Submissions

The Cartoon Picayune now pays contributors for original, previously unpublished, journalistic comics. To pitch to our editors, send a brief summary to our email address. We also accept submissions of previously published comics art without charge. Please make sure this is the anthology for you by reading our About page and some of our work. Please read these guidelines before submitting through the link the bottom of the page (or here.)

The deadline for the next issue will be August 1, 2012. The theme is Small Worlds. If you are thinking about submitting something, please email for more information on upcoming deadlines.

1. Our stories are about real people, places, and events, and it’s important that we hold ourselves to a high standard in representing them. The comic must be based on "the truth" as far as you understand it, and the characters' word balloons should honestly portray the actual speech of the people that you interview.

2. While we love reading autobiographical comics, we’re not generally looking for memoir for The Cartoon Picayune. You, the author, can be in the story if you want. This isn’t a hard and fast rule, but ideally the story should not be primarily about your character's experiences.

3. We want to print as many contributors as possible, so submissions should be 1-10 black and white pages. There’s no bleed, and your art should be in proportion to the printed size of 5.5" by 8.5" (“digest,” half of a letter-sized page).

4. The Cartoon Picayune is your platform for publication, and you explicitly retain all rights and privileges to your submitted work. No work will be reproduced in print or online without your permission.

5. After we accept your submission, we will lightly copy-edit it, usually with optional edits for the author to make. Ethically and legally, we want to be putting our best foot forward with what we publish.

6. Any profits made selling The Cartoon Picayune go back into printing it. Paying our contributors is not an economic reality for us yet. However, there are benefits to being a contributor, including a complimentary copy per published page of comics. We can tell you more over email.

Please either send work digitally through the link below, or email with any questions or to ask about where you can mail a printed copy.

Submit to The Cartoon Picayune