Writers and designers have one major thing in common, being recognized can be challenging and it is very easy to become frustrated and give-up.

They say that everyone has a book inside them that they want to write.  There are thousands of writers who cannot understand why publishers are not clambering to obtain their manuscripts and publish their works.  Hundreds if not thousands of schools offering to educate authors on how to write and then publish provide a variety of online and resident courses.

The fashion design industry is not much different.  There are thousands of individuals who cannot understand why their fashion designs have not been chosen by clothing manufacturers for addition to their product lines and labels.  Hundreds of schools offer a tremendous selection of roadmaps leading to a successful career in fashion design.

So how do so many represent so few truly successful writers and designers.  In many cases it is “being in the right place at the right time”, but it goes much deeper than that, it is a commitment and dedication to being accepted and hence successful.  An individual cannot sit back and expect publishers or fashion manufacturers to knock on their door – as a general statement it just won’t happen.

I have spoken to many unpublished authors and non manufactured fashion designers and in many cases I here about this contest or competition that they won and based on that they expect people to come to them.  Although winning a competition should boost one’s ego, it should not be taken as a right of passage, form novice to superstar.  What an award provides is another tool for your marketing campaign.  It indicates that someone or some group considered that your novel or fashion design was better than the others submitted.

A writer that wants to be published or a fashion designer that wants to be manufactured must be in continuous marketing mode.  That means letters, emails, faxes and phone calls to potential agents, publishers or manufactures, as the case may be, must be processed on an ongoing basis, scheduled if necessary.  A plan that states that you will mail out X letters, Y emails and make Z phone calls each and every week and someone who wants to be successful must adhere to the plan.

The individuals involved must never stop writing or designing, they cannot rest on the one novel or fashion layout that they have done, they must be continually honing their skills and that only comes from a constant effort of creativity.

The important point is not to give-up, many of today’s successful writers and designers had years of rejection before being recognized for their work!