We have made a minor change to our “teaser site” at Zingerding.com that could have larger implications.  Through a slight design update, we added a button to the comic strip submission page.  It’s now easier for cartoonists to submit their comic strips to be one of the Zingerding Six.

The other news is that we’ve now got a loose timeline for the closed beta launch for the Zingerding Six.  We’re not ready to announce a hard date yet, but we’re shooting for “late spring”.  We’re going to start ramping up the buzz for launch.

The revolution for comic strips begins soon!

This is it, cartoonists!  Here is your call to action!  You have the opportunity to ignite the revolution!

I’ve already told you about Zingerding’s lofty goal and the incentives for the Zingerding Six. We’ve now launched a site for you to submit your comic strips for the big chance. Here’s how it works:

– Visit http://zingerding.crowdcampaign.com

– Click ‘Submit your Comic Strip’ to… well… submit your comic strip.  :)

– Upload one to five examples and provide a link to more.

That’s it! It’s set up like a contest where people can vote on the submissions. However, we’re not running it like a traditional “contest”. We have yet to establish closing dates, and we’re planning to leave it open for a while.

The final selection for the Zingerding Six will be based on a panel of professional cartoonists as well as votes on the contest site. Therefore votes matter but they aren’t going to have the final say. Why? This sort of voting can be greatly imbalanced by many factors like a cartoonist’s ability to spread the word, or by the timing of when a strip was submitted compared to others. However, we want the voting to provide feedback to us about what people like. Public opinion still plays a part.

The contest platform is integrated with Twitter, so for you cartoonists with followers, it’s a good opportunity to garner support. And we’ll be tweeting all we can too!

One important note is that we’re going to market the hotcakes out of this contest! (Read my comments about how Amazon/Andrews McMeel failed to create fanfare.) We may not have the following that Amazon has but we’ve got the passion and guts to put your work out there! We run this blog. We’re on Twitter and Facebook. We’ve sparked a cause called Free the Comic Strip! We have our own site, Zingerding.com. We’ve got more plans and we will create the fanfare!

The Zingerding Six are more than just a group of six cartoonists. They will be a league of revolutionaries. You can be one!

Zingerding is out to ignite a revolution in comic strips, and we need six talented cartoonists to join the cause.  Here’s what we’re looking for:

• Humorous comic strip, any genre.
• Publishable at least three times a week.
• Quality in writing and craftsmanship.

Here’s what cartoonists get:

• Slick, easy publishing tools and comic management.
• Each series gets its own profile and each strip gets its own page.
• Cartoonists earn 70% of revenue.
• Readership feedback and statistics.
• Zingerding’s marketing engine will find you readers.
• Exclusive opportunity to help shape the revolution.

This is only the beginning, though.  It’s your chance to get in on the ground floor.  To apply, visit Zingerding.com and “Zing in on the action”.  If your strip is already online, please provide a link.  We’ll be in touch shortly about what happens next.

For questions, email marilla@zingerding.com.