive a citation in recognition of behaviour. And I
did. Unfortunately, it was a parking citation! So, that's where the idea came
from and since I can't draw a lick, I asked an associate of mine if he was
interested. He said yes. And voila, Horrorscope started (in 1989).
"What did you do to get syndicated?" Since neither of us knew anything about the cartoon business, we started by researching in the library. There are many books on how draw and letter the toons, what kinds of materials to use, etc. and we referenced a publication called Publisher & Editor (or is it Editor & Publisher? - hmmm, can't remember). Anyway, it lists all syndicates in their July edition and what kinds of properties they buy. So after a few months of working on the panel development, we had our samples ready to submit.
"How long did it take you to get syndicated?" We were rather fortunate in the time it took to get picked up. We started submitting to syndicates (the top 6 or 7 in the US) in the summer of '89 but got rejections from all. We then decided to try the Toronto Star Syndicate in Toronto and they picked it up right away. They asked us to get four months material ready and then we launched on January 1/90. Later that year, they sold it to King Features and we have been with both of them ever since. I'm told that this was extremely fast, as it can take years sometimes to get something going.
"What's the one piece of advice you'd give
to someone trying to get a foot in the door?" I think the best advice
I can give you is to develop an idea that is
unique - the main reason ours was picked up was that
no-one was doing a panel or strip based on making fun of daily horoscopes. One thing
our agent said was that they didn't want to see another cat or dog strip - lots of them
out there already. So, the more unique the idea, the better your chances.
(Apparently, syndicates receive upward of 6,000! submissions
a year, so there's lots of competition). And practise, practise, practise.
Make sure the stuff you send in is A-one in quality
- follow the advice in the how too books at the
library - they're written by pro's who know what they're talking about.
"Any advice on partnerships in comic
strips?" When I started Horrorscope, my partner was Eric Olson, who
did all the great artwork. After five or six years, he opted to resign the panel and
Adam Rickner took over, with equally good art. He recently resigned the panel due to
heavy business and family commitments. My
current partner, Carol Kemp, who launched on July 15,
has taken over admirably - I love her drawings. With each partner, I briefed them on
the way it would affect their lives - it really does take over - after all, you have to
produce 365 days a year - it never goes away. Once they were sure they wanted to do it, I
had a letter of agreement drawn up basically outlining who was responsible for what and
what would happen if one or the other partner decided to resign.
"Any other information you'd like to add?"
I don't know if I have any further info to give you, but one thing you'll find if
you do get published is that your toon will essentially run your life. If you want
to take a week or two off for vacation, or get sick, you have to have stuff ready to send
regardless, so it's
important to havea couple of weeks stuff ready in an
emergency file. During the years the cartoon has been produced, we've dealt with
births and deaths in our families, operations and illness, etc. - and although through
some of those times it wasn't easy to be humorous, we managed to get the job done.
When Eric and Adam resigned, is was primarily because the toon was too much on top of
regular day jobs and starting families. There are only so many hours in a day, so
when it gets to be too much, you have to let something go. (Carol doesn't foresee a
problem, as she is a free-lance artist and has no plans to start a family, so her
situation will stay the same as it is now and she's able to schedule her time between her
other clients and the toon)
Thanks Susan!
Note: Horrorscope is no longer syndicated. I don't have her current e-mail address. Maybe one day I'll hunt her down and do a second interview.