Syndication Submissions

We'd Like You To Know

Creators, Inc. distributes a great variety of continuing features, such as comic strips and panels, columns and political cartoons, as well as books and original manuscripts. We are constantly on the lookout for quality features. The potential distribution for your work is enormous. It includes virtually every American newspaper that buys syndicated material, as well as other national and international publications.

Beginning in 2015, Creators will only accept submissions digitally. All hard-copy submissions will be returned to sender without being opened, read or considered in any way.

As we would like to develop a personal relationship with the artists and writers we syndicate, please include some information about yourself with your submission (resumes are fine). While having been published before is of course a great recommendation, good writing and cartooning stand on their own, and your material will be considered whether you have a cabinet full of clips or not.

Beginning in 2015, Creators will only accept submissions digitally. All hard-copy submissions will be returned to sender without being opened, read or considered in any way.

All cartoon and comic strip submissions MUST follow the guidelines below for consideration. Please allow 6-8 weeks for review.
  • We do not accept one-shot submissions.
  • Include an introductory cover letter with your submission.
  • Submissions should be compiled into a single file. Do not submit columns or comic strips individually; they must be combined in a zip or PDF file.
  • If you have a cartoon or comic strip you would like us to consider, we will need to see at least four (4) weeks of samples, but not more than six (6) weeks of dailies and two Sundays.
  • Your name(s) and the title of the comic or cartoon should appear on every piece of artwork. If you are already syndicated elsewhere or if someone else owns the copyright to the work, please indicate this in the "About" section of this form.
All column submissions MUST follow the guidelines below for consideration. Please allow 6-8 weeks for review.
  • The average length of a syndicated column is between 500 and 600 words and four to six samples are requested.
  • We do not accept one-shot submissions.
  • Submissions should be compiled into a single file. Do not submit columns individually; they must be combined in a zip or PDF file.
  • All submissions MUST include an introductory cover letter.
  • Columns that have not been previously published should be double-spaced and page-numbered.
  • The author's copyright should appear in the upper right-hand corner of the first page.
  • If the column you are submitting has already been published, tearsheets or clips are fine.
  • Do not send links to columns published online.

At this time, we only accept ZIP, PDF and Word Doc files that are smaller than 20MB.

Freedom and Loyalty in Syndication: A Statement of Our Philosophy

When Creators Syndicate was founded in 1987, it revolutionized the industry by allowing cartoonists to own their work and have relatively short contracts. It set these policies to help correct past abuses in which cartoonists were fired from their own strips, given no input on the licensing of their characters or frustrated by syndicates that...

refused to tell them where their work appeared or even to answer their phone calls or letters. The balance was totally lopsided in favor of the syndicates at the expense of the cartoonists, and Creators was determined to improve the industry by giving power to the cartoonists.

This power does not come without responsibilities, however. And though the freedom that has become an industry standard has improved the way syndicates and cartoonists do business, the new system can also be abused to the detriment of all -- including cartoonists.

This abuse can take the form of cartoonists who try to sell their strips to the highest bidder every time their contracts come up for renewal. We have repeatedly been approached -- and have repeatedly turned down -- agents and lawyers representing cartoonists who had willingly joined a syndicate only to turn their backs on it a few years later.

Rather than reward syndicates that work hard to establish their fledgling strips, these cartoonists punish them for short-term gain. In the long run, this discourages syndicates from risking their reputations and financial assets by investing in comic strips that are likely to leave in a few years.

It is for this reason that Creators Syndicate does not take part in these destructive syndication bidding wars and discourages cartoonists who are working with dedicated syndicates from putting their creations on the auctioning block.

Syndicates and cartoonists build relationships based on trust and cooperation. The investment of time, money and effort by a syndicate should be repaid with loyalty and dedication by the cartoonist for this system to work. Otherwise, the industry will be enmeshed in a spiraling tangle of manipulation and bidding wars, leaving syndicates with little opportunity or motivation to nurture and develop talented new cartoonists. Even by an optimistic estimate, it takes at least 10 years for a syndicate to recoup its initial investment in a comic strip. If everyone participated in bidding wars, then it would be just a matter of time before all syndicates once again demanded ownership of their comics. This would be a devastating step backward for the industry.

Of course, in cases where syndicates have been negligent and refuse to negotiate in good faith, cartoonists are perfectly justified in seeking new partners; this is their right. But when syndicates live up to their side of the bargain, cartoonists should remain loyal; it's the respectable response.

Creators Syndicate includes this statement with our submission guidelines because we want our position and principles to be clear. We have revolutionized the syndication business with our open-handed respect for creators' rights, but it takes commitment and loyalty from cartoonists in return to make these changes endure. If you share this vision, and we agree to syndicate your comic strip, we look forward to sharing a long and successful relationship.