Pearls Before Swine is a syndicated comic strip that runs in 650 newspapers around the world.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q) Are there Pearls Before Swine books?
A) Yes, a whole bunch of them. Just click the Pearls Books link for all the info.
Q) Are you on social media?
Yes. I’m on Facebook HERE.
I’m on Twitter HERE.
I’m on Instagram HERE.
Q) Did you write a series of middle grade books?
A) Yes, the series is called Timmy Failure. There are seven volumes published by Candlewick Press and a prequel published by Hyperion. There is also a Timmy Failure movie on Disney+ called Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made.
Q) Pearls Before Swine doesn’t yet appear in my newspaper. How can I get my paper to include it?
A) Just write, e-mail or call them! You wouldn’t believe what a difference local readers can make in this regard. Generally, the person in charge of the comics is the Features Editor, but that varies from paper to paper.
Q) I heard there are Pearls Before Swine stuffed animals. Is that true?
A) There used to be some Pearls plush manufactured by a company called Aurora. If you look around online, you can sometimes still find people selling them.
Q) Do you sell original strips?
A) No. I try to hold on to my originals. Occasionally, though, I will auction one for charity. When I do so, I’ll announce it on this blog.
Q) Do you do book signings?
A) Yes. I’ll announce those on this blog as well. In addition, sometimes I will drop in at my local Copperfield’s in Petaluma, California and sign whatever Pearls books they have. I can’t personalize them, though.
Q) I’m looking for a copy of a specific Pearls strip. Where can I find it?
A) There are three ways:
(1) The first is to find it in the books. All of the Pearls strips eventually make their way into the books.
(2) The second is to go to www.pearlscomic.com and find it.
(3) The third (and the one I use, especially if the strip is older) is to click HERE. Then, in the search field, type a word or phrase that’s in the strip (e.g. “failure”). And in the search field titled “Comics”, pick “Pearls Before Swine.”
Q) What materials do you use?
A) Kuretake brush pens that I get from Japan. Strathmore bristol board paper, 300 series, vellum or smooth.
Q) What size are your originals?
A) The dailies are roughly 5″ high by 17″ long. The Sundays are about 8″ high by 18″ long.
Q) How long does it take you to do the strips?
A) In four hours, I can generally write 3 or 4 strips. I tend to write them in bunches. In terms of drawing, it takes me about 2 hours to draw a daily and 4 hours to draw a Sunday.
Q) Can you send me a sketch?
A) I used to do this in the beginning, but in the last few years, the requests have gotten way too numerous. So unfortunately, I can no longer do it. I’m sorry about that.
Q) Can you include my name in a strip?
A) Unfortunately, no.
Q) How can I get a print of a particular strip?
A) You can get an print of any strip you want by sending an email to: comicartprints@amuniversal.com
Q) Can you give me advice on doing a comic strip?
A) What worked for me personally was to study the writing of Dilbert. I just bought a bunch of Dilbert books and studied how to write a 3-panel strip. Then I showed them to a group of people who were acquaintances (but not quite friends) in order to get their honest assessment of which ones were funny and which ones weren’t.
Q) What comic strips influenced you?
A) Peanuts, Far Side, Calvin and Hobbes, Bloom County, Doonesbury, Dilbert and Get Fuzzy, among others.
Q) How long have you been doing the strip?
A) Pearls debuted in newspapers in January, 2002.
Q) Where does the title of the strip come from?
A) Matthew 7:6: “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine.” In the case of the strip, Rat thinks every thing he says is wise, and that it is wasted upon dumb Pig.
Q) Where do your ideas come from?
A) I wish I knew. All I do is seclude myself in my bedroom or in the corner of a cafe, drink a lot of coffee and play really loud music on my iPod. The music includes a lot of U2, Radiohead, Van Morrison, Coldplay, Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan, Killers, Arcade Fire, etc.
Q) Can I write my children out of my will and make you the sole inheritor of my vast fortune?
A) I’d be okay with that.
Q) I’d like to reprint a Pearls strip in my newsletter, book, magazine, presentation, etc. How do I go about doing that?
A) Just send an email to rcarmona@amuniversal.com.
Q) I’d like to interview you for my publication. How do I arrange that?
A) Just contact Lucas Wetzel at my syndicate. His email is lwetzel@amuniversal.com.
Q) How can I email you?
A) Just email me at pearlscomic@gmail.com. I can’t always answer them, but I do try to read all of them.
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