Rejection And, Maybe, Redemption

I woke this morning to an email from Envato informing me that my recent submission, 'Realize The Dream', was hard rejected. This means that I can't make changes and resubmit it for reconsideration. Sometimes, they'll do a "soft" rejection, where they'll tell you there's a specific problem that you can fix and then resubmit. Once, I got a response saying they liked what I'd done but thought it should be louder. I pumped up the volume, resubmitted the item, and it was quickly accepted. Occasionally, the rejections will include some reason that it doesn't work for them.

Mostly, though, you get a form response:

"This item does not meet the general commercial quality standard required to be accepted on AudioJungle."

Maybe there's something they don't like in the mix, or they think they've already got too much of "that", or something or some other unfathomable issue.

There was a time when I would get very upset about rejections. I tend to emotionally invest myself
in my work, and that may not be the best thing to do. When it's rejected, my first reaction is to take it personally. The same thing can happen if something is accepted but doesn't sell.

Recently, though, I've started to take a different approach. I started going back to items that were rejected by AudioJungle and asking "what can I do to improve them, and maybe submit them elsewhere?" There have been a couple of occasions where I've made some relatively small changes in an item that was rejected, upload it to Pond5 or MotionElements, and it ends up doing pretty well (or at least selling a license or two).

So I went back and made a few tweaks to the mix.

First, there's a synth mallet part, a key element of the track. I was a little concerned even before I submitted the track for consideration that it might be to dated or otherwise out of place. After the rejection, I decided to replace it with a more bell-type tone and set it back a little in the mix. I also wrote a new line for it that I thought would clash a little less rhythmically with the strings.

Second, I reduced the volume on the electric guitars overall, and then pushed the volume of one syncopated line near the end. I also increased the high end in that section.

I made a couple of other small changes, backing off the bass a little and rerecording a bit nearer the end to give it a little more interest leading into the climax. I also punched the strings up a little in spots. Finally, I decided that the tempo at 120 bpm (beats per minute) was maybe a little too frenetic for this track. So I slowed it down by about 5 bpm. I think that gives it a little more 'oomph', especially at the end.

Here are a couple of excerpts to give you a sense of the "before and after." First, a little of the track I submitted to AudioJungle.



Now, roughly the same segment of the track after I tweaked it.



I know the tweaks I described may sound like a lot, but once I had a good sense of what I wanted to do, it didn't take very long at all. "Realize The Dream" is already live at MotionElements; you can check out the complete track here. I plan to submit it to Pond5 later today.

And that is how I try to take lemons and make lemonade. Sometimes, one person's trash can become another's treasure. I hope that will be the case with this track. I still get upset at rejection, but now it stings a lot less.