Kathleen 

Green

Kathleen Green 

is an economist in 

the Office of Occupational Statistics 

and Employment 

Projections, BLS, 

(202) 691-5717 or 

green.kathleen@

bls.gov.

What rhymes with orange? Thirteen 

years ago, Hilary Price liked that 

puzzler enough to name her comic 

strip after it. Today, “Rhymes With Orange” is 

syndicated in 150 newspapers nationwide.

Of course, cartoonists do more than 

choose a clever title for their work. Cartoons 

(which include comic strips) must convey an 

idea visually, often humorously, and range 

from single frame gags to multipanel serials 

to graphic novels. Hilary, like most syndicated 

cartoonists, writes and draws 365 different 

comic strips per year: black-and-white strips 

that run Mondays through Saturdays, and 

color ones on Sundays. 

An idea is central to each strip. Because 

cartoons can be a form of social commentary, cartoonists need to keep up with current 

events. They also have to look ahead, though, 

to submit a week’s worth of strips at least 1 

month before the cartoons appear in print. 

And since today’s news might be stale tomorrow, creating for the future makes timeliness 

tricky. “I have to be thinking not in terms of 

events,” says Hilary, “but in terms of trends.”

Hilary peruses many sources, including 

newspapers and magazines, to get ideas from 

emerging trends, phrases, and words. But she 

also brainstorms topics in other ways. For example, she might sit down at her desk and just 

let her mind wander, which “helps the body 

tell the brain, ‘It’s time to work,’” she says. 

Other times, she thinks of an odd situation 

and works backward from that point, creating 

a humorous explanation for the circumstance. 

And she never underestimates the value of 

conversation. “When I’m hanging out with 

my friends, and we’re talking, there may be 

the seed of an idea in our bantering back and 

forth,” Hilary says.

Once she has the kernel of an idea, Hilary 

begins to develop it. “I’ll start asking myself 

questions,” she says. “‘What’s the best way 

to present this idea: Two people talking? One 

person? An animal? What’s the fastest way for 

the reader to get the joke?’” After she makes 

those choices, she starts thinking about how 

she will illustrate the idea using the fewest 

words possible. 

Then it’s time to draw. Some cartoonists 

use computer software to draw their illustrations; others sketch by hand. Hilary drafts 

creations in pencil, then goes over them in ink 

and erases the pencil marks. But before finalizing each strip in ink, she gets a fresh perspective from a friend on whether her idea—

as well as her expression of it—is effective. 

Eventually, Hilary scans the comic strip 

into a computer. Color for Sunday strips is 

added electronically; in addition, technology 

helps cartoonists hide the flaws that are part 

of the creative process. “The originals are 

not pristine,” says Hilary. “When I ink them, 

I might make a mistake and use correction 

fluid to cover it up. But I clean them up on the 

computer, and that’s what the reader sees.”

Hilary sends comic strips to her syndicate 

in daily-plus-Sunday batches. The syndicate 

serves as a clearinghouse, distributing to its 

subscribing newspapers the comics that 

Cartoonist

You’re a what?

42 Occupational Outlook Quarterly • Fall 2008
occupy space on their pages. There are about five 

major syndicates, “and all of them are competing 

for real estate on the page,” says Hilary. 

A syndicated cartoonist’s earnings are tied to 

that competition; a cartoonist whose work is in a 

handful of newspapers isn’t likely to make as much 

as another whose strip appears in hundreds, for 

example. But it’s not all about page space. Rates 

charged to subscribing publications are based on 

the size of the publication’s circulation, the frequency with which the strip runs, and the strip’s 

popularity in a given market. The syndicate and the 

cartoonist typically split the proceeds. 

It can take awhile for new cartoonists to build a 

following, but popularity creates opportunities for 

additional income. Sales of cartoon-related products—including clothing, greeting cards, coffee 

mugs, and books with “best of” collections—can 

help well-known cartoonists boost their earnings. 

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) 

does not collect data on cartoonists, so BLS does 

not have wage or employment information available on them. But industry sources suggest that 

earnings start at about $30,000 for beginning 

cartoonists, and established cartoonists with successful product sales can earn significantly more. 

The number of syndicated cartoonists in the United 

States is estimated to be about 250.

Most syndicated cartoonists do not work on 

their strips full time, even if cartooning is fulltime work. The time-consuming responsibilities 

of being self employed, as most cartoonists are, 

include paying bills, filing paperwork, and doing 

marketing activities, such as maintaining a Web 

site and responding to editors and fans. “I can 

spend an entire day doing administrative stuff,” 

says Hilary. “There’s an entrepreneurial aspect 

to this job, but I didn’t come out of school with 

business acumen.” Hilary recommends that students 

interested in cartooning or any creative field get 

some kind of training in how to run a business.

No formal training is required to become a 

cartoonist, although some cartooning programs now 

exist either independently or within postsecondary 

schools’ visual arts departments. But Hilary, who 

majored in English, considers communication skills 

more critical for cartooning than artistic ability. 

“There’s an unspoken rule of newspaper comics,” 

she says. “You can have bad art and good writing, 

but you can’t have bad writing and good art.” She 

also emphasizes the importance of consistency: 

being able to stay motivated to create a cartoon for 

every day of the year.

A good way to stay motivated is to gain 

confidence—and a good way to gain confidence 

is to see your work in print. Hilary suggests that 

aspiring cartoonists start small, as she did, by 

talking to editors of local newsletters and school 

newspapers about getting a strip published. 

Occasional publication also helps to build a 

portfolio, which then makes it possible to send out 

feelers. In Hilary’s case, one successful solicitation amid several rejections led to a development 

contract, which eventually led to a long-term 

syndication contract. 

As for what rhymes with orange, no single 

word in the English language does, aside from a 

few proper nouns (including Blorenge, a mountain 

in Wales). For Hilary, sharing that inside joke with 

readers of “Rhymes With Orange” reminds her of 

why she enjoys creating amusement. “I really like 

doing cartoons. I really like that creative piece,” she 

says. “There’s great personal satisfaction in it.”

Fall 2008 • Occupational Outlook Quarterly 43

Rhymes With Orange © Hilary B. Price. King Features Syndicate. Reprinted with special permission from King Features Syndicate.

Original sketch on opposite page courtesy of Hilary Price.