How to Submit an Illustration to a Newspaper

Although newspapers often take photograph submissions, submitting a non-photo illustration is a little tougher. The space given to illustrations in a newspaper is not substantial, and for your offering to be accepted, it must be very relevant to a news story. Even submitting the piece is not as straightforward as submitting other kinds of content like photos and text, since newspapers are not used to dealing with art in general.

Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

1. Get your illustration in the best format. Sure, you can submit the original, but two things may occur: the newspaper may not return it, and they may have trouble getting it into their copy. It may be better to submit the piece as a digital image file, so that editors can quickly paste it into their page.
2. Talk to your beat reporter. If you are a local resident wanting to get an illustration in print, the first person to talk to is not the office receptionist, but the reporter who covers your area. The beat reporter has daily access to the editor and can be an advocate for your piece. Contact him to talk about the possibilities of including your work in an upcoming story.
3. Outline the relevance of the illustration to some breaking news piece. A map drawing or sketch of a land use plan, for example, will have a better chance than a character drawing, unless there is a feature story on the character you have drawn. Connect the illustration to the newspaper's interest with concrete links; the editor will notice these and consider them.
4. Contact the appropriate editor. If the newspaper is of any substantial size, it will have a few editors. One of them is responsible for your area. Find this person and explain the relevance of what you submitted.
5. Be available by phone. An editor or reporter might call you at any hour to get more information. You may end up providing parts of the story that accompanies your illustration, especially if you have inside knowledge. Let the office know if you have relevant knowledge of a story, and you can expect a follow-up call from a newspaper employee.

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