Cartoonists Who Embrace the Indie Model -- and Still Make a Living

By: E&P Staff Simon Owens has a story today at Mediashift about cartoonists who have gone the independent route, creating on their own and selling merchandise and books themselves to make a living. Among his subjects: Randall Munroe, creator of web comic "xkcd"; "Diesel Sweeties" creator Richard Stevens; and Howard Tayler, who does the Web comic "Schlock Mercenary."

Owens offers a peek inside the business model that eschews traditional avenues of distribution -- i.e., newspapers and big syndicates -- in favor of one that survives primarily on merch and books, not the strips themselves.

Cartoonist Tayler tells Owens that ?Newspapers are dying, and the syndication model is dying, and something better is going to come along to replace it.?

Check it out, here.