Rejection and writing go hand in hand, but sometimes it feels that those pesky publishers simply don’t know what they are talking about.
Here’s eleven reasons you might just be right…
- Madeline L’Engle’s book, A Wrinkle in Time, was turned down 29 times before she found a publisher.
- C.S. Lewis received over 800 rejections before he sold a single piece or writing.
- Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind was rejected by 25 publishers.
- Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was rejected 121 times.
- Johathan Livingston Seagull was rejected 40 times.
- Louis L’Amour was rejected over 200 times before he sold any of his writing.
- The San Francisco Examiner turned down Rudyard Kipling’s submission 1n 1889 with the note, “I am sorry, Mr. Kipling, but you just do not know how to use the English language.”
- An editor once told F. Scott Fitzgerald, “You’d have a decent book if you’d get rid of that Gatsby Character.”
- The Dr. Seuss book, And to Think I Saw it on Mulberry Street, was rejected for being “too different from other juveniles on the market to warrant selling.”
- George Orwell’s Animal Farm was rejected with the comment, “It’s impossible to sell animal stories in the USA.”
- The manuscript for The Diary of Anne Frank received the editorial comment, “This girl doesn’t, it seems to me, have a special perception or feeling which would lift that book above the curiosity level.”
{ 19 comments }
Jonathan Livingston Seagull should have been rejected 41 times.
Bahahahaha, “The Great Gatsby” without Gatsby?! The entire book would be horrible, horrible people and the practically-silent Nick! That story IS Gatsby. Oh, publishers, you dolts.
The fallacy of this sort of list is, it fails to ask, answer, say, “So what precisely happened in the meantime, between all those submissions?”
A truthful answer is, most writers worth their salt will probably be re-reading, and gradually enhancing, their piece of work, between all those separate submissions, and also while the book’s out with any particular person for consideration. No piece of writing is ever so perfect, or complete, that it’s incapable of improvement. The writer’s natural tendency (and especially if the work keeps getting rejected) will be, to play around further with the manuscript. To try to turn what seems presently to be something of a sow’s ear in the eyes of others, into a veritable silk purse.
So a book that has been rejected 40 times isn’t going to be the same book at the end of the submissions process that it was at the beginning. The same book wasn’t rejected 40 times. A bad book got rejected 39 times and, eventually, after a lot of re-drafting and tinkering by the author behind the scenes, a much-improved book finally got accepted.
I read a similar list in Jurgen Wolff’s recent book on writing – I take on board Colin’s comments, however a list like this does a strugglng writer a lot of good in the face of opposition…. The point, I think, is to show that subjectivity and luck play large roles in the publishing world, so writers should press forward until the wind changes in their favour
Ah, someone made the Jonathan Livingston Seagull comment before I could. Of course it probably proves the point that bad books also get published!
I’m just working on my fourth non-fiction book and this one: ‘Live life. Love work.’ will be published by Capstone, an imprint of John Wiley’s. I’ve had a couple of proposals rejected for good commercial reasons and so had to re-think my ideas. The book I’m now working on has evolved over the last year thanks to good editorial input and changed title several times.
When I first proposed writing ‘NLP for Dummies’, it nearly didn’t get published as the commissioning team thought the market was dead for this topic – it has sold 100,000 copies, been translated into many languages and been a top seller in the ‘for Dummies’ series.
So persistence is the name of the game plus listening too for the commercial wisdom -good publishers know their market. If you’re willing to be a bit flexible, you’ll have more chance of getting published. Also look for the publisher who is the best fit for you and your work – you need to match up. Hope this helps.
Is it any wonder some of us go straight to self-publishing? I didn’t care for the loss of creative rights to my own work. After three self-published novels I’ve just signed a contract with a more traditional publisher. Did the previous books enable a quicker agreement? Perhaps. But it also helped to be part of an authors’ networking site.
I have a copy of The Diary of Anne Frank and I know that it is a best selling. She was/is an inspiration for us all. When I first picked up the book, I can’t wait to find out what happened in her life.
I think self publishing might be a better option but then again, we need marketing and advertising which prove to be a problem especially if we are not financially capable for self publishing.
Mr. Smailes,
ScoopDaddys was rejected so much I didn't even keep track. Guess what happened? It now has an ISBN and my second ScoopDaddys St. Nicks Magic is now gone to the pub! The human mind can unfortunately be a rejection tool to the most successful thinking or behavior. It's the motivational tool which humans all possess in various degrees which wins out-
S. Houston
Harsh! But true?
Must admit this comment did bring a smile
More importantly this list doesn’t include the many many books that were rightfully rejected never to see the light of day.
Kate this is great advice. I write kid’s non-fiction and I use my agents as the first port of call. I will pitch an idea to him (often just a brief email) and gage his rejection. He knows what he can sell and will often just say no.
I suspect the previous books showed you where a serious writer with the discipline to deliver on time.
The big problem with self publishing is distribution. Some companies like Matador have taken steps to improve the situation but for most self published books it dooms them to failure.
This downfall of self publishing won’t be around much longer. Once the majority of books are sold electronically, and they will be, self-publishing will became almost as viable as the big publishing houses. If the big publishing houses even survive.
Chad, This seems a bleak out look. I feel that even if books were sold mostly online (which will not happen until technology finds a better delivery system than paper books), the power of distribution still remains important. The reason many writers fail to sell many self published books is simply because not enough people know about their book.
I agree. However, we are closer to having a better delivery system than most book lovers care to admit. Everyone always fights and denies a major change like this can happen until it does. It even happened when they added sound to movies, which seems like a ridiculously obvious addition. None of the “experts” thought anyone wanted talkies. It’s just a matter of time.
Personally, I don’t consider the death of major publishers that bleak. Especially, when I take into account the recent run of poor novels I have come across. The equivalent will jump up to replace them. Everyone just fears change.
“The reason many writers fail to sell many self published books is simply because not enough people know about their book.” I can only name one book I have purchased based on an ad. The rest are all by browsing the bookstore or Amazon, or by a recommendation from a friend/respected source. Sure they get the bookstores to carry the book, but that won’t be nearly as necessary when you can electronically self publish to 80-90% of population.
Agree about the change coming. The book world is in the same place as the music world was a few years ago prior to the ipod.
I have no problem with the death of big publishers, and I do in fact think we will see some big boys go to the wall. This said there are a lot of very bright individuals working behind the scenes. I suspect you will see a combination of smaller publishers and the more innovative big boys leading the pack.
How many self published books have you bought? How many did you regret?
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