I have been writing choral music for quite a while now. It took me several years before I worked up the nerve to send something to a publisher. I wasn’t expecting much because I’d always been told not to expect much with your first composition.
So, I wasn’t terribly shocked by the rejection letter. It hurt, but wasn’t surprising. What was surprising was that the rejection letters kept coming. And coming. And coming. I now have a healthy stack of letters and emails saying, “thank you, but no thank you.” Some are quite polite, others are quite blunt. Very rarely is there any feedback besides, “We enjoyed your composition, but it doesn’t fit our needs.” No way to know what they didn’t like. No way to fix it to make it better. So, here’s my point. I compose for fun. I compose for choirs. I don’t compose for publishers. I’ve had to come to grips with not being published (while continuing to search), but have had to come up with ways to keep myself composing. These are my five tips for those that might find themselves in the same boat.
3 Comments
5/24/2017 12:25:45 am
This is all excellent advice, Steve. Many of us compose because of some inner compulsion - call it inspiration or whatever - but having music performed and appreciated is far more important to us than having it 'published' in the traditional sense by one of the big publishing houses.
Reply
5/24/2017 06:44:43 am
Thanks for the tip, Gordon. I'm always looking for new avenues, so I'll give Swirly Music a look!
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorComposer, Choral Conductor, DMA Student, Archives
May 2022
Categories
|