Oh Honey, don't be in a bad place. This is just the dark before the dawn. I promise you that. Lets go through this...
I know you had a disaster with the mugs and t-shirts. The biggest problem you had there was the woke community crying 'racism'. And we all know it was some deranged sugar. You cannot take that stuff personally. Plus I'm not sure it's all that effective to go that route anyway. You really need to sign a decent contract with a firm that will do all that for you. So for now, put mugs and t-shirts to one side.
Its the same with the book. If you go the self publishing route you don't really make any money. Even on Amazon, you're not going to make that much money. So you need a publisher but it has to be a publisher that publishes cartoons etc. There will be a lot of them out there, not just in the UK but also in the States. You won't have heard of them but you will be able to tell if they know what they're doing or not.
I'm most worried that it's upset you to be called racist. You must take no notice of these people or their views whatsoever. It's a horrible thing to go through at first. But eventually it gets said so often by absolute idiots and morons that it become meaningless. I've been called a transphobe, a bigot, a Nazi and a Right Wing loon. All because I believe that transwomen are men. I promise you that you will get over the upset and you'll ignore them without being aware that you're ignoring them. No one with a brain thinks that your cartoons are racist...because they're not. Let the older ones surface, they were bloody funny and it's good for people to see them. You've done nothing to be ashamed of. So give yourself a break on that one.
I can help you with the book.
I can track down the right sort of publishers to approach and I can ensure that they're decent companies. If you need any writing for the book,, I can do that too. I am more than willing to assist you in anyway. I believe in your talent
@Chita and you should too.
The path to success is a very rocky road and you need to be prepared for that. But as my favourite poem says 'Be kind to yourself'
We all love and support you hun, you've kept us in stitches for years. And we all stand by you.