How do I get my cartoons and writings published? (Samples!)

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Hi, everyone,

I've been drawing and writing my whole life. It's always been my dream to get into some aspect of the entertainment industry, such as comic strips, comic books, or animation; or, if I can push myself far enough, writing novels.

The problem is, the outside world scares me to death and I don't know my way around it to save my life. I've grown up with a morbid fear of making and taking telephone calls, approaching suit-wearing people in offices, and just generally dealing with things in a professional, business setting. Words like "resume" and "portfolio" turn my stomach into a knot. I realize now I was sort of molly-coddled as a kid, and everybody took care of the "scary grown-up stuff" for me back then. As a result, now that I'm expected to be out there on my own, I've turned into something of a recluse, and have accomplished very, very little in life in proportion to my age. The idea that I might never conquer this and make something of myself has frightened me before; now that my 29th birthday has come and gone, I'm terrified spitless.

People I meet in real life, who happen to walk behind me or something when I'm drawing, always ask me when I'm going to publish my work. It's so frustrating! I'm dying to publish my work, but I know nothing about searching for publishers or presenting my work to them, or what I'm supposed to do. The thought of an interview, where I'd have to wear uncomfortable clothing and make eye contact with some heartless dude in a tie gives me the heebie-jeebies. I just know I'd get eaten alive, if I went in without proper knowledge of channels I needed to go through, or how the process worked.

I know I have at least enough talent for my work to be noticed to some capacity, if only I could get past this one ridiculous barrier!

Can anybody help me figure it out? Here's some samples of my work, just for fun. If you're interested, there's more where this came from at my deviantART profile, http://kenisu3000.deviantart.com.





Non-original (fan) art:

I really like your work! Unfortunately I can not help with your answer beyond saying I know a lot of people are starting out with self-publishing these days and use websites and social media (e.g. twitter) to create publicity.

I like your work. If you want to do it professionally there are a few options. You could make an ongoing web strip which helps a lot of people as it gets there strips out to a wide audience with little cost. If you were able to make your strips into a comic book you could self publish. You than go to your local comic shops and ask if they could sell it for you. I would be willing to sell your books for you at my comic shop. Usually they do it on consignemnet and you really dont make much money or any at all this way but it gets your stuff out there.

If I were you I would really make a portfolio. This is the best way to get into the business. It is hard to overcome going to meet people but if you had a complete portfolio I would be willing to pass it onto some creators at some companies I know. Just PM me if you are interested and I can give you some contacts or I can put you in contact. My contacts are manly companies that focus on superhero books but I do have some other contacts.

I'm struggling with a similar issue. I'm not scared of the outside world, just confused by it, and I can't seem to get organized enough to get my writing (fantasy novels) published.

I have two bits of advice (things I've done myself). Firstly, look around for contests you can submit work to - libraries often post info about contests, or you could find stuff on the Internet. Secondly, see if you can find an autistic person who has published something in the same general category as your stuff and ask them for advice. (I just emailed the author of The Stonking Steps, hopefully he'll have advice for me.)

I loved the houseflies with toilet paper on their butts!

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer

Thanks, guys! Every little bit helps.
I guess I forgot to mention, the comic strip I've been posting, Breaking the Mold, is in a college newspaper, but as you might expect, that's getting me absolutely nowhere. It seems like every time BTM has a chance at more decent exposure, something falls through.

I loved the houseflies with toilet paper on their butts!

maybe you can learn french and move to france where they are big business