NCS Divisional Awards Call for Submissions!

It’s that time of year again, the National Cartoonists Society’s annual Divisional Awards aka the “Silver Reubens” are gearing up, and they need your submissions for consideration. Each division has specific sets of eligibility criteria, but the following are universal:

• Must be professionally published between Dec 1, 2016 and Dec 31, 2017
• Creator need not be an NCS member, but must be eligible for NCS membership (i.e. a professional cartoonist)

The NCS has specific requirements for different divisions, so please read the guidelines carefully. Submissions are due on Feb 7th.

Here’s the details:

The National Cartoonists Society has begun its annual call for entries for consideration for the NCS Divisional Reuben Awards recognizing excellence in professional cartooning. As always, you DO NOT have to be a member of the NCS to have your work considered for a divisional award. All that is required is that the work be eligible as detailed below.

In the interest of ensuring that the NCS Divisional Reuben Awards are representative of the very best work produced in each category, and that all of our regional chapters have the opportunity to be involved in the nomination process, the following procedures will be followed.

All the regional NCS chapters will jury the following divisions: Newspaper Panel, Newspaper Strip, Gag Cartoon, and Editorial Cartoons. The results of the chapter nominations from these four divisions will be added together and the top 12 nominees in each division will be voted for online by the entire NCS voting membership.

The following divisions will be juried by specialty juries due to the length and/or complexity of the work being considered: Book Illustration, Newspaper Illustration, Greeting Cards, Comic Books, Graphic Novels, Magazine Illustration/Magazine Feature, Advertising/Product Illustration, Online Comics – Short Form, Online Comics – Long Form, Feature Animation, and Television Animation.

Below you will find a list of the categories with the jury representative and the address to which you may send your entry.  Because all chapters will be jurying Newspaper Panel, Newspaper Strip, Gag Cartoon, and Editorial Cartoons, ONLY E-MAIL SUBMISSIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED FOR THOSE CATEGORIES.

EMAIL SUBMISSIONS ARE ENCOURAGED for the remaining divisions unless specified below, as long as they adhere to the submission guidelines and contain proper verification of eligibility.

Here are the basic submission guidelines:

• All submissions must include completed Bio Sheet and Entry Form.
• Submissions in the two Online Comics categories should be accompanied by links for verification of first publication date.

• If submitting via e-mail, submit each example of art as a separate JPEG, 800 x 800 px maximum, and no larger than 3MB. Send all included elements as separate JPEGs, clearly labeled.
• If providing a digital file via e-mail, also provide scan of a tear sheet or other proof of publication date (scan of magazine table of contents with feature circled, dated product art or ad scanned from print, documentation of print date from client, publisher, or syndicate) for each example.
• Likewise, any physical (mailed) submission must include proof of the date of publication. Please submit published tear sheets when possible and document when and where the work was published.

• Please remember only recent work can be considered. This means work published between the dates of December 1, 2016 and December 31, 2017. Submitted work must be accompanied by verification of the date of first publication (or release date in the case of Feature Animation and TV Animation). If the work submitted is not accompanied by verification that it was professionally published or released for the first time during the eligible time frame, it will not be considered. The jury representatives simply don’t have time to hunt for verification of samples that are submitted without publication or release dates, so if you don’t provide them your submission will be automatically eliminated.
• If you are submitting syndicated cartoons that run in both strip and panel format, you may submit to one of those divisions, but not both (your choice).
• If you are submitting samples in the Greeting Card category, the samples must be original greeting card designs. Gag cartoons or newspaper panel cartoons (or any previously published cartoons or illustrations) that have been repurposed as greeting cards will not be accepted.
• Your submissions must be delivered to their respective locations by February 7, 2018.
• There is no fee for submissions.

Cartoonists are invited to submit their work (or the work of another professional) no later than February 7, 2018, for consideration for one or more of the following Division Awards:

• GAG CARTOONS – Submit up to 12 samples of 2017 published work via e-mail (digital files as specified above) with bio/entry forms to: Terri Libenson, (terrilibenson@gmail.com)

• NEWSPAPER COMIC STRIPS – Submit exactly 12 samples of 2017 published work via e-mail (digital files as specified above) with bio/entry forms to: Ed Steckley, (secretary@reuben.org)

• NEWSPAPER PANEL CARTOONS – Submit exactly 12 samples of 2017 published work via e-mail (digital files as specified above) with bio/entry forms to: John Hambrock, (john@edisonlee.net)
• EDITORIAL CARTOONS – Submit exactly 12 samples of 2017 published work (published in print or online by a third party client with proof of date of posting via link) via e-mail (digital files as specified above)with bio/entry forms to: Ed Steckley, (secretary@reuben.org)
• GREETING CARDS – Submit up to 6 samples of 2017 published work via mail or as (preferred) digital files as specified above via e-mail with bio/entry forms to: Rick Stromoski, 569 North Main St. Suffield, CT 06078 (soup2nutz@cox.net)
• MAGAZINE FEATURE/MAGAZINE ILLUSTRATION – Submit up to 6 samples of 2017 published work via mail or as (preferred) digital files as specified above via e-mail with bio/entry forms to: Jason Chatfield, 292 East 3rd St. Apt 4B New York, NY  10009 (vp@reuben.org)
• ADVERTISING and PRODUCT ILLUSTRATION – Submit up to 6 samples of 2017 published and/or marketed work via mail or as (preferred) digital files as specified above via e-mail (all 3-D entries MUST be photographed… please do not send 3-D samples) with bio/entry forms to: Jason Chatfield, 292 East 3rd St. Apt 4B New York, NY  10009 (vp@reuben.org)
• NEWSPAPER ILLUSTRATION – Submit up to 6 samples of 2017 published work via mail or as (preferred), digital files as specified above via e-mail with bio/entry forms to: Bill Morrison, 786 Twillin Ct., Simi Valley, CA 93065 (bill.littlegreenman@gmail.com)
• BOOK ILLUSTRATION – Send up to 6 samples (which could be from one or multiple books) of 2017 published work via mail (physical only, no email please) with bio/entry forms to: Bill Morrison, 786 Twillin Ct., Simi Valley, CA 93065
• COMIC BOOKS – Submit up to 3 samples of work published in 2017 (physical only, no email please) with bio/entry forms to: Maria Scrivan, 18 Snow Crystal Lane Stamford, CT 06905
• GRAPHIC NOVELS – Submit up to 3 books published in 2017 (physical only, no email please) with bio/entry forms to: Maria Scrivan, 18 Snow Crystal Lane Stamford, CT 06905

ANIMATION DIVISIONS

Both animation categories (Television and Feature) are accepting submissions of individual artists’ work for consideration. Submissions may be submitted by the artists themselves, or by the studios or other colleagues on the artists’ behalf. There is no charge for awards submissions.

Production designers, art directors, character designers, layout artists, background painters, character painters, and all other still art creators must submit five to ten samples of work from a single production released in 2017 for each application. Samples may be physical prints or JPEG files on a CD-R or thumb drive. If the samples contain work by anyone else, please include a detailed written breakdown of which part of the art is attributed to the applicant.

Animators, storyboard artists, visual effects artists, and anyone else involved in creating moving or continuity art, please submit a reel of your work released in 2017 on a DVD or CD-R. (Storyboards will only be considered in animatic form.) If the samples contain work by anyone else, please include a detailed written breakdown of which part of the art is attributed to the applicant.

• TELEVISION ANIMATION– All entries must be work created for episodes of a television series that aired for the first time during the 2017 calendar year. Submit one or more samples as explained above to: Chad Frye, 518 E. Cypress Ave. #C, Burbank, CA 91501 (chad@chadfrye.com)
• FEATURE ANIMATION– All entries must be work created for a fully animated feature length movie released theatrically in the 2017 calendar year. Submit one or more samples as explained above to: Frank Gladstone, 1119 Moncado Dr.  Glendale, CA 91207 (fgladstone@pacbell.net)

ON-LINE COMICS DIVISIONS

All Online Comics submissions must adhere to the following:

– Submissions must be web-only publications (any work also syndicated in print should be submitted to the proper print division above)
– Submissions must have shown consistent timely publication over the course of the 2017 calendar year (weekly, bi-weekly, multiple times a week, daily, etc.)
– Creator must earn a significant part of their living directly from cartooning/comic art in order to meet the requirement that they be eligible for professional NCS membership (though, again, membership in the NCS is not a requirement for submitting.)

• ON-LINE COMICS- SHORT FORM

Additional specific requirements:

• • Submissions can be strip, single panel, single or partial page format
  • Submissions must be mainly self-contained gag, story, or narrative in each short comic, even if also part of an ongoing narrative
  • Submissions must be accompanied by documentation of date of first posting/release
  • Submit 12 samples, submitted via e-mail, as PDF/digital files with bio/entry forms to: Tom Richmond, (tom@tomrichmond.com)

• ON-LINE COMICS- LONG FORM

Additional specific requirements:

• • Submissions can be posted in single or multiple page format
  • Submissions must be ongoing narrative in serial form i.e. continuing comic book/graphic novel storyline
  • Submissions must be accompanied by documentation of date of first posting/release of each episode/page/segment
  • Submissions must have been posted in a minimum monthly or twelve times per year release schedule
  • Submit 12 samples, submitted via email, as PDF/digital files with bio/entry forms to:  Tom Richmond, (tom@tomrichmond.com)

All winners will be announced at the 72^nd Annual Reuben Awards Dinner in Philadelphia, PA on May 26, 2018.