I Finally Started Listening To Advice

Early on, I can remember being open to advice. A lot of people do not believe my story but it is true. I was (about 44) when starting this venture. I had lost my job at the tv station (was never really very good at 9-5 coat/tie ventures), so it was no big loss, but....it left me with just a pocketful of change. I had just enough to buy a used IBM clone 386 beat up computer that I WAY overpaid for by some shyshter who "saw me coming"; I book called "Internet 4 Dummies" (I had never used the net), and my stray dog Thor (of whom I still have and love).

I was used to obstacles and issues by then. I had my share. This time, I was to be without a home as I could not pay my rent, even for an old beat up house. It appeared my hometown did not want a 44 year old cartoonist who didn't draw very well and had displayed very little other talent in many arenas.

A friend of mine, a caring social worker and her husband allowed me to live and work in a beat up abandoned warehouse that happened to have a phone line and electricity, but that was it. No hot water, no furniture, nothing but junk in it. I took it.

I bought a dial up Internet service and began recruiting artists. I read the Internet 4 Dummies book several times. I talked to established cartoonists over the Internet. I plodded along, sleeping in a sleeping bag on the concrete floor for almost two years working with junk all around me. I froze in the winter and
could barely breathe in the summer; that was the climate of south Mississippi.
I was determined to create something funny and important. I had no idea what the
outcome would be.

As time went by, illustrators came and left. We were a non-commerce site; in fact I couldn't even afford a domain and got a free one with more popup ads than cartoons.
But as time went by, I found I could write 50 or more concepts on some days, and
the concepts seemed strong enough to lure some very accomplished illustrators
willing to take a chance. I had read enough about Internet businesses to know
to "hang on tight" and "be patient". I had no idea it would be a decade before
the world would ever notice. What they notice is at http://www.londonstimes.us
and has had over 7.5 million visitors since January of 2005. I still can't believe it when I think about it.

Now, I imagine I have worked with at least a hundred illustrators and finished
over 6000 cartoons; probably one of the largest private individual collections of
single panel cartoons on the Internet.

I write about it for two reasons. One is, I am proud and admit it. My ego deserves
stroking. I worked very hard and at times in unbearable environments. But I
preservered as did many of my illustrators, several of them still with me; one
has been able to capitalize on all the attenion by publishing several books of his
own (he is very into Christianity and Scouting and does a terrific job at
using those themes as his cartoons and does so in good taste). His name is
Rich Diesslin and he has also managed the website for a long time now.

In 2006, I met Rosy. We fell in love. She is an attorney on the west coast and she loves the arts and creative projects. She encouraged me to work harder and
manufacturer products. I already was making tee shirts and mugs at Cafe Press but the royalties were somewhat of a joke.

I found another manufacturer willing to take a chance and he promoted us heavily.
Londons Times Superstore was born with about 60,000 cartoon image products on 24
different items in several dozen categories from science to romance to sports to
Star Wars and Star Trek. It is at http://www.londonstimessuperstore.com

Londons Times Cartoons By Rick London Gains Worldwide Popularity

My voyage into cartooning is a funny story (no pun intended). The seed was planted long ago. I believe the year was 1986. I was with some friends in Washington, D.C. who informed me I had been invited to a Gary Larson Far Side exhibit. I remember laughing at his cartoon; and eventually every morning when opening the newspaper going directly to it. I was hooked. I remember saying to myself "I could do that....if I could only draw." Sure, and the next thought was I could re-build the Taj Mahal if I could only build.

Years went by and my life took many twists and turns. I owned my own business in Washington, D.C. at age 39. It was successful. I worked in major media. I did a lot of things. I was very adventuresome. I moved to L.A. to learn screenwriting (didn't do very well, I must admit but at least I tried). The Northridge quake hit about the same time Mom called from Ms. to tell me she was very ill. I returned home at age 44.

It was humbling and educational. I learned to care for someone whom I loved very much, my mother. I learned to take a job that i felt was "beneath me"; I sold ads for a local tv station. I did a lot of things I didn't want to do.

Mom died in 1996. I moved to Hot Springs, Ar a town in which I knew nobody, but had had ancestors here who loved it. They were right.

By that time, I had learned that many cartoons are team efforts, that is, a writer and artist, or writers and artists, and I developed a team. I wrote, created concepts, they drew. We had a fun hobby that had started in 1997.

Artists came and went, but by 2005 Londons Times Cartoons www.londonstimes.us was
rated by Alexa as one of the top 100,000 sites on the Internet with over 6000 cartoons. We were receiving about 4000 hits per hour; we've had 7.5 million visitors
since January of 2005.

There is much more to the story. I will be blogging it soon. I hope to hear
from others, feel free to join and write in the blog and let's keep it going.

Thanks to everyone who made our work popular!

Sincerely,

Rick London
Londons Times Cartoons
www.londonstimes.us