NCS 2018 Divisional Awards Call for Submissions!

EDIT: DEADLINE EXTENDED TO FRIDAY, JANUARY 18th

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.

The regional NCS chapters will jury the following divisions: Newspaper Pane;, Newspaper Strip, Gag Cartoon, Editorial Cartoons and the all-new Variety Entertainment division! (Variety Entertainment is defined as any newspaper, magazine, or online cartoon feature that contains puzzles, games, activities, trivia, history, or instruction.) The results of the chapter nominations from these five divisions will be added together and the top 8 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, Magazine/Newspaper Illustration, Greeting Cards, Comic Books, Graphic Novels, Advertising/Product Illustration, Online Comics – Short Form, Online Comics – Long Form, Feature Animation, Television Animation and the all-new Online Animation division! (Online Animation is defined as any animated cartoon that was shown for the first time online, not on television or in a theater.)

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.

If submitting via e-mail, submit each example of art as a separate JPEG, 1000 px height/width maximum, and no larger than 3MB. Send all included elements as separate JPEGs, clearly labeled. Failure to do so may result in disqualification.

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. Failure to do so may result in disqualification.

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. Failure to do so may result in disqualification.

Submissions in the two Online Comics categories should be accompanied by links for verification of first publication date.
Please remember only recent work can be considered. This means work published between the dates of January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2018. Submitted work must be accompanied by verification of the date of first publication (or release date in the case of Feature Animation, TV Animation and Online 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 or 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. Failure to comply may result in disqualification.

There is no fee for submissions.

Your submissions must be delivered to their respective locations by January 15, 2019 January 18, 2019 for consideration for one or more of the following Division Awards:

GAG CARTOONS – Submit up to 8 samples of 2018 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 8 samples of 2018 published work via e-mail (digital files as specified above) with bio/entry forms to: Carolyn Belefski, (cartooncarolyn@hotmail.com)

NEWSPAPER PANEL CARTOONS – Submit exactly 8 samples of 2018 published work via e-mail (digital files as specified above) with bio/entry forms to: John Hambrock, (john@edisonlee.net)

EDITORIAL CARTOONS – Submit exactly 8 samples of 2018 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: John Hambrock, (john@edisonlee.net)

VARIETY ENTERTAINMENT – (New): This award is defined as any newspaper, magazine, or online comic feature that contains puzzles, games, activities, trivia, history, or instruction.
Submit exactly 8 samples of 2018 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: Jason Chatfield, (vp@reuben.org)

GREETING CARDS – Submit up to 6 samples of 2018 published work via mail or as (preferred) digital files as specified above via e-mail with bio/entry forms to: Greg Cravens 312 N. McLean blvd. Memphis, TN 38112 (membership@reuben.org)

MAGAZINE and NEWSPAPER ILLUSTRATION – Submit up to 6 samples of 2018 published work via mail or as (preferred) digital files as specified above via e-mail with bio/entry forms to: Terri Libenson 6550 Hidden Woods Trail Cleveland, OH 44143 (terrilibenson@gmail.com)

ADVERTISING and PRODUCT ILLUSTRATION – Submit up to 6 samples of 2018 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: Bill Morrison, (prez@reuben.org)

BOOK ILLUSTRATION – Send up to 6 samples (which could be from one or multiple books) of 2018 published work via mail (physical only, no email please) with bio/entry forms to: Bill Morrison 786 Twillin Ct. Simi Valley, CA 93065 (prez@reuben.org)

COMIC BOOKS – Submit up to 3 samples of work published in 2018 (physical only, no email please) with bio/entry forms to: Ed Steckley, 4302 39th Place, Sunnyside, NY 11104

GRAPHIC NOVELS – Submit up to 3 books published in 2018 (physical only, no email please) with bio/entry forms to: Ed Steckley, 4302 39th Place, Sunnyside, NY 11104

ANIMATION DIVISIONS
All three animation categories (Television, Feature and Online) 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 2018 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 2018 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 2018 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 2018 calendar year. Submit one or more samples as explained above to: Frank Gladstone, 1119 Moncado Dr. Glendale, CA 91207 (fgladstone@pacbell.net)

ONLINE ANIMATION – (New): This category is defined as any animated cartoon that was shown for the first time on the internet, not on television or in a theatre.
All entries must be work created for online viewing ONLY, and released in the 2018 calendar year. Submit one or more links to samples as explained above to: Chad Frye, (chad@chadfrye.com)

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 2018 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 8 samples, submitted via e-mail, as PDF/digital files with bio/entry forms to: Wayno, (wayno1@gmail.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 8 samples, submitted via email, as PDF/digital files with bio/entry forms to: Wayno, (wayno1@gmail.com)

All winners will be announced at the 73rd Annual Reuben Awards Dinner in Huntington Beach, CA on May 18, 2019.