FAQs
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.
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.
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 Artist’s and Graphic Designer’s Market. 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. Also, I recently did an interview for the U.S. government’s Occupational Index Quarterly, a career guide for teenagers. It answers lots of questions about the day-to-day stuff of the job.
Finally, the website The Daily Cartoonist gives you all the trade news.
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.
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.
What if I want to buy a color reprint of a cartoon to hang on my wall, or to buy the actual original?
Then it is time to go to the Store.
Reprint Permissions: What if I want a reprint of a strip for my newsletter, book, web site or magazine?
Easy peasy. All that information is in Reprints.
How do I learn about the latest happenings in Rhymeswithorangeopolis?
Receive the Charming-Yet-Infrequent e-newsletter. Go to Get in Touch and sign up. Not only will you be entertained, you will be remarkably informed on the occasional Rhymes with Orange happenings.
How can I find a specific strip?
So you’re looking for a specific strip, but it’s not in the recent archives? Here’s what you do:
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.
I don’t have a database of cartoons that are searchable by topic, but I am starting to post fan favorites on the Favorites page. That page is searchable by going there and pressing Command “F” on your keyboard.
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/index.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/index.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.
Cool links
Here are my recommendations…
For strips:
Speed Bump by Dave Coverly
Jane’s World by Paige Braddock
Daryl Cagles’ Professional Cartoonists Index
King Features Syndicate
For a well-balanced life:
