Final rejection (30th)

I sent the above cartoon, my 35th, to the New Yorker last week. I held onto the hope that it would be chosen.

It wasn’t.

A year of cartoons and rejections. In between graphic novel and picture book deadlines, I submitted whenever I could. It wasn’t easy in the beginning, my hope was high only to be dashed every week. After some time, I acclimated to rejection. This is what I learned

• Rejection sucks, regardless of frequency

• Drawing in black and white means paying more attention to focal point (for the artists reading)

• The best jokes come from real conversations

• Joke writing is hard

• Comparing my rejections to accepted cartoons only lead to frustration (some make no sense) which is unavoidable

• Trying often and hard doesn’t always yield desired results

• Success is non-transferable

Success in one space doesn’t mean others will be easy. I’m not the cultural definition of success (a rich author with tv/film deals and millions of copies sold) but I’m working on recognizing my achievements. Luckily, rejection is also non-transferable. I don’t have the feather in my cap of a New Yorker credit but I do have 13 books with my name on the spine. Not too shabby!

My good friend and author Marcus Ewert once shared a quote by neuroscientist Rick Hanson:

“Our brains are velcro for negative experiences and teflon for positive ones.”

I think about this a lot. Our brains have a negativity bias and in order to absorb positives more, we need to linger on them. Let them take up space and be mindful. This refocus can restructure our brains.

After a year of trying, it’s okay to refocus and think about my other work. I’m proud of the cartoons I submitted and how I grew in the process. But making books, connecting with readers and building community with bay area kidlit authors is far more rewarding.

I choose to end my year with joy and I hope you do, too 💗

Our first annual kidlit author holiday party was a huge success!