Have I been rejected before? Well, I would really love to say no to that. But I am not so perfect, right? I do not think it is possible for us to get every single thing we have ever wanted. No matter how pampered and connected we are, there was always a time when we needed something really badly and we lost it in favor of someone else.
And the truth is that it hurts, a lot. Being rejected gives a whole new meaning to pain, especially when it is in a project you have invested so much in and in the end, it all goes up in smoke. Even heartbreak can’t hurt like that. Unless of course, your rejection story is heartbreak.
My own story of rejection is not about just one incident, as a matter of fact, it was about multiple incidents that happened over a period of time. I was basically doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result each time. And what am I talking about? Work, of course.
Back then, when I was looking to monetize my writing skills, I already knew I was a good writer, and getting clients would have been a walk in the park. I have never been so wrong. I found out then, that there were a lot of good writers out there as well, as a matter of fact, the labor market was swelling with them, and securing clients was an all-out war.
Which site did I not go to? Is it Upwork? Fiverr? LinkedIn? Nairaland? I was in a scattering of telegram groups and Whatsapp groups, all in a bid to get clients and I was always coming up empty. People were always posting testimonies of how they had finally secured a client and how they were making so and so in dollars. I drafted proposals, submitted CVs, and wrote samples. I was getting on the verge of giving up once and for all.
The thing is that through it all, I still kept pushing. I would tell myself that this last one would very well be the last. But after that rejection, I would sulk for a few days and begin to try again. Many times I was replied and they will tell me why they were rejecting me. And other times, I would not even get a reply, I would just be hoping and hoping until I got tired and tried again.
And this was how my search for clients was going. I was ready to do anything at all, provided it had to do with writing. And that was how I was marketing myself. And eventually, I realized that it was the mistake I was making. By making my services general, I was more or less selling myself that I did not have anyone in which I was good at. It was like a “Jack of all trades and master of none” scenario. I realized that if I kept this up, I would never get a client. I needed to repackage myself.
And that was when I decided to focus only on ghostwriting, and not just any ghostwriting, fiction to be exact. And while this reduced my playing field, it also gave me a specific target and thereby reduced the competition I had been facing. I repackaged myself and changed my brand. And with as much gusto as before, if not more, I started applying.
After a couple tries, I finally landed my first client. And that was, as they say, the first of many. As time went on, I branched away from ghostwriting fiction and into non-fiction, and now I am even doing research work. But my main focus is still on fiction and that is where the majority of my clientele is.
The market is still as tough as ever, there are so many ghostwriters that are vying for the same clients, but I now have experience on my side and I have built a portfolio that can work in my favor and therefore give me an edge over others.
During that time, I know a lot of others that got tired of the constant rejection and gave up. Many of them have come back and are trying their luck again. There were also those that were lucky enough to secure jobs not long after they started. Everyone works on their own separate timetable, and if we keep on judging our lives based on the achievements of others, then we would surely be doomed to a life of misery and inefficiency because nothing we ever do will be enough in our eyes.
So, my dear friends, this is one of my many stories of rejection. Things like this, at the moment you get them will slap so hard, making you just want to give up on everything and try something else. But one of the things I learned from this experience is that rejection is a part of life, and if we continue living in fear of it, then we would just as much be living in fear of our own growth.
After all, if not for the countless rejections I would not have been able to get the idea to repackage myself and focus on a niche that would work best for me. Rejection is like a double-edged sword, it can strike one way and it can strike the other. It is up to us to decide if we would use it to push ourselves forward toward our respective goals, or if we would use it to strike ourselves down. But as for me, I have learned how to handle rejection, no matter how badly it hurts, and I urge you all to do the same.
Thank you for reading. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below, I would love to know what you are thinking. Till we meet in the next post.
This post is inspired by the first topic of the week which is Rejection. Feel free to take part.
