FAQ Sections
Selling Cartoons
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Why do none of my cartoons have a price?
TopQuestion: I just noticed that none of my cartoons have the number of credits listed for potential buyers. Can you correct this?
Answer: To prevent unauthorized use of the platform (e.g. purchasing your own material), you will not see the credit pricing appear next to your own cartoons while you are logged into the site. You will only see prices next to cartoons by artists other than yourself. Please logout and locate one of your cartoons and you will see the cartoons as they appear to our buyers. No worries...this is not a bug.
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How do you calculate royalties?
TopThe My Account page shows you how many credits worth of your files were downloaded each month. To calculate your monthly payout, we use the following formula:
Payout = Average price per credit that month (typically $2 to $3 and growing) x Number of credits of your Content purchased that month x 40%.This ensures that 40% of the money we receive each month is paid out to you when your Content is downloaded.
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Tips for selling on Cartoonsy
TopTagging:
Creating tags is one of the most important elements to generating more sales. Tags are what connect the buyer to the seller, and a large, clean amount of tags on an cartoon are key for establishing that connection. Don’t be afraid to tag. Cartoonsy requires a minimum of 5 tags but we highly encourage you to add more.
-Specificity- Be specific in your tags (keywords). The more specific your tags, the less competition you have in someone’s query results page
-Tag your feelings- Tagging adjectives that describe the emotion of the cartoon is very important. Buyers will often use these adjectives in their search queries. This method also separates cartoons that are within the same genre but evoke different feelings.
-Tag your vision- If you feel your cartoon represents a specific idea in your head, chances are there are other people who would agree with you, and would purchase your cartoon to help them bring that idea to life. If you feel your cartoon would be perfect for someone into heavy metal music, tag it with “heavy metal, metal head, music, head banger", etc.
Filling in your Description:
Unlike tags, the description allows the artist to freely describe their cartoon using complete sentences. This is where the artist truly sells the cartoon. Convince buyers that this piece is perfect for them. Descriptions will only reinforce a buyer’s decision to pick YOUR cartoon out of the other thousands on Cartoonsy.
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What % of the subscription packages goes back to the artists?
TopApproximately 40% of every sale, whether it is $1 or a $500 package, goes back to the artists. It is simply divided and paid out based on the amount of downloads for each artist – i.e. downloads are “pro-rated” and the subscription is divided up correctly among the artists.
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How do you advertise?
TopOur engineering team focuses much of its time and energy on Google optimization of keyword searches. In this day and age we feel that it is time very well spent, and will result in increased sales for our artists as our platform continues to grow. In short, all sales are generated by Google organic search engine optimization.
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How do I become a featured artist?
TopOur editors regularly add new and existing artists to our featured artist panel and newsletters. We feel that these artists are exceptional and have uploaded content that exemplifies the highest quality Cartoonsy has to offer. If you would like to be considered for featured artist status, feel free to contact us.
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Am I allowed to upload a cartoon that uses 3rd party imagery?
TopYour usage of any 3rd party imagery must comply with the user agreement of that particular image library or copyright holder. All contributors are held fully liable for any damages incurred as a result of copyright infringement. Please be sure to read our Upload Agreement.
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Can I remove my cartoon from your site at any time?
TopYES. Provide a written request and a Cartoonsy administrator will remove the cartoon ASAP. Any licenses we granted on your behalf while your cartoon was active in our catalog must be honored.
Via email: getcartoonsy[at]gmail[dot]com
Via snail mail:Cartooonsy.com
c/o AudioMicro, Inc.
13351-D Riverside Drive, #219
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423
United States -
What copyright restrictions should I be aware of before uploading a cartoon?
TopYou should be the principal copyright holder of the uploaded cartoon or have written authorization to upload the cartoon on behalf of the copyright holder(s). All contributors are held fully liable for any damages incurred as a result of copyright infringement. Please be sure to read our Upload Agreement.
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What style of cartoons are you looking for?
TopWe encourage you to "spread the love" and upload content from all styles. There are millions of cartoon related queries a month by google users, from "political cartoons" to "animals cartoons" to "funny cartoons" and everything in between. The more diverse your archive, the more likely you are to receive increased royalties. As a general rule of thumb, our customers are looking for a diverse selection of unique, contemporary, high quality cartoons.
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Is there any way I can get paid my royalties even if I haven’t amassed $50 in payments?
TopYes, if you have more than $5 of accrued payments, you can request a one-time pay-out by contacting us. We will place your earnings in your PayPal account on the next payout date.
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How do I get paid? When do I get paid?
TopYou can check your monthly sales stats in realtime from your My Account page.
We automatically deliver your royalties to you via PayPal on or about the first day of the month, subsequent to the month in which the sales transactions occurred. For example, for sales that occur in June, we distribute your royalties to you on or around August 1st . We pay you when your account has accrued an unpaid balance of $50 or more.
If you do not yet have a PayPal account, you can easily sign up for one at
https://www.paypal.com/
PayPal is simple and secure, and for added assurance, you can even order a "key fob / security key" from PayPal for $5 that will prevent anyone from being able to access your PayPal account except, you (the security key holder).
Here is a link to the PayPal security key signup -->
https://www.paypal.com/securitykey -
How can I see downloads I have received?
TopYou can check your downloads by visiting the My Account page. You can drill down on your monthly (and all time) downloads and see exactly which files have been licensed. You can also download these reports in .csv format and open them in Word, Excel, and any Text Editor program you like.
Please note that these Sales History reports here are NOT final. They are designed to give you a some perspective on your download activity. Detailed sales reconciliations and calculations are performed internally by our accounting team each month and royalties are sent via PayPal around the 1st of the month subsequent to the month in which the sales occur. E.g. for sales in March, payment is made around May 1st or the first non-holiday weekday thereafter.
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Do I still retain copyright ownership if my Content is sold on Cartoonsy?
TopYES. You remain the owner of your Content. The buyer of the Content is only granted a non-exclusive, limited license to use your Content in accordance with our Content License Agreement (aka Download Agreement).
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How can I improve my earnings split?
TopWe offer an extra 10% commission to contributors that serve as bloggers, forum moderators, and editors. If you feel your professional or technical experience qualifies you for one of these positions, please contact us.
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What’s the difference between selling my Content exclusively versus non-exclusively?
TopSelling your Content exclusively with us means that no other libraries, anywhere in the world, have the permission to distribute this particular Content and that Cartoonsy.com is the only outlet in the world that represents your work. Contributors receive 50% of sales from "exclusive" Content.
Licensing your Content "non-exclusively" means that the Content is available through other distributors (including yourself). Contributors receive 40% of sales from "non-exclusive" materials.
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What commission rate do I earn if my Content sells?
TopArtists receive 40% of the sales from each file that they submit to our archive.
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How much money can I potentially earn selling my cartoons on Cartoonsy?
TopIn the micro stock / micro payment photography world, many of the top contributors earn 6 figures (i.e. over $100,000) per year in micro payment royalties. We feel that in due time, our top cartoonists could make this much as well.
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How are you different from your competition?
TopHere are just a few of the many differences between Cartoonsy and the competition:
a. No initial test files or portfolio review to become a contributor
b. We pay a 40% royalty as opposed to 20% and even less
c. We are strictly focussed on cartoons -
What does "crowd source for content" mean?
TopIt means we accept content from anyone from an established cartoonist to someone who has just produced his or her first cartoon. Obviously we have quality control and will reject files if they do not meet our quality standards, but there are no restrictions on who can submit content - anyone and everyone is free to do so.
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What exactly does royalty free mean?
TopRoyalty free means you pay only once to use a track file which is pre-cleard for publications like magazines, newspapers, websites, blogs, TV, web videos, podcasts, and more. It does NOT, however mean that the buyer now owns the copyright. There are limitations such as the number of print publicationst that you can distribute (500,000) without the need to purchase an Extended License.
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What is micro stock?
TopMicrostock is a concept rooted in the photography industry. What defines a platform as a micro stock photography company is that they (1) source their images almost exclusively via the Internet, (2) do so from a wider range of photographers than the traditional stock agencies (including a willingness to accept images from "amateurs" and hobbyists), and (3) sell their images at a very low rate (anywhere from $1.00 - $10) for a royalty-free image. Cartoonsy takes the same idea and applies it to the cartoon industry. Anyone can upload his or her cartoons, and then, it can be bought at a very low rate (as little as $1 each). Through this, the artist has the ability to get his or her cartoons out to a large group, and due to the low price, more buyers are attracted.
