I got rejected last week. Wait, let me rephrase that, My current WIP got rejected last week. I had worked on this book consistently for the past two years. It had been edited once for me by an amazing writer I trust, but I felt it was time to send it out and see what happened.
I got a no.
What did I do next?
I emailed a freelance editor I knew and sent it out to him with in 10 hours. The critique had been specific and so I sent it to him to hear what he has to say because if that critique holds firm then it is fixable. But it was time for help. I asked for help.
A dead end is not a dead end after all. There is always another way to go.
When my dad was starting out he always had a story out to an editor. He would send one off to a magazine as soon as he wrote it. That way each time he got rejected there was still hope. There was always a story out there he was waiting to hear about.
Hope.
The most important thing to artists is the ability to hope. It keeps us creating. Hope that you will be seen or read or appreciated. Truthfully, I will write whether I get traditionally published or not because I am a writer. End of story…or beginning of story.
When I was 18 I went to a an interview with the top modeling agency at the time, Nina Blanchard. I was supposed to meet with her, but at the last minute she couldn’t make the meeting. Instead I met with the man who was her second in command. He told me -and I have never forgotten this, “You have a high fashion body and a commercial face and your eyes are too small for your full features.” Wow. Okay.
I drove home, made two phone calls, and went out to Wilhelmina West and Elite. The other two top agencies in LA.
And I got turned down.
Truth was I didn’t really want to be a model. I was an actress and having an acting career was my goal. Modeling could be a way in. I had taken the opportunities to work with photographers I knew and for 5 or 6 years I had been told that I should model and so I thought I would try. Not to be.
I think that no matter who is rejecting you, you should listen to the critique if they give one, and be grateful for that point of view. Then consider it. Look at a new way to do it or open another door. All is not lost. It is just that the way is not found yet.
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