I pitched a few things towards the end of the year and got rejected. That's fine by me. In both cases I was either told, or knew exactly why. And more importantly, I was thrilled with the fact that I had even started sending them out there.
Now, I don’t want to get involved with New Year’s Resolutions (because for me, they’ve never really lasted much longer than two weeks), but I will share with you a new attitude that I’m going to take on.
I will not get upset about being rejected until it’s happened 20 times in a row without a yes. I’m not going to say that I’ll never get upset about a rejection because that is unrealistic. But I will keep track of them, and I will allow myself to be really ticked off after it has happened twenty times. Now of course, that’s “in a row”. So, if I get an acceptance in there, the slate is wiped clean and I start all over.
You might think 20 is even unrealistic. Well, I didn’t say I wouldn’t be disappointed. But I do not want to complain about it until we hit 20. And then I’ll bitch all I want. But I believe that if I am being rejected, two things can be improved. 1) the pitch 2) finding the appropriate market.
The point of this game I’m playing with myself is to pitch more. And of course, maintain a positive attitude. But fore me, the former is the one that needs the most work. And I don’t want rejection to turn me away from trying. No way. Jen Leo v.32.5 is going to let go of whatever excuses have kept me from trying in the past. Today, I’m welcoming rejection because it means progress. It means that ideas out the door instead of just adding up in the back of tiny spiral notebooks.
I’ll keep the tally here:
JANUARY
Date: Acceptances/Attempts
Jan 4: 0/0
Jan 6: 2/0
Total: 1/0
Old but still true – road to success (and success is defined individually), is by way of failure, rejection, error. Persistence, hard work, discipline are still keys to inner pleasure and sustaining productivity.
2/0! Ok, it’s actually 1/0. One acceptance came in that was pitched before Jan. 1, and the second came and asked me to write for them. Slate is still clean before I’ve even officially started!
Ok, so I turned the 1/0 into a 2/3. Details to come. Still can’t complain because the accepted pitches mean the slate is clean again.
Hey Jen
Maybe it was just the wrong market. All the best for the new year and may you get tons and tons of offers to write!