Welcome to My 15 Minutes

I have decided that the level of one's success may directly be linked to their ability (or inability) to embrace acts commonly associated with shameless self-promotion. With this new-found concept in mind, I recently took it upon myself (after much encouragement from my very supportive wife and family) to inform the local newspapers as to how news-worthy I really am. Surprisingly enough... this tactic seems to have actually worked!

Last week it occurred to my wife and me that while I am still currently "in the running" for Amazon's "Comic Strip Superstar" contest as a quarter-finalist, the truth is that if I was not selected to advance to the next round (from 250 quarter-finalists down to 50 semi-finalists) then my classification in the contest would suddenly be "also-ran". It became evident that while I may find myself in the company of 49 other very lucky cartoonists the following week, there was a good chance that I might not - meaning that this might be my only "15 minutes". In other words, in this moment I am still considered "news", whereas in one week's time, I would just be another guy who once competed in a contest.

So, last Thursday I mustered up my pride and walked in to both local newspapers with my story... only to find out that my timing couldn't have been worse. Not only was the homecoming game that evening (for those of you who aren't aware... "homecoming" actually STARTED in my home town, so it's kind of a big deal around here) but we were also experiencing more rain and flash-flooding than we'd had since the floods of '93-'95. I was basically shooed away by both papers and told that I would hear something back in the afternoon if they got a chance.

I left really not expecting too much.

But, by lunch time I had received confirmation that one of the papers wanted to meet with me early in the afternoon. When I met with them, at first they were confused as to why I felt that being a contestant in a comic strip contest was "news", but once I had a chance to explain the story behind "Jeremy And Tim", the interest turned to excitement. By the end of the conversation, the reporter had decided that he would like to work up an official profile on me and the comic strips, and run them in the paper later this month (since profiles are planned far in advance). But, to "capture the moment" that I had (currently being a quarter-finalist) he also said that he would begin blogging about "Jeremy And Tim" and the contest that very day!

I was so grateful and excited. It seemed that my wife's idea and my willingness to bear my pride openly was working - at least with half the newspapers in town, anyway...

...until about 5 o'clock that afternoon when I received a second phone call, this time from the other newspaper. A reporter had been handed the story and, true to their word, they had contacted me after things had calmed down a bit.

She and I talked for quiet a long time about the comic strips; the history, the characters, etc. She had done quiet a bit of research on my website, the social networking pages, and even this blog. Even though she wasn't an avid comic-reader (she had never heard of "Calvin and Hobbes", which made me cry inside), she was very interested in the story and moved things along quickly in hopes of putting together a good article that would make it into the Sunday paper.

After a couple of face-to-face interviews, a few emails, many phone calls, and a Saturday morning photo shoot, I now sit at home this Sunday morning happy to blog about the successful news-media presence of "Jeremy And Tim".

Welcome to my "15 Minutes":

Columbia Missourian:
"Columbia Comic Artist Brings Back Comic and Advances in International Contest"

Columbia Tribune:
"Local Artist Moves Closer to the 'Comic Strip Superstar' Crown"

*Thanks to Aarik Danielsen (Tribune) and Tanya Ortiz (Missourian) for picking up the story, and John Schreiber (Missourian) for the great photos!