Reaching Out

Now that my jewelry line sheets are complete, I've started to send them out to stores that might purchase my work. I'm basically cold calling at this point and am sending to anywhere and everywhere that looks like it sells my type of pieces. This is the method that I used, years ago, when I was searching for a literary agent. I e-mailed hundreds of query letters to agents that accepted young adult literature. The approach worked and I eventually landed two agents and had to choose between them. In the end, I had the control! Granted, my agent never successfully sold my work, but I don't have to worry about that with jewelry. Once a store purchases my pieces from me, they're purchased. They may not sell, which will suck because it means that that store probably won't buy from me again, but at least I will get the initial money.

Anyway, the point of this slightly off-tangent ramble is that I feel that this is a numbers game and that I *will* find a buyer or two or three. I just have to keep sending out my line sheets. Thanks to the Internet, the whole world is literally at my hands. I can do business anywhere, which is very cool.

It's also overwhelming! So far, I've sent to about 20 stores and have stayed in my own backyard. I sent a bunch to stores in NYC and Brooklyn, then moved on to stores in upstate NY, which I where I went to college and grad school (Binghamton and Syracuse, respectively). I figure that being "local" could give me an edge. My plan today is to send to some other states and countries, and to see what happens. You just never know. I'm being realistic about the process and estimate that I'll get one hit for about every 50 queries. It involves a lot of work for the mere chance to be seen and picked up, but I'm willing to put in the effort.

Even though I'm sending to many places, I am not blindly sending my catalogue to any store that's out there. I'm still being selective. I always look on the stores' sites to make sure that a) they actually sell jewelry and b) it's jewelry that's in my price range. A high-end jewellery store would not accept my low-priced pieces, but a shop that sells funky costume jewelry might.

With so many stores out there, I'm not sure when my quest is supposed to end. For now, I'll reach out to as many as I can and hope for the best!

To purchase my jewellery, head to Naomi's Designs. To purchase my children's jewelry, head to MayaGirl Creations.

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