After repeated attempts, and with no interest from the major syndication companies, I pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I was not going to be a syndicated cartoonist. Back then the internet and social media were in their infancy, and self-syndication was a full-time endeavor (of which I knew nothing about), so if the syndicate gatekeepers did not like your comic you were pretty much not going to be syndicated. Completely deflated, I tucked Hoxwinder Hall away and moved on with my life. I landed a job as an artist, got married, and twice became a father. I was happy.
Then one morning in 2010, while working on my computer, a friend sent me an instant message about a Washington Post comic strip contest call for entries. As I read the details about the contest I became intrigued...
Since I already had two weeks worth of strips completed from decades earlier, I selected six that I liked the most, submitted them to the Post and forgot about it. Several weeks later, I received a call from an unknown Washington D.C. phone number that I let go to voice mail. Turns out it was somebody from the Washington Post calling to congratulate me; Hoxwinder Hall had been selected as a Top-10 finalist out of approximately 500 entries! I kept that phone message saved on my cell phone for nearly a year.
The phone call was followed-up with this e-mail from a
Producer at the Washington Post…
Suddenly, my dream of comic strip syndication was reawakened! I was on top of the world and anything was again possible!
