Cartoonist Guidelines
Kappan cartoons are well-known in the field of education and considered a hallmark of the publication. Kappan editors review hundreds of cartoons every year but publish only a few per issue.
Keep in mind: We receive a lot of submissions that play off of the same small handful of subjects (e.g., bad report cards, detention, missing homework, over-testing, misbehaving or sarcastic students, and technological change). Please feel free to explore the many other kinds of human drama and wackiness that go on in K-12 education. The possibilities are endless. We’d be excited to see cartoons about hot lunch, band rehearsals, school board elections, sex education, prom scandals, fire drills, nap time, field trips, foreign exchange students, custodians in love, lice checks, middle school graduation, social cliques, banned books, Montessori programs, school uniforms, Model UN, drivers ed, science fair, teachers on vacation, the pressures of kindergarten, and on and on. Surprise us.
We also strive for diversity in our pages, so we’re especially appreciative of submissions that include students, educators, and families of color, as well as a mix of genders in leadership roles, doing domestic tasks, playing sports, and so on.
Cartoons are typically reviewed within six weeks after the close of the stipulated submission periods of April 1-30 and November 1-30.
To submit original cartoons, please create a single pdf file with one cartoon per page. Name the pdf file using this format:
PDK_YourLastName.pdf
Attach the pdf file to your e-mail and send to: manuscripts@pdkintl.org
Use the subject line: CARTOON SUBMISSION
Please limit your submissions to no more than 20 for each April and November submission period.
We will review the cartoons and contact you by return e-mail to let you know whether we’re going to purchase any. If we decide to purchase cartoons, we’ll ask you to send a high-resolution jpg or tiff file.
Photography Guidelines
Kappan rarely hires photographers for specific assignments.
We are most interested in looking at stock photos depicting a variety of school situations. Some subjects that we would like to see include racially and ethnically diverse students in classrooms or engaged in educational projects and groups of teachers and administrators interacting with one another and/or with children.
We sometimes need photos of specific age groups — kindergarten, early elementary, late elementary, middle or high school students. We will only use photographs of children that have model releases signed by parents. We also cover some topics that work best with people turned away from the camera or in shadow.
We prefer to review photography portfolios online. E-mail your website information to kappan@pdkintl.org.
Illustrator Guidelines
Most illustrations in Kappan are stock purchase, but we occasionally commission covers or illustrations for special reports.
Artists are selected to receive assignments based on samples and their previous experience. Many types of media are appropriate — pencil, graphite, acrylic, gouache, wash, ink, paper collage, construction — and should be submitted as digital art sent via e-mail.
Illustrators are expected to work from the original manuscript, concept notes, or the creative services team’s suggestions to come up with several roughs or thumbnail sketches to show a choice of concepts and compositions. These may then be selected, refined, or altered by the Kappan team. The general time frame for illustration assignments is two to three weeks from the assignment to the final deadline.
To be considered for freelance assignments or stock purchases, please send a link to your web portfolio to kappan@pdkintl.org.
Payment and Rights
We pay upon publication and after receiving your invoice. We do not pay for incomplete, late or unacceptable work.
Payment for photographs, illustrations and cartoons is for full, nonexclusive print and electronic use, which may include distribution of, through third-party vendors such as Sage Publications, full text and PDFs of articles that include illustrations, photographs and/or cartoons.
We provide two copies of the issue in which the work appears.
