I am looking for cartoons featuring dogs and their "meditative,"
spiritual, or "dogly" nature for inclusion in a book I have written
called "How to Meditate with Your Dog: An Introduction to Meditation
for Dog Lovers."

These cartoons can be from various cartoonists who would be interested in
allowing me to use their work for an artist credit and a modest fee of
$25 per cartoon (plus a copy of the book.)  I am seeking between 12-20
cartoons for the book.  Ideally, the cartoons should be drawn in
simple black and white line art (not color, not zipper tone screens). 
Most importanly, the cartoons should be funny and make you smile--if
not laugh outright.

As a bonus, I am also seeking similarly-themed cartoons related to
cats for the sequel to the book.

Thanks.

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Request for Question Clarification by tox-ga on 29 May 2004 00:17 PDT

Hi there,

There's a local cartoonist that I've always been a fan of; his
cartoons always brighten up my family's day with laughter.  I believe
he may be interested in doing something like this on the side.  He has
a great sense of humor and regularly spends time drawing illustrations
or comics for small events.  He has agreed to speak to you and discuss
this project and given me permission to post his email address:
john_w@rogers.com

I will let John know that he should be expecting an email from you
sometime soon.  Please let me know how things work out so I can assist
you further if necessary.

Best regards,
Tox-ga

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Clarification of Question by mauijim-ga on 29 May 2004 10:41 PDT

Thanks, I dropped him an email.  I am still looking for contributions
from a handful of cartoonists, so please let me know if you have
others who would be interested.  Perhaps there is an online community
for cartoonists?

Hello Mauijim

I have been researching this question for you and I have been
successful in finding a number of different online communities for
cartoonists.

The majority of these communities act as showcases for different
artists and cartoonists.  Each has a number of different examples of
their work and most give price ranges for different types of
illustration.  I would guess that because of the quantity of cartoons
that you are requiring you will have some bargaining power with them
to reduce the costs down.

Although the majority of the artists are not specifically dog (or cat)
related you indicated in your clarification that a directory of
artists would be ok.  I am sure you will find some cartoonists who are
eager to be published!

Cartoon/Artist Networks:
http://www.thefunnypapers.com/search/Artist_and_Writers/For_Hire/
http://www.planetcartoonist.com/artdirectors.shtml
http://www.planetcartoonist.com/poptoon/
http://www.21portfolios.com/
http://www.folioplanet.com/
http://www.theispot.com/

You will need to spend a little time surfing through these sites to
get an idea of the styles of each artist which I cannot really do (as
it is a subjective thing - only you know what you really would like
the pictures to be like!).  It would then be a simple task of
contacting each and discussing the job with them.

Additionally, there are also a number of freelance cartoonists
advertising through their own websites, but good ones are more
difficult to track down, I did like the style of these two though
(which is why I mention them here):

http://www.curtoons.com/logo-design-rates.htm
http://worldofmonkeyproductions.homestead.com/Commissions.html

I hope this answer is helpful.  If you need any further help or have
any further questions on this subject please ask for clarification and
I will do all I can to help.

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Clarification of Answer by palitoy-ga on 07 Jun 2004 05:41 PDT

Some further additonal directories of artists can be found here:

http://arts.illustration.your-directory.com/

Many freelance artists also check out these locations regularly so an
advert placed at these sites would probably get results:

http://www.elance.com
http://www.guru.com
http://www.AllFreelanceWork.com
http://www.freelanceworkexchange.com
http://www.worktree.com
http://www.homeworkers.org

These last links are general freelance work sites covering all jobs. 
I would recommend the first two links but have little or no experience
of the others.