Dear Friend,

Starting out in the licensing business is difficult. Producing and marketing designs is an enormous, expensive undertaking that I didn't try until I was well known in the industry and had a partner with a lot of business experience and good contacts at the bank. Allow me to explain:

I borrowed $60,000, (and this was a long time ago!) to print 5,000 greeting cards of each of my 20 designs (that money was spent on printing alone) and focused on drawing because I was told I needed 100 to 120 designs to establish a legitimate line. My partner found sales representatives throughout the country to show my cards to every shop owner in their territory. We also ran booths in national gift and stationery trade shows, took orders and subsequently attracted new reps.

We were successful, I think, because more and more people became familiar with my work and my name. My drawings were very different from anything else already on the market – giving me an edge. It's something for you to keep in mind with your designs. Whatever you do, don't copy another artist, because originality can lead to success.

We paid our staff (a warehouse person and two secretaries), the local printer, and our reps, but we didn't pay ourselves for a year and a half. In short, getting started from scratch is more than a MONUMENTAL, full-time task, and I needed income from another source all the while.

You don't have to start with greeting cards, and you don't have to do it the way I did it. Another way to start out involves researching companies and licensing those companies to produce and market your products. Keep in mind that companies look for new artists with creative designs and clever logos. Go shopping and pick out artists and high quality cards or products that are appealing to you. Next, take a look at the backs of the cards and on the bottom of products to determine which manufacturers you want to approach. Do your homework by calling the companies and asking for their art submission guidelines.

When submitting artwork to potential greeting card companies, I recommend sending slides, transparencies or reprints, never originals. If a company shows interest in your work and offers a contract, then review the document thoroughly with a reputable contract attorney. To get the best deal, use common sense to determine what you can commit to and what you need. It's important to be realistic about how much work you're able to produce and for how long. A one- or two-year contract can always be renewed if both parties are happy with the arrangement.

If at all possible, try to retain all rights to your work, as I have, and copyright each design in your name once it's printed – a simple, inexpensive process. Copyrighting your work protects your images as original works of authorship under U.S. Copyright Law. After copyrighting the work, make sure that each piece is clearly marked with a copyright notice: © (your name) (year). For example: © Joe Smith 2006. If you are unable to retain all of the rights, at least try to sign a limited-use agreement (an extremely difficult arrangement to make.) Don't give up! Retaining the rights gets easier once you're established, and it opens doors to licensing your art to other product categories.

Retaining my copyrights allows me the freedom to license the same image to multiple manufactuers. For example, my "Chair of Bowlies" image has been licensed to reproduce everything from t-shirts and mugs to posters and stationery.

Licensing entitles artists with copyrighted artwork to be paid a royalty. A royalty is a percent based on the amount of product sold at wholesale to retailers. The beauty of licensing is that the manufacturer bears the risk and responsibility for actually making and distributing the products. The artists, in turn, have more time to draw!

My last piece of advice (and the most important) is to remember you can always draw, paint or create just for the joy of it. As a matter of fact, that's one of the best reasons to be creative, because if you don't worry about making money or about becoming famous, then you will always be happy.

I hope my thoughts have been helpful!

Sincerely,