Article in the UA Journal

Another article promoting my work. This is the UA Journal. A union trade magazine that is circulated in the USA and Canada. The members include plumbers, pipefitters, sprinklerfitters, steamfitters, and service techs. The number given me as to circulation was 300,000. Nice to get some notice. And now to parlay that into a paid gig, thank you very much.

Westerly Sun Newspaper Carries Knot Rite

October 23, 2010. My "Knot Rite" cartoon is introduced to the Westerly Sun readers.

Rhode Island Monthly Article

One of the hardest things about cartooning is the selling process. While you're aware most folks enjoy reading them, not a whole lot of people are willing to pay for them. That's the hard reality of the business. Especially now, in an age we're being conditioned to get so much content for free on the internet. Something hard enough to make a living at is made all the harder by technology and the prevalent attitude being fostered by many of it's users. No one wants to champion your work, so you're left with the task yourself.

An attempt I made at trying to sell the idea of running my cartoon monthly in the Rhode Island Monthly met with yet another rejection. They couldn't run my cartoon monthly, but they decided to run an article about me and my cartooning. The article ran in their July 2010 issue.

Here's the URL to their online version of it;

http://www.rimonthly.com/Rhode-Island-Monthly/July-2010/Current/One-to-watch/

Thanks to this article and an intense letter writing campaign I waged, some newspapers have shown interest. The Providence Journal, The Resident, and the Westerly Sun all expressed interest. As of this writing, the Sun is supposed to run my cartoon on Saturdays sometime soon. The Resident is interested, but because they're a competing paper with the Sun, they won't run the same cartoons.

The quest to sell my work continues . . .

Buy Local.

Today was a good day. The local town paper has decided to promote the work of one of their own. "Buy Local" is the current mantra of many. The Sun has taken that encouragement to heart. They have decided they will carry my "Knot Rite" cartoon in their publication.

The Westerly Sun has joined a world "Knot Rite". I hope the partnership proves to be a long lasting fun one. My aim is to bring some home grown humor to their pages.

And for a certainty I'll be forever grateful to the folks at The Westerly Sun for giving me this opportunity.

I'm Not Just A Cartoonist.

The images here are from one freelance project I did for an organized group of dental assistants. Multiple concepts were created for this project. These are just a few of the ideas I came up with. My favorite was not the one chosen, but that’s the way it goes when working with a client. Their tastes aren't always compatible with your own.

I’ve also worked on a variety of projects in an art department environment. While cartooning remains my favorite way of artistic expression, I am not without my abilities to thrive artistically in other situations. And I don’t mind working in a group environment.

Reverse Job Fair

Being tired of job fairs that fail in getting me a job, I'm going to try the reverse. I'll just invite potential employers and have them come to me. "Yes, I agree. A stroke of genius." Although my wife's response to this idea was; "You let me know how that works out for you. OK."

The idea is simple. I sit on a folding chair at Misquamicut Beach in Rhode Island enjoying the scenery whilst holding a clipboard. And when the employer wanna-bees show up in droves, looking all pitiful, just like your normal job fairs, I just ask them questions about what their expectations are regarding having me as an employee. I'll also ask them weird questions that seem not to have anything to do with reality as we know it just to confuse and annoy them (also just like a normal job fair).

I know some of you might be skeptical about this idea. But I've officially crossed over that point where it matters anymore. I'm at the point where I'm ready to pick a place to work and just show up and start working. And when asked questions about who I am, I'll just explain I was hired by them last week. And eventually, I'll go to the HR office and complain about how I haven't gotten a check yet. Fill out the paper work and confuse them by my insanity into indirectly hiring me. That idea, as flawless as it seems, might not work as well as the reverse job fair idea. I'll keep that one as PLAN B.

If you know of someone who might fit the bill of a capable employer. Who is fair and appreciates a good worker, albeit one who is currently a casualty of the current economic climate, make them aware of my reverse job fair. Let them know of this once in a lifetime opportunity they simply cannot afford to miss.

And if you're looking for someone capable of coming up with fail proof schemes and ideas . . .

. . . I might be the person you're looking for.

©2010 William Agosto

Some of my cartoons find a home in Celebrating Greyhounds Magazine.

Starting with their Spring issue, cgmagazine (Celebrating Greyhounds) will be carrying my "Knot Rite" cartoons. But obviously the gags will be specific to the greyhound breed.

To subscribe go to their website at;

http://www.adopt-a-greyhound.org/cgmagazine/index.html