King Publishing Effort Makes Authors Out of Columnists and Cartoonists

By: Dave Astor What's the common thread between the autobiography of a columnist/TV anchor, a hardcover history of a long-running comic, and a paperback by the creator of a much newer strip?

They are among the books that came about with the help of a King Features Syndicate publishing program that's been under the radar since its 2004 launch.

"I work as an in-house agent and packager to develop proposals for our columnists, cartoonists, and archives," said King Managing Editor/Director of Publishing Glenn Mott. Then these proposals are taken to book companies such as Andrews McMeel Publishing (a sister division to Universal Press Syndicate), Fantagraphics, Abrams, and others.

"Book packaging is a large part of publishing now," Mott told E&P.

The three books mentioned in this story's first paragraph are examples of the King program's successes. They include:

-- "I Am My Father's Daughter: Living a Life Without Secrets," the autobiography of King columnist/Univision anchor Maria Elena Salinas (written with Liz Balmaseda) that was published last year by Rayo/HarperCollins. "Maria had a very compelling story to tell," said Mott.

-- "Blondie: The Complete Bumstead Family History," which was published this summer by Thomas Nelson and authored by "Blondie" writer Dean Young and journalist Melena Ryzik. "There hadn't been a 'Blondie' book since 1981," said Mott, despite the fact that the 77-year-old comic remains a fixture in more than 2,000 newspapers.

-- "Pretending You Care: The Retail Employee Handbook," which was written by "Retail" cartoonist Norm Feuti for release this fall by Hyperion. Mott said Feuti, who worked in the retail industry for more than 15 years before King launched his comic at the start of 2006, turned out to be someone who writes well in a book format as well as in a comic format. ("Pretending" is mostly text, with some "Retail" strips as illustrations.)

King, which does not have its own book imprint, is also open to helping publishers put out collections of the syndicate's present and past comics. One is the Elzie Segar version of "Popeye," which is being featured in a series from Fantagraphics Books.

(Fantagraphics has also found success with projects such as "The Complete Peanuts" series that's reprinting every episode of Charles M. Schulz's United Media strip. Meanwhile, other publishers are releasing classic-comic collections as well.)

Mott said starting the King publishing effort three years ago was something he welcomed, because he worked as an independent book packager in the 1990s and as a McGraw-Hill editor from 1999 until joining King in 2001. And Mott is an author himself, of the January 2007-released "Analects on a Chinese Screen" from Chax Press. (Mott lived in Shanghai in the early '90s, and has returned to China since then.)

Prior to 2004, King's licensing division handled the syndicate's publishing efforts. That division is still involved in the book realm -- with King Vice President/International Licensing Cathy Titus responsible for international publishing rights while Mott focuses on domestic publishing.

Aiding Mott in the syndicate's book efforts are King Vice President/Creative Director Frank Caruso and publishing assistant Katherine Olson.

Mott said some King cartoonists and columnists do their books independently of the syndicate. But he added that being able to hire Olson this year is an indication of the amount of publishing being generated through his office.