Publishing with PLAYGIRL Magazine, the side story:

 Funny thing. I sent in some cartoons to them many years ago. And I recalled that the editor at the time sent me back a response that they weren't raunchy enough. But years later, I sent off some more targeted (and better with years more of experience) cartoons. As I was updating my files, I found that the editor didn't quite say that, but my mind made up a better story, apparently. The new editor on the later on the 2005 run called me up and told me they hadn't used cartoons in 20 years. She really liked my work and was revamping the magazine (as many new editors do when they take over a publication). So I was the first one "under contract."
      Now that's pretty amazing for several reasons. One is that most magazines don't put anyone under contract. The second is that most magazines use cartoons very sparingly, so it's pretty tough to even get one in. And under the best circumstances, that's usually out of a batch of 10 really great and specifically tailored pieces. Unlike most cartoon work, PLAYGIRL-specific material, doesn't exactly have a lot of other possible markets just yet. Although Sex and The City made it ok to talk openly and comedically about women having fun with sex, we're still not at the place where women have classy and mainstream choices like the male population does.
     2 Side note tangents here: I grew up reading my dad's Playboy magazines. I've always wanted to be in Playboy. As a cartoonist. (Get your mind out of the gutter.) They're one of the top markets in the world for cartoons. And lots of people don't know that Hugh Hefner started out as a cartoonist. That's how he got started in the publishing industry.  I did make it into PLAYGIRL. That's 1/3 of my way to my publishing goal of my big 3: The New Yorker, Playboy and Playgirl.
     My other tangent is that my grandparents can't quite bring themselves to extol my Playgirl publishing feat. Probably not the thing you bring up at the church social. Oh well. But my extremely conservative dad blew me away with how proud he was, when he and his lovely wife Susan had my first published PLAYGIRL cartoon and magazine cover framed--in a sleek black frame and black suede mat.( And he almost got kicked out of his own office for sexual harrassement for showing my PLAYGIRL magazine debut around to his employees!)