"You are not a hundred dollar bill. Not everyone is going to like you or your story. Do not take rejection personally." ~ Meg Cabot

Today's quote comes from the lovely Meg Cabot. For those of you familiar with the Disney channel, she wrote the Princess Diaries. For those of you too grown up for the Disney Channel but have no idea who she is, try one of her books! They're great chick lit especially with summer right around the corner. (I recently just read "Every Boy's Got One" and loved it.)

But, I digress.

Recently a new client came to me requesting something whimsical and fun. When I provided something to her that even made my husband chuckle, she told me I was off the mark. When I asked for clarification, she informed me that she wanted something that was less comical, and more serious. In fact, she didn't want it to be funny at all. She wanted something dry, with researched examples to back up my statements on the topic. This is totally not what she said when she asked me to do the job.

Even though it was not my fault, I was crushed at the initial rejection. The job was over weeks ago and even though I have been paid and the money has since been spent, she provided no other kind of feedback. I'm sure every author has a client or assignment that haunts them. This whole experience taught me a valuable lesson. Before starting a job, communicate with the client to double check exactly what it is they need.

In the time since, I've gained another wonderful client. He needed a sales pitch and requested a sample of my work, which I provided. His reply went something like this:

"I think I may have asked you for the wrong thing, or used the wrong term for what I need. The type of writing I am looking for is more like...."

And then, without being insulting towards me or my style of writing, he linked me to some examples. And the examples were not sales pitches at all. Within a couple of hours I sent him a new sample, which he completely loved. He's since become one of my most loyal clients and offered me almost more work than I can handle.

However, if I'd pouted myself into quitting after that first rejection, then I'd pretty much be out of a job right now. Instead, I'm on a wonderful vacation with my family and am at this moment on a break between writing assignments, and overlooking the beautiful Atlantic Ocean. In a few moments I'll get back to writing as I budgeted in time to work on this trip, but seriously could I have a better job? I really don't think so.

Whatever it is you plan to do in life, regardless of what dream you choose to follow, if life gives back any kind of rejection...then do not give up. Do not ever, ever, ever give up.