A Lesson From Beyonce On Rejection

When Beyonce’s latest album — Cowboy Carter — came out, I read a fascinating article suggesting that Beyonce and Jay-Z were trying to get approval from the country music industry. It was an opinion piece, so I have no idea how true that is.

But the premise got me thinking, because I see this please-like-me / please-accept-me vibe among the entrepreneurs and experts that I work with. And that’s true regardless of how accomplished my clients are. I suspect this vibe is caused by the — extremely prevalent — idea that the traditional publishing world is tough, that it’s difficult and rare to get a book deal, and that you’re more likely as an author to get rejected than accepted.

And y’all — I hate to say it but all of that is true.

However, there’s a reason that these things are true, and it’s not to hurt you personally. Instead, the gatekeeping that’s done is to organize the millions of people who want to write a book. There needs to be some kind of system in place to keep all of that organized and allow for curation. When you don’t have that, you lose quality and you lose readers. (Just look at self-publishing for proof.)

So: How do you avoid approaching your book process with a desperate vibe?

Here’s what I have learned from my own experiences, both professional and personal.