how long did you wait to follow up after a gallery visit? I waited nine days and I think I fumbled it
So I finally worked up the nerve to walk into a gallery in my neighborhood, not the fancy one, a small one that shows local painters, and the owner was actually nice?? She looked at my phone photos for like ten minutes and said "send me a proper email with your site and some prices." That was nine days ago. I still haven't sent it because I keep rewriting the email and I'm scared the window already closed.
Someone please tell me the window is not nine days. And more importantly, what's the etiquette here? Do you follow up in a week? Two? Do you wait for them to reach out first? Does it EVER matter if you're slow, or am I just inventing a clock that doesn't exist?
My mom says send it today and stop being weird about it which is probably correct but I want to hear what actually worked for you. Did anyone here get a yes from a slow follow-up? Did anyone lose one by dragging their feet? Tell me I'm not the only one who's sat on an email like this.
(also hi, first time posting in here, I'm Dani, watercolor and gouache, been full time about 8 months and still learning all the rules nobody tells you)
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Nine days is nothing. What kills you is not the delay, it's the fourteen drafts. She asked for a site and prices, that's it. Send the ugly version today, four lines, three prices, link. If you rewrite one more time the window actually does close, and not because she's counting days. Gallery people forget you exist within about a week unless there's an email sitting there reminding them.
And for the record she said "send me a proper email," which is not a maybe. That's the closest thing to interest you get in this business before anyone signs anything. I've watched people sit on that sentence for a month out of fear and then wonder why nobody ever called. Send it. You can be charming later.