Don't give up!
Here's just a few of the stack of rejection letters I accumulated in the years when I was breaking onto the business. I'm posting a photo of some of them here as an encouragement to those of you with ambitions and passions to keep following your dreams. I know how discouraging it can be to have knockbacks or, worse, if they don't reply at all, but perseverance and practice deliver results in the end! Keep developing, keep trying. Stick at it and good luck!
I used to send cartoons to various publications in the late 80s/ early 90s, such as my local Viz-a - like Brain Damage, and when they did reply, they would say, "Unfortunately, this is not quite right for us." Vague, and completely unhelpful. They would not tell me what would make my work suit them better. My dad's had the same when sending short stories to various publishers, such as the People's Fiend (sic).
ReplyDeleteDid you try self publishing? Back in the 1980s I found it was the best way to get feedback and develop my craft. Even printing only 150 copies and selling them by post was a good way for many of us to start out.
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