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I mail all my comics without the help of a digital postage service. Mailing stuff out is one of the worst parts of being a self publisher, but I’ve gotten better at it over the years. It doesn’t have to be so hard, really. It’s crucial to have all your supplies and books and things in one place together. I want to share with you what I keep at my shipping desk.

1. Rate Charts. The Post Office doesn’t make it easy to figure out shipping rates on their website - but it’s not as complicated as you’d think. There’s a great website at Nerdy Lorrin with all the rate charts and explanations of how US Postage works. I printed and tacked up his PDF booklet for easy reference. 2. Stamps. You gotta have forever stamps (49 cents) and additional-ounce stamps (21 cents) for domestic letters and flats. Nerdy Lorrin has all the rules, you’ve gotta read them, but it basically comes down to those two stamps. For international mail, you need Global-Forever stamps ($1.21) and $1 stamps for additional ounces. Read Nerdy Lorrin. 3. I obviously have a postage scale. It’s from Dymo and it’s good. Sometimes I have trouble checking the weight on a really huge envelope that covers the digital meter. 4. Envelopes. I use three types. 6 x 9 inches, manilla, with a self-seal. This is the biggest size allowed for letters (so if you are making a comic that’s just a little bigger - consider trying to scale down so it’ll fit in this envelope and be much cheaper to send out). 9 x12 inches, manilla self-sealing, for bigger books and prints up to A3 size. Finally I keep little A6 size invitation envelopes for my smallest books. I think it’s cute to receive a small book in a small envelope. I want to tell you that I really love envelopes from Japan that are kaku 4 size: 197mm x 267mm. I like the way they fit my bigger books. I’m going to buy a bunch when I’m in Japan. If you know where I can get these in the US, please tell me! 5. Extra-heavy manila tabbed FOLDERS. I trim them to fit inside my envelopes (either 6x9 or 9x12). I use these to protect single prints. This is easier for me to store (and cut) than cardboard, and it doesn’t make the envelope too stiff (which sometimes results in a postal worker deciding “this is too thick to be a letter, it is a PACKAGE”). 6. A pre-inked stamp with my return address on it. Because I don’t want to write my address a gazillion times. I got mine at rubberstamps.net 7. Pens for little envelopes and sharpees for big envelopes. 8. Spare risograph printed pages to stuff into envelopes, just for a fun bonus sometimes. 9. Sometimes I print some basic stationery so I can write a little THANK YOU note. But I don’t have any at the moment, too bad, I’ll make some again soon…

Hey comic-makers!  Looking for funding or short/long term studio space to help you make your comics?  I put together a list of grants, fellowships, and residencies with an established, positive track record for accepting cartoonists!  (There are also many, many arts grants/etc. out there that have not accepted any cartoonists yet, and I absolutely encourage you to apply for those too!  But I’ll be limiting this list to ones that already have demonstrated interest in comics.)

I’m sure there are ones I’m missing, so feel free to drop me a line if you know one I should add!  I’ll keep updating the list periodically :)

GRANTS

Berliner Comicstipendium

Creators for Creators

Cupcake Award

The Dash

Fund the Change

Grants for the Arts

Grants for Artist Projects (GAP)

Guggenheim Fellowship Grants

Heinz Award for Arts and Humanities  

Jay Kennedy Memorial Scholarship

John Locher Memorial Award

Mahmoud Kahil Award

Ontario Arts Council

PRISM Queer Press Grant

Slate Cartoonist Studio Prize

Society of Illustrators M Prize 

Speculative Literature Foundation

Sustainable Arts Foundation

FELLOWSHIPS AND RESIDENCIES

Arteles Comic Blast

Boston Public Library Writer-in-Residence

Catskill Center Artist in Residence

Comic Art Workshop

The Comics Workbook Rowhouse Residency

The Cornish CCS Residency Fellowship

CUNE Comics-in-Residence Programme

Donaldson Writer-in-Residence

Galveston Artist Residency

Inbound and Outbound TRANSIT

Kaunas Comics Residency

Liminka School of Arts

Maison des Auteurs  

Nordic Artists’ Centre

Sitka Artist Residency

Sundress Academy for the Arts

Thurber House Graphic Novel Residency

Trailer Blaze Residency

Tulsa Artist Fellowship  

US National Parks Residencies 

Untitled   -    Owe Zerge , 1934

Swedish, 1894-1983

Interior with Figures  -   Alfred Stockham , 1966

British,  b.1933-

Timothy Behrens, Lucian Freud, Francis Bacon, Frank Auerbach and Michael Andrews at Wheeler’s, Old Compton Street, 1963 

Photography  -   John Deakin