Feeling dejected from rejections? Chin up! All authors were once in our shoes, but they didn’t let a single rejection (or several hundred!) keep them from achieving their goals and dreams. Read about the following writers’ rejection numbers, perhaps eat a little chocolate, and get back to writing!
John Creasy published 564 books. Awesome, right? But he did receive 774 rejections before selling his first story. Talk about perseverance!
Twenty-seven publishers rejected Dr. Seuss’ first children’s book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street. The 28th publisher, Vanguard Press, bought it and sold six million copies. Since then, Dr. Seuss’ children’s books have sold over 100 million copies.
J.K. Rowling’s first novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, was rejected 12 times.
Pearl Buck’s 1932 Pulitzer Prize winner, The Good Earth, was rejected 13 times.
Margaret Mitchell’s novel Gone with the Wind was rejected by 25 publishers. It went on to win the 1937 Pulitzer Prize.
Mary Higgins Clark was rejected 40 times before selling her first story. Her books have now sold more than 30 million copies.
John Grisham’s first novel, A Time to Kill, was rejected by 15 publishers and 30 agents. More than 60 million copies of his novels are now in print.
Jack London received 600 rejections before selling his first story.
Alex Haley, author of Roots, received a rejection letter once a week for four years at the beginning of his career. I’m rather pathetic at math, but I do believe that’s 208 rejections!
Richard Hooker’s humorous war novel M*A*S*H, which was the basis for the hugely popular television series, was rejected by 21 publishers.
Louis L’Amour received 350 rejections before selling his first story. He went on to write more than 100 western novels with more than 200 million copies in print.
Meg Cabot was rejected 17 times for her novel The Princess Diaries.
Stephenie Meyer received nine rejections and five no responses for her young adult phenomenon Twilight.
Stephen King’s first novel, Carrie, was rejected 30 times. More than 350 million copies of his novels are now in print.
IRONIC BONUS AHEAD!!! The following just goes to show that sometimes your novel or story could be great, but publishers and agents don’t give it the time it deserves! Jerzy Kosinski won the 1969 National Book Award for his novel Steps. Eight years later, he submitted his novel again under a different title and byline to test the plight of new writers. Thirteen agents and 14 publishers rejected it, including Random House which had published it eight years before. (Hahaha!!! So funny!)
So keep on writing, revising, and submitting! Have a happy and fun weekend, zigzaggers!!!
Who are other authors and their rejection numbers you can add to the list? If you want, share your own rejection woes. Just know we’re all part of a club whose amazing members were once multiple-rejected writers, too!
36 comments:
This was insanely awesome! I loved seeing J.K. Rowling, Meg Cabot (WHOM I LOVE) and Stephanie Meyer on the list. I knew about Stephen King but the others were good as well!!
Thanks for giving us higher spirits!!!
I love love love this post!
I still love this. It gives me such a boost weekly. Thanks!! :D
That's good to know! I love reading stats like this! Thanks!
I love posts like this. They just remind you to keep on trucking, because at least each rejection proves you are giving yourself the chance for success. :)
Love this!! I've read some of these before, but not all of them. (Like the first guy -- wow!) Thanks for sharing, it makes me feel better as I'm about to query soon!
Have a fantastic weekend!
So what I needed to read today. Thanks a million!
Definately a beacon of hope. I plan on saving each and every one of mine. (Hugs)Indigo
You mean after agents stop rejecting me, publishers will take up the baton? Cool.
Oh boy this is good stuff! Especially the bonus! Thanks Laura.
Today's guest blogger is Renae Mercado!
I love how you find such interesting statistics. Quite encouraging m'dear. :)
Definitely nice to see these numbers! WOW! And the bonus is too funny!
And to think, some people give up after just a couple rejections...
Jen- It's great knowing that such big-time authors were rejected multiple times, too! It gives the rest of us hope!
Christine- I'm glad you love it and I hope it boosted your spirits!
Palindrome- You're welcome!!!
Laura- Me too! It was fun looking them up, too.
Julie- Exactly! Our writing won't ever be published if we give up. So that's why it's so important to keep plugging along!
Shelley- You're very welcome! Good luck with your querying!!!
Trisha- Yay, I'm glad it boosted your spirits!
Indigo- Good for you! I think it's cool to keep count of our rejections. It makes it that much sweeter when we're finally published! In your face people-who-rejected-me, lol!
T.Anne- LOL! Apparently that is true. And it's not really funny, but I'd rather laugh than cry... ;)
Matthew- The bonus one is hilarious! It really picks up my mood reading that one.
Naomi- Thanks! I'm glad you're encouraged!
Frankie- I know, I love the bonus! And some of those numbers are crazy. Hundreds and hundreds of rejections...scary! But the important thing is they kept at it until they were published!
L.Diane- Sad, isn't it? So some people get rejected nine times and some 800 times. But they're all eventually published and successful and famous so the # of rejections no longer matters!
Every time I read stuff like that, it makes me realize how there truly is no such thing as overnight success. Love the Snoopy cartoon.
Hope your new writing project goes super well and that this weekend brings you excellent sleep!
I have always loved reading about these since following my passion for writing and your list is a great one!
This is just what aspiring author's do so need to read because you do put your heart into your work when you send it out.
These are feel good statistics. I love them from the tip of my toes to the top of my head.
Love that! I didn't know that one about Meg Cabot. Makes me feel good in a weird way. LOL!
Katie- Thanks, Katie! It's a busy weekend so hopefully it'll make me sleepy enough at night, haha! And you're absolutely right about "overnight success." It's just a media gimmick!
Rebecca- Hello and welcome to Wavy Lines! You're so right. And lists like these remind us no writer is ever alone! Thanks for stopping by and commenting and I appreciate the follow!
MT- That's so cute! I'm glad you liked this post. Whenever you're feeling down about anything, just remember these stats and never, ever give up!
Jennifer- I know what you mean! It's just nice to know even the multi-published, famous authors struggled with rejections but succeeded. Writers are never alone!
Great inspirational post, Jennifer!...There are many many more famous authors that received numerous rejections before being published...or "discovered" as they say...
The history of these famous authors and their rejections just highlights what was and is wrong with the traditional publishing business model.
Oops...I meant to say "What an inspirational post, Laura!" in my previous post...Please forgive...
Very inspirational and motivating. Thanks, Laura! This is my favorite: "Jerzy Kosinski won the 1969 National Book Award for his novel Steps. Eight years later, he submitted his novel again under a different title and byline to test the plight of new writers. Thirteen agents and 14 publishers rejected it, including Random House which had published it eight years before." YIKES.
This shows how subjective the business is. And the rejection stories of successful authors are encouraging.
Thanks Laura, this is so encouraging. I think I'll print this post and show it whenever someone asks me 'aren't you published yet?'
Is it bad that I really love hearing about famous writers' rejections so much? Thanks, Laura.
John- Hello and welcome to Wavy Lines! It just goes to show that the business is subjective. CLICHÉ ALERT: One publisher's junk is another publisher's treasure! Thanks for stopping by and commenting and I appreciate the follow!
Marilyn- You're welcome! That's my favorite, too. SO funny! Obviously someone different looked at the MS at Random House, which is why it got passed up the second time around even though they'd already published it, LOL. The business is so subjective and publishers/agents receive thousands of MS every day, which is why we shouldn't take rejection personally at all.
Medeia- You're absolutely right about the business being subjective. So it's for good reason they tell us not to take it personally. It really is just business!
Sarah- You're welcome! That's such a good idea. I think I may do that, too! I'll keep it in my purse. I love that idea! Thanks for stopping by and commenting and I appreciate the follow!
Talli- Not bad at all! I do, too. It's encouraging to know that famous writers' we're once in our shoes, too. They didn't have it any easier than we do no matter how different the publishing industry is!
I would find rejection so hard..lucky I don't live in the writers world.
Hugs my friend. xoxoxo
Laura,
I'm more than honored to follow intelligent people!
And thanks for your follow on my blog, also...
I've seen most of this information about rejections before ... and experienced some of it.
With all this information available one would think publishers and agents would begin to catch on.
1. The publishing industry isn't doing all that well.
2.Agents and publishers keep producing product that is "very artistic" but doesn't sell.
3. Many of the products that agents and publishers reject DO make money when they eventually see the light of day.
4. Perhaps a new way of doing business is in order?
Dave
www.dmmcgowan.blogspot.com
I'm with you, Dave!
All except #2 on your list...
Publishers do NOT publish "very artistic" material in most cases...They pump out a lot of crap from shallow celebrities who don't even write their own stuff for the recognition factor and the fast buck.
Is it any wonder traditional publishing is hurting? They were taken over by greed and a complete lack of leadership.
Koralee- You're such a sweetheart I can't imagine anyone rejecting you anyway!
D.M.- Rejections are inevitable in this business. Anyone who thinks otherwise is naive! Agents, editors, and publishers receive so many manuscripts every day, more than they can get through. And let's face it, most of them probably aren't good because a lot of people don't do their research and submit or query much sooner than their work is ready for. It's just a shame that the great stories sometimes get lumped in with the not-so-good ones.
John- I can only imagine what it must be like for those working in the publishing industry, everything they have to put up with. I'm grateful I'm a writer, even with the rejections!
I just love stories like this! It's a reminder that there's so many different tastes out there, and you're right, we just need to keep writing, polishing and submitting!
Nice to see you on Twitter!
Julie- So do I! It's encouraging to know all writers begin the same way. Good to see you on Twitter, too!!!
yup--this is awesome! I knew about Gone with the Wind and Carrie, but some of those others surprised me.
Thanks! ;-)
~JD
Where has this blog been all my writing life!!!! In trying to get the "Great American Novel" published, my research indicated the best way was thru agents. So far I have submitted to eleven agents either by snail mail or email and have had eight rejections with three unknowns. My personal favorite rejection was from an agent who sent me the standard 3X5" card but with numerous misspellings on it!
Justine- You're welcome! It's a relief to know all writers begin the same way!
David- Hello and welcome to Wavy Lines! Only eight rejections??? That's pretty good so far! You might be one of those "overnight successes" who gets an agent and published with only a couple dozen rejections! You never know. :) That's hilarious about the rejection; someone goofed big time. Thanks for stopping by and commenting and good luck with your novel!
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