Part of our guide to licensing cartoons as an author (coming soon)
Which license size should you choose when you don’t know your print run? The band that fits your best realistic estimate, counting print and ebook together. At CartoonStock you don’t need an exact figure to license a cartoon. If the book sells more than you expected, you move up a band and pay no more than the difference, so an honest estimate is always safe.
What License Size Means
A publication license comes at one of five print run bands: 1–5,000, 5,001–50,000, 50,001–100,000, 100,001–1,000,000, and 1,000,001 and above. Your license size is the band your total copies fall into, and it covers every copy up to that band’s ceiling.
So you’re not choosing an exact number. You’re choosing a range, which is why a rough estimate is enough.
Why You Don’t Need an Exact Figure
Authors often license cartoons before anyone knows how the book will sell. Your publisher may not have set a print run. You may be printing on demand, where there’s no print run at all.
None of that stops you licensing. Our licenses don’t expire, and an upgrade costs no more than the difference between two bands. You won’t pay twice for the copies you’ve already covered, so there’s no reason to buy a bigger license size just in case.
How to Make Your Estimate
Work it out in three steps.
Ask your publisher. If you have one, they’ll usually have a planned first print run, even a provisional one. Use it.
Think in lifetime copies. Because the license doesn’t expire, estimate copies over the whole life of the edition, not just the first year. If you’re printing on demand, using cartoons in a self-published book (coming soon) walks through that case.
Add ebook downloads and other languages. Your print license covers the ebook when it carries the same content in the same context, but downloads count toward your band. A translated version sold in the same territory counts too, so add its copies to the total. Copies you give away count as well.
Here’s an example. You expect 4,000 paperbacks and 2,000 ebook downloads. That’s 6,000 copies, so choose 5,001–50,000 rather than the first band.
If Sales Beat Your Estimate
Tell us, and we’ll move you to the next band for no more than the difference in price. It’s the same for a reprint that takes you past your ceiling.
A reprint of the same edition that stays inside your band needs nothing further. A new edition needs a new license, whatever the print run, but cartoons already licensed for an earlier edition of the same title are 50% off. We apply that discount by hand, so email us the cartoon IDs and the earlier edition’s title instead of buying at checkout. Relicensing images for a new edition or reprint (coming soon) explains where that line falls.
Size on the Page
Print run isn’t the only kind of license size. A standard license covers the cartoon inside the book at less than half a page. If you want it larger, or on the cover, ask us first. Covers use a custom license, explained in using a cartoon on a book cover (coming soon).
The Bottom Line
When you don’t know your print run, choose the license size your best realistic estimate falls into, counting print and ebook copies over the life of the edition. If you sell more, move up a band and pay no more than the difference. CartoonStock licenses cartoons at every band, and every license pays the cartoonist.
Licensing cartoons for publishing · Ask us about your book
Q&A: Choosing a License Size
Q: My estimate sits right on a band boundary. Which do I pick?
A: Pick the band your realistic estimate falls into. If you go over, tell us and pay no more than the difference.
Q: My book went out of print and is coming back. Do I need a new license?
A: Not if it’s the same edition and your total copies stay inside your band. A new edition needs a new license, at 50% off for cartoons you licensed for the earlier edition.
Q: Does territory change the license size?
A: No. Territory is a separate choice, covered in territory rights for publishing (coming soon).
Keep Reading
Questions to ask before licensing a cartoon (coming soon)
Related Posts
- Do I need permission to use a cartoon in my book, and what happens if I don’t? (coming soon)
- Who handles image permissions, the author or the publisher? (coming soon)
- Licensing cartoons for trade and academic books (coming soon)