Books such as "The Writer's Market," "The Song Writer's Market," or "The Artist's & Graphic Designer's Market," are typically packed with massive amounts of contacts. They include the contact info for publishers, galleries, magazines, etc.
I've often bought these books during this time of the year and actually found myself so overwhelmed by the amount of contact info in each that it caused me to freeze up. Not only that, when I've used books , I've often met very little success.
Why? It seems it's not the number of people you know that is the key to success, it's how you know those people that count. For every success I've had in my arts career I can safely say it wasn't because I found a random address in a book and followed up. It was a face to face meeting or a recommendation from a friend that did the trick.
Have you had similar experiences? If so I'd love to hear about them.
Posts
This makes me think about your post on Dec 19 ~ about email etiquette ~ and how building a network of quality contacts is more important than quantity of connections.
ReplyDeleteIt also reminds me of HBO's Entourage, Season One, ... which I just watched last night (We've been snowed in for 4 days). The director's commentary on the Pilot Episode talks about randomness of Hollywood decision making.
Yeah, and there's no telling if, when a query even ends up in someone's e-box what the circumstances are. Did they just get in a huge fight with their spouse... did a relative just die... are they sleep deprived? All the randomness adds another random factor to the connection factor.
ReplyDeleteThis is great, Slash, and so true. I, too, have bought those doorstop books of contacts only to send them packing next time I downsize by book collection. Frankly, I consider my conversation with you about two years ago - the one in which you suggested killing off a few characters in the play and I did - to be one of those face-to-face meetings that do the trick. Networking is an unattractive word and carries a lot of shmoozy connotations. But for me, networking has been much more about building a community of creative people who are excited about their own work - and the work of their friends. And I find more value in a blog like this than in all the "Writer's Market" books in the world. Except for those times when I need to prop a door open.
ReplyDelete