At 22, I graduated from Stanford University and moved up to San Francisco. I freelanced as a copywriter for an ad agency and peddled my cartoons to the San Francisco Chronicle. The editor was kind, and she published them every few weeks in their Sunday book review/opinion section. This got me motivated to send the strip off to syndicates, and in 1995, at the tender age of 25, I started Rhymes With Orange. In 1998, I packed up and drove home to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. I love Massachusetts.

I now draw the strip in what was once an old toothbrush factory, now converted to office space for artists and small businesses.

One of my goals in the strip is to inspire more young women to join the field. My early inspirations were Dr. Seuss for the rhymes, Shel Silverstein for the clever word play and black-and-white illustrations, and The New Yorker cartoonists Roz Chast, Sam Gross and George Booth. I'd like to think like Roz Chast, draw like George Booth, and have the chutzpah of Sam Gross. 

Greeting card artist Sandra Boynton was also a major influence. Her work was huge when I was in the eighth grade, and it was a defining moment for me when I learned that Boynton's first name was Sandra. Up to that point I had assumed she was a he. The fact that a "she" was doing funny drawings opened up the possibility that I could, too. I encourage all female artists, young or old, to not hide behind their initials, but to sign their full name on their work. Whether or not you realize it, it can be a powerful and inspiring statement. 

My first actual cartoon character was a friendly monster that looked a little like a sitting-down hippopotamus. I used my mother's blusher from her cosmetic's bag to "paint" it. That's probably that last time I have touched a cosmetics bag for any purpose.


Rhymes With Orange appears in 135 newspapers nationwide, and has made cameos in People magazine, Forbes, Glamour, and The Funny Times. If you love cartoons panels and editorial cartoons, subscribe to the Funny Times. 

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Some highly personal tidbits

1. I'm a huge fan of penny candy.  2. I am excellent at riding people double on one-speed bicycles, and often ride my one-speed to work with my dog. (He does not ride double, but runs alongside.) 3. I live with my partner, Kerry, one dog, one cat and a disgusting amount of pet hair. Our combined weight is 328 lbs.

4. I know enough about goldfish to keep them alive for a long time.

5. My mother's nickname is Buzzy. She was named after a Thanksgiving turkey. (Long story.)

6. Whenever someone asks my father what he does for a living, 
he now responds, "I'm a cartoonist's model." (And it's true-- whenever you see a 60-something year old guy with a mustache in the strip, you're looking at my dad.)

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What does the title mean?

What does the name "Rhymes With Orange" mean? How did you come up with it?  My aunt once told me that no single word in the English language rhymes with the word "orange." I chose the title to show the singularity of the strip's perspective, one that highlights the trials of my own life and that of my friends. I do not think these trials are traditionally represented on the comics page. "Door hinge" is the closest rhyme, but I don't think it quite makes the grade. By the way, nothing rhymes with "silver," "purple" or "month." Postscript: After reading "Ask Marilyn" in Parade magazine, a million people wrote to tell me that the obscure biological term "sporange" rhymes with "orange." I don't care. However, a brilliant young Smith College student informed me that the word "sporange" was created by a man who incorrectly conjugated the latin verb. The word he should have come up with was "sporangia." So there.

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Challenging stupidity on the Comics page

(a.k.a What if I want Hilary to feel indebted to me for the rest of her natural life?) The very best way for this to happen is to contact your local paper and tell the editor what you like and don't like on the comics page. I think Rhymes With Orange appeals to a small niche of witty, intelligent and incredibly good-looking people. (As you know, not everyone falls into this category, so not everyone is going to get, or like, the strip.) To newspaper editors, I write one of those "edgy" strips. Letting the editor know you like the strip will be a buffer every time someone calls up saying, "I just don't get that Rhymes With Orange strip. Can't you just print Garfield twice on the page?" E-mail or letters are most effective, but phone calls are nothing to sniff at. Thanks!!! My personal beef is that there is limited space on the comics page, and a lot of it is filled by strips whose creator died many, many moons ago. They are the old staples, and I don't feel like they reflect the world as it is today. You may disagree, and want a cup of nostalgia to go with your coffee, but I think it makes it much tougher for new cartoonists to gain acceptance. The competition for a spot on that page is more vicious than a drunken game of Twister.

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Advice on being a cartoonist

Do you have any tips on how I could get started as a cartoonist?  For aspiring cartoonists, here's my advice. Start local. Think about the goings-on in your town or city and use them as strip material. Local editors eat stuff up that is relevant to their community. Try school papers, newsletters in your office, community bulletins. Also, check out books like The 2006 Artist's and Graphic Designer's Market by Mary Cox. They have addresses for venues to send your cartoons that you might never think to explore. Of course, if you want, try The New Yorker right away. But know that they have their rejection slips on pads that they just peel off and stick in your S.A.S.E. They are a tough market. If want to send your strips out to a syndicate, carefully read the guidelines on the King Features web page, www.kingfeatures.com. Each syndicate has it's own guidelines, and I would be sure to follow the directions on their web sites carefully. You can learn the names of the syndicates by looking at the teeny writing in the corner of every strip on the comics page. Its usually reads: © 2006, Hilary B. Price, distributed by Such-and-Such Syndicate, Inc. For folks interested in the world of cartooning, I recommend going to the National Cartoonist Society website and poking around.  The website The Daily Cartoonist gives you all the trade news.

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Spelling Errrrors

What if I found a spelling error in your strip?  First off, that makes you a better speller than me. I mean, "I," a better speller than I. And a better grammarian, I guess.  Second, here's a little bit about the editorial process. When I draw a week's worth of cartoon strips, I send them to my editor in Orlando. She reads each strip, and hopefully spots any spelling or grammatical crimes I have committed. If for some reason a misspelling sneaks by, and another person at the syndicate catches it later, a correction is sent out to all the newspapers. Some papers lay out their comics page weeks in advance, and when the correction comes in, they may add it to their page or it might be too late for them to change it. Some ignore it.

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Getting an autograph

What if I want an autograph or autographed picture?  Send me a stamped, self-addressed envelope, with a card enclosed, to Hilary Price c/o King Features Syndicate 300 West 57th St. 15th Floor New York, NY 10019-5238. Write "AUTOGRAPH  REQUEST" on the outside of the

envelope you're mailing. It might take a LONG time, but I will eventually send you the autograph. (So, say you'll be moving in the next sixteen months, give me your NEW address.)  As far as pictures go, you're out of luck. I have not reached that level of fame and wealth to give out headshots. If you want to download the photo on the Web site, you can send that to me and I will sign it.  Back to the top

Reprint Permissions

What if I want a reprint of a strip for my newsletter, book, web site or magazine?  To request reprint rights of Rhymes With Orange, you can e-mail, write, fax or call Susi White. Be sure to have the following information handy:

1. Name and publication date of cartoon.
2. How it will be used.
3. If in a publication, include circulation.
4. If in books, rights needed (North American or World). 

Requests should be made to:
King Features Reprints
Reed Brennan Media Associates
628 Virginia Drive
Orlando FL 32803 

1-800-708-7311, ext. 246 (in the U.S.)
1-407-894-7300, ext. 246 (elsewhere) 
Fax: 1-407-894-9768

The email address is: kfsreprint@hearstsc.com 

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Buying a print or an original

What if I want a large copy of a strip so I can frame it and put it above my Rhymes With Orange shrine?  First, check and see if it is in the Favorites Store.  If it's not, replace that tattered yellow strip on your fridge with a 4" by 13" color reprint on 67-pound vellum stock paper. Pop it in a frame and start thinking of yourself as a person of culture. $40. To order, contact Susi White at King Features (see above). Make sure to tell her the date and give a brief description. I do sell originals. They are $350. E-mail me and we'll talk.

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The second Rhymes with Orange Collection

Reigning Cats and Dogs, the snappy little gift book with 100 of your favorite dog and cat cartoons, is now available. If you want to send me the book, I would be delighted to sign it and draw a little sketch. Be SURE when you send it to me you include a stamped, self-addressed envelope and return postage. The old Rhymes With Orange collection (pictured on right) is now out of print. As always, sign up for the newsletter and I'll send you the scoop on the newest stuff as it rolls out of the Rhymes With Orange factory. Back to the top

Greeting Cards

Yep, they are in stores now, distributed by Recycled Paper Greetings. Demand them at a fine card store near you.

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Get the Newsletter

Receive our charming, yet extremely infrequent newsletter. Go to Get the Newsletter. You'll be kept up to date on all of the Rhymes with Orange happenings.

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If you JUST saw the strip in the newspaper, you have to wait two weeks for it to appear on the site. I don't want to be in competition with the newspapers that pay me.

The Web site has cartoons dating all the way back to December 1, 1999. There are some missing, but most can be located. What you need is the DATE, MONTH and YEAR of the strip. If you have the old tattered copy, look for the numbers near my signature (that's the date and month), then look for the year on the copyright blurb.

Once you have the date, month and year, seeing the strip is just a matter of typing this URL into your browser:
http://www.rhymeswithorange.com/home.php?date=YYYYMMDD

where "YYYY" is the year, "MM" is the two digit month number, and "DD" is the two digit day.

So, December 1, 1999 would be:
http://www.rhymeswithorange.com/home.php?date=19991201

Give it a shot and see if you can find it. You will have to use the back button to return to this page. Even though the drop-down menu will show the surrent comic archive, the comic you requested in the URL will show up in the window.

If you DON'T have the date, e-mail me with the most detailed description of the cartoon that you can muster. Looking though past years is not on the top of my "to do" list, so feel free to e-mail me reminders.

If you want to show the old strip to a friend, you can either:

1. Send them the URL.

2. (For Mac users) Hold your mouse down over the strip and drag it to your desktop, then send it as an attachment. (When it appears on your desktop, be sure to add .gif onto the name of the file so your computer will recognize it.)

3. (For Windows users) Hold your mouse over the strip and right click on the image. Choose "Save image as," and you can put it in whatever file you want and send it as an attachment. (When it appears on your desktop, be sure to add .gif onto the name of the file so your computer will recognize it.)

You can actually do this for any strip you see on the site.