Can you use a licensed cartoon when promoting your book? Yes, with its own license. At CartoonStock a standard publication license covers the cartoon inside your book, including the ebook. Social posts, website pages, newsletters and adverts are separate uses, so they’re licensed separately. The good news is that it’s easy to arrange, and a cartoon can be one of the most effective things in your launch.
Part of our guide to licensing cartoons as an author
What your book license already covers
A standard publication license covers one publication, at one print run band, in the territory you chose. It also lets you reproduce the cartoon electronically as part of the same content, in the same context as the printed book. That’s why your ebook is included.
A social post or an advert takes the cartoon out of that context. It appears on its own, in a new place, doing a different job. That’s a new use, and the cartoonist is paid for each use of their work. If you’re still getting to grips with the book license itself, do I need permission to use a cartoon in my book? covers the basics.
Ways a cartoon can promote your book
A cartoon is quick to read, easy to share and sticks in people’s minds, which makes it perfect for promotion. The uses we’re asked about most include:
- Social posts announcing the book or a launch event
- A page on your author website
- Your email newsletter
- Printed flyers, posters or bookmarks
- Paid adverts
Each is a promotional use, separate from the book. If you know you’ll want the cartoon for your marketing, plan it when you license it for the book rather than after the campaign has started.
Two ways to license promotional use
License each use. For a social post, a web page or a newsletter, license the cartoon for that use. Our pricing page lists packs for social media, web and email, which suit authors running their own marketing.
Ask about our publication and product family license. Where a cartoon is central to a book and will be used heavily, this license covers print, ebook, web and related derivative works for the life of that edition, including promotional use in context. It suits publishers planning a full campaign around a title.
Not sure which fits? Send us your plan and we’ll tell you.
Keep the cartoon as drawn
Promotional designs often want to add text: the book’s title, a launch date, a line from a review. Placing text over a cartoon, cropping it or recoloring it changes the artwork, and that needs our written agreement first. The easy fix is to put your text beside the cartoon, or to ask us before you design.
Covers in your marketing
If your cartoon is on the cover, it will appear in your marketing whether you plan it or not: on retailer pages, in launch posts, on posters. Cover use is a custom license, so tell us how you plan to promote the book when you ask for a quote. Using a cartoon on a book cover explains the process.
Self-published authors run their own marketing, so this matters most to them, and using cartoons in a self-published book covers the rest of that route. If your publisher’s marketing team plans to use the cartoon, check who handles image permissions, the author or the publisher? so you agree who licenses it.
The short version
Using a cartoon to promote your book needs its own license, because promotion is a separate use from the book. License each use as it comes through packs for social, web and email, or ask about our product family license for bigger campaigns. Keep the cartoon as drawn, and every licensed use pays the cartoonist.
Licensing cartoons for publishing · Ask us about your book
Q&A: Promoting your book with cartoons
Q: Can I use the cartoon in a book trailer video?
A: Yes, with a license for that use, since a video is separate from the book. Tell us about it and we’ll tell you what’s needed.
Q: Can I add the book’s title to a social post featuring the cartoon?
A: Yes, as long as the title sits beside the cartoon. Text across the artwork needs our written agreement first.
Q: My license covers the ebook. Doesn’t that include social posts?
A: No. The ebook is covered because it carries the same content in the same context as the printed book. A social post takes the cartoon somewhere new, and a social media pack covers it.
Keep reading
Questions to ask before licensing a cartoon