You’ve reached out and presented your work to galleries, companies, exhibits, and you continue to receive polite rejections, not so polite rejections and sometimes simply silence.
You’ve done your work. You’ve put in your time. You’ve perfected and refined your art and…
Nothing.
The powers that be and the universe have reacted with a resounding
No!
So, do you stop? Are you being sent a cosmic message? Is it time to grow up realize that you’re going down the wrong path? Forget launching a marketing or PR campaign. Maybe you should throw in the towel and close the door on this chapter of your life?
Good questions.
And these are questions that no one can answer for you. These are certainly not questions that can be answered by your family and friends. I’ll revisit that in a bit.
What I can tell you is that when it comes to being an artist, rejection is a part of the process. If you choose the path of the painter, writer, musician, or any of the arts, you are guaranteed to hear the word “no” considerably more than “yes.” It simply is how the world works.
Bottom line is rejection is important to creating good art. Rejections force artists to rethink and reevaluate their art. They push them to work harder and hopefully create better work. Rejection also serves another purpose. They force you to stand outside of your work and view it with a critical eye. There are times artists need to heed what is being said, but there are also times when it’s important to listen, understand whether you’re headed in the right direction and, if so, then stand your ground.
When I worked as a freelance writer, particularly at the beginning, rejection was literally my middle name. But I persevered, continued sending out queries and although the rejections never did stop, I began receiving acceptances and then assignments. I went from writing for local publications, to national publications, to working as a contributing editor and eventually as an editor-in-chief. My approach was to always have multiple submissions circulating, so when a rejection did come (as they always did) I would shift my focus to the other submissions.
Rejections were tougher to take when it came to my fiction. There are some that I carry with me to this day. Some of them were spot on. The work wasn’t ready to submit. Other rejections I totally disagreed with. But, my approach was the same. The rejections helped fuel my desire to write and submit. When my first short story was published, it seemed to outweigh all of the rejections. When my novel was published, I understood that the rejections were simply a part of the process on the road to find the right fit.
Don’t wait until you’re one hundred percent convinced that your art is perfect before you submit or market your work. The quest for perfection often leads to paralysis. From my perspective, imperfect action (while continually refining your work) is your best approach. Art is a continually evolving process. Five years from now you won’t be the same artist you are today. Don’t aim for perfection, shoot for creation.
And don’t wait to launch a PR campaign around you and your art. Get your work out there. Start building bridges between your art and your audience.
Remember rejections come for a variety of reasons. Your work might not be a fit. A gallery might be overbooked. The timing might be off. They might have just accepted very similar work. But also, always keep in mind that you’re work might not be ready. You might need to refine and perfect your art, in which case they are doing you and immense favor by responding with a “no.” Then again (and here’s where it gets tricky) they might have really rotten taste.
And (to revisit the friends and family topic I touched on earlier) never use them as a gauge as to whether your art is ready to submit or show. For a variety of reasons they are generally the worst judges. They tend to either be too lenient and think everything you do is marvelous, or they’re overly critical and judge every work you create as inferior. Find some trusted impartial person(s) in the field that you can get some feedback from.
The most important question you need to ask yourself is why you’re creating your art? Is it for the accolades and the acceptance? Is it for the money or art can generate? Or is that it’s something you simply need to do?
If you’re looking to support yourself though your art, you do need to look at your art from a business perspective, but you don’t want the rejection or acceptance you receive to determine whether you create or not. That is the most personal decision that there is and one that should be made by you and you alone.
So, listen to feedback. Learn from rejection, but don’t let negative feedback stop you. Learn, move forward and allow your art to grow.
Copyright © PR FOR ARTISTS / Anthony Mora / Aubrie Wienholt 2016