Walked in cold or sent the email? I did both, and one got me coffee and a no
I'll settle this one. I walked into a gallery cold once, portfolio under my arm, no appointment. Woman looked at the first three photos, put them down, asked if I did anything smaller. I said no. Got a coffee out of it and a no. Never did that again.
Second time I sent an email with six images and a price list, plain as a hardware invoice. That one led to a real show. So I'm in the email camp. Slower, less humiliating, and you can tell who actually looked.
Which way did you land your first real gallery? Walk in with the work and take your chances, or send it and wait?
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Email, but I think your two stories are a bit unfair to each other. The walk-in didn't fail because walk-ins fail, it failed because you walked in with photos. Nobody who runs a space wants to judge a mosaic from a printout, she probably couldn't tell anything real from it and "smaller" was the polite exit. If you'd carried an actual panel in there it's a different conversation, even if it still ends in a no.
That said, I'm with you on the email, mostly because of the price list. Being plain about money early filters out the people who were never going to pay, and it makes the ones who reply feel serious. Mine came through a group show first, which is its own third door, so I never had to test either properly.
Fair point on the photos, I'll give you that. A printout of stone tells you nothing about weight or surface. But I wasn't hauling a 90 pound panel through a door on a Tuesday to get told no in person. She asked for smaller because smaller is what fits the wall she had, not because she wanted real work.
Price list is the whole thing though. Anyone who flinches at the number was never going to sign. Cheaper to find that out over email than in a room.