Rejected!

[NoLooseEnds]

Sorry, I just needed a place to vent...maybe I have been with my hubby too long; I forgot what it feels like to be rejected! I entered Crochet! magazine's design contest. It took a lot for me to get up the guts to enter in the first place, so the rejection letter was really a blow. Not to be conceited, but I really thought my design was good enough to be chosen...I even cried when I got the envelope, even though I KNEW when I saw it and I was okay. But then I opened it, with hubby and dog-dog next to me...and I bawled. Then I asked hubby to throw away the pattern. He wouldnt...which is good I guess. Sorry, poor me, poor me, right? I just needed to get it out and I know that this is a better place than most...thanks for listening, ladies. I was just wondering if I could hear some other beginning designer stories...cause right now I never want to submit anything again...

[happi hooker]

Don't be so hard on yourself. I bet your pattern is beautiful .

 

So wipe those tears and try again. Where's your girl power:cheer

 

Take Care.

[shelly_bean]

Don't be so hard on yourself. I bet your pattern is beautiful .

 

So wipe those tears and try again. Where's your girl power:cheer

 

Take Care.

 

agree rejection is never easy, but then how will you learn? So pick up the hook and yarn and try again.

[Robyn]

Well, I don't know much about entering crochet pattern contests, but I do know a bit about having a piece of writing rejected. Espeically if it (crochet, writing, etc.) is something you've been doing for years when a piece gets rejected, it hurts. I've had things I thought were perfect and wonderful sent back to me. It's a mourning process and an anger one. But, I keep trying. That's what makes me different from someone who gives up completely. Just keep trying. Design another pattern, a better one, try again, and if that one gets rejected, try again. I know this seems like a horrible thing, but look at it like this, you can always share the patterns with us and we won't reject them.

 

Someone out there will always want to crochet what you've written, and you keep designing for them.

[Titus2woman]

(((((NoLooseEnds)))))

[christinascrochethaven]

I'm really proud of you for trying. I want to, but I'm too scared of rejection....so I never even try.

 

Maybe they had something similar or working looking for something different...that doesn't mean your pattern wasn't good. I'm sure your pattern is fabulous, but they are just publishing certain things.

 

Never give up and don't stop trying! :hug

 

I dream of getting published someday, but you have to try to actually achieve that dream. Be proud of yourself for trying and don't worry about some tears... You know, tears are good for the eyes!

 

I remember that someone once said that Abraham Lincoln didn't get elected the first time he ran for an office....he didn't give up and kept trying. Where would we be now...if he hadn't kept trying? There are many famous men and women who never gave up even though they were "rejected"... Learning how to accept rejection, teaches us how to go forward and keep trying. Don't give up!

[Katchkan]

So sorry you were rejected.

But if you are going to design, that is something every designer faces regularly. You think everything I submit is accepted. Heck no. I cried my eyes out the first time also, so I understand how you feel. But with encouragement from husband and friends I kept trying and eventually had my work accepted. I still get rejections. More than I would like, But I deal with them better. Don't take it quite so personally anymore. I keep telling myself that like anything else designing is going to have it's good days and bad days.

So heres a big hug. Pick yourself up and if you trully think you have a good design submit it to someone else. It may still get rejected. But like I tell my husband it sure as shootin aint going to get accepted anywhere sitting here. You have to try and take the risk.

[LaurieE]

I know how you feel. Many, many years ago, I had submitted several quilt blocks to the Stearns & Foster contests. Each one was rejected. Yes, I was very disappointed. I put a lot of thought and work into my designs. I made sure my stitches were flawless. When I finally saw the winning entries, I realized that my blocks were just as good as the ones that had won. I had to keep telling myself that maybe my designs just weren't what the judges were looking for.

 

The Harry Potter books are another example. The first publisher Ms. Rowlings approached wasn't interested in her book. I bet they're sorry now they didn't accept it.

 

The point of this is -- keep designing and crocheting. In regards to ever submitting a design again -- play Scarlett O'Hara and think about it tomorrow. "Tomorrow is another day."

[MaryPat]

Life is about trying all sorts of things. Bully for you! As i get older, I realize I've had more rejections than acceptions. Just trying makes you more creative.

 

Besides you really don"t know much about the judges. What if all were biased towards thread doilies and you submitted a gragh afghan. You can"t predict yhings like that. You also don't know if you were #100, #3 or how close you were.

[econ-nerd]

I understand how you feel. I have never designed anything but I do write academic research papers and I have yet to have one published but I revise and try again (or scrap the idea entirely and try again with a new idea). I have received far too many rejection letters already and expect to see many more during my career... I read somewhere that most academic journals accept less than ten percent of the papers that they receive so those of us rejected are in good company I know it doesn't make us feel better but keep plugging along and one day someone will say yes (to you and to me as well)

 

[NanaM3]

I bet the magazine was looking for something specific ... a "look" that's in their opinion: sexy and timely and oh so chic

 

 

forget about useful!

 

you know, keep on designing and publish your own book and sell it on EBay ... (and get us here to write your reviews for you, LOL)

 

[CDBear]

Poor Emily!!

 

Here are some hugs for you darlin' ....... :hug . Don't let this disappointment get you down. Just keep trying, and I know you'll succeed!!

[birdlady1]

Rejection is a part of life. We go job-hunting and we get rejected. We look for a lifetime partner and we get rejected. We try to publish a fabulous novel and we get rejected.

 

But we learn from every rejection and it makes us stronger. Some of the most successful people in the world were rejected many, many times before someone took a chance on them.

 

They may not realize it but they may have rejected a future Van Gogh! Don't ever think of it as failure! Chin up and keep on plugging.

[snugsmontreal]

there are lots of reasons you can be rejected and not all of them are because anything was subpar. well known designers and book-published designers get rejected too so it isnt just you, everyone trying has at some point been rejected, its the nature of the game. i would try submiting to maybe a different mag since they didnt like it? is it possible it wasnt the genre they usually print (like a nice ladies sweater in a more young-geared mag) or was there some sort of theme you didnt know about (using one of these new natural yarns, or a style of crochet theme)

i bet it was beautiful anyhow, you can always try etsy and see that people other than editors like your stuff too

[darski]

Just off hand, I would think that a contest might not be the best time to submit a pattern. You might be better received when it is just an "Is there anything interesting in the mail today?" day.

 

Contests tend to create a mindset. Your pattern might be very well received elsewhere.

 

I too am proud of you for trying. At least you earned a rejection slip. Most of us don't have the courage to do that much.

[Elle]

I'm sorry that your pattern was rejected. It's great that you tried, though! Most never even do that!

 

Don't give up. Next time, why not run it past us here at C'ville to get critiques from friendly faces first? That way, you'll get a good cross section of crochetiers from around the world and you'll be able to tweak your pattern according to the comments and suggestions made before you send it off? In fact, why not run the pattern that was rejected past us? Just because it was rejected as a contest winner doesn't mean that another magazine wouldn't like it. You never know, you could send it off to a couple of other magazines and someone could jump at it!

 

Elle

[beth eathorne]

try and submit the pattern somewhere else...did you get anyone to test it for you? There would be plenty here who would help. You dont even have to post what it is just ask for someone who is will to test by a certain time..give the type of thread and difficultly and ask them to pm you so you can get more detailed...maybe someone else would find something you did not see...but dont give up...

[losingmymind2]

I agree, you probably were up against a lot of competition, and a contest is extra hard, because you don't know the judge's preference and prejudices. What if they hate the color you used for your item? Or their ex had made something like that?

 

If you can find out from different publications what they ARE looking for, it would be easier to design something 'with them in mind'. Say magazine A likes doilies with hundreds of pineapples and ruffles BUT only ever shows them in ecru. Your peach color doily with 27 pineapples and 52 ruffles may be perfect, but they won't give it a second look because of the color.

 

Don't give up, you WILL get published. Look how far ahead of the game you are on many of us, you designed a pattern and wrote it down, AND you submitted it. Keep it up, and we'll be able to say we knew you when you started out, and beg you to autograph copies of your books.

[Real Deal]

Don't be discouraged. When I first submitted my writing and it was rejected, I cried and cried. Then I read that even Stephen King said you can paper a wall with rejection slips. So I got up, dried my tears and said "Which wall?"

 

Real Deal

[eurolyons]

You know Crochet! magazine just had a bit on designing and submitting things and being rejected...it's all part of the process...please try again. Don't give up. I have yet to gather up courage to enter anything, but I'm pressing myself to get my patterns written up, tested and submitted...maybe all of them will be rejected, maybe one will be accepted...I will never know until I get past that step ofputting the envelope in the mail box.

 

I was published in a Letters to the Editor...that's a step...I've entered contests and lost...it doesn't necessarily get easier...rejection's never an easy thing to deal with...

 

But feel the fear and do it again anyway...and don't throw out the "rejected" pattern ever...I'm glad your husband refused to do that. Try another publication...you never know...

[HappyOldCro]

A big to you, at least you made an effort. You must remember that crochet is art, and what is one persons delight is another's horror. "Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder". Don't let another's short-sightedness stop you from trying. There are people who would pay a lot for your items, you need to find the right people. Not everyone can win, accept the loss, and move on. There is a place for your designs. Authors, painters, crafters, all of us need to find our niche in life. Sometimes it is right there under our noses, and other times we need to hunt. "When God closes one door, He opens another" - Lena Liu. We are just so busy staring at and mourning the closed one, we never see the other.

[NoLooseEnds]

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for letting me lament for a minute...or wallow in self-pitty, as I usually call it. Hubby lets me wallow for a minute, but never ceases to keep pushing and Im glad I get that here, too. Just a big thanks to all the friendly people with words of encouragement, and more important friendly versions of "life happens, suck it up, move on" which is really just what i needed to hear...and you all make it sound so nice! Thanks, guys and gals, youre the reason I keep making things, because someone will like them

[angieInCA]

Just remember that every "no" you get just means you are one step closer to your "yes"