Welcome to the annual meeting of Whiners Anonymous, Writer Rejection, Virtual Chapter.
Meeting Agenda:
Sharing of Misery
Inspirational Thoughts
Hugs & Chocolate Served
Meeting adjourned
Dear Writer, Thank you for submitting your manuscript. After careful consideration we have decided this manuscript isn't right for us, but we wish you luck placing it elsewhere.
Kind regards,
The Editors
You are not alone!
From Cracked: Once upon a time, J.K.Rowling was living off of government assistance, retyping complete copies of the manuscript for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone to send out to publishers because she was too broke to have photocopies made. Rejected by dozens of publishers, the Bloomsbury CEO published it only at the request of his eight-year-old daughter.
Carrie by Stephen King-'We are not interested in science fiction which deals with negative utopias. They do not sell.'
The Diary of Anne Frank -‘The girl doesn’t, it seems to me, have a special perception or feeling which would lift that book above the “curiosity” level.’
"Jack Kerouac, George Orwell and Sylvia Plath are just a few of the authors whose books were turned down by the Alfred A. Knopf publishing house. Researchers going through the Knopf archives have come across their rejection letters, as well as a few others." Check out this NPR audio program.
Inspirational Thoughts
From romance author Liliana Hart and her RWA #13 Atlanta Workshop "Self-Publishing Q&A with Liliana Hart and Tina Folsom," the previously unagented, Liliana reports she received eight unsolicited agent queries once her self-pubbed books hit the New York Times List. Ms. Hart sent out form rejection letters.
Louis L’Amour received 200 rejections before Bantam took a chance on him. He is now their best ever selling author with 330 million sales.
“Too different from other juveniles on the market to warrant its selling.” A rejection letter sent to Dr Seuss. 300 million sales and the 9th best-selling fiction author of all time.
“You have no business being a writer and should give up.” Zane Grey ignores the advice. There are believed to be over 250 million copies of his books in print.
140 rejections stating “Anthologies don’t sell” until the Chicken Soup for the Soul series by Jack Canfield & Mark Victor Hansen sells 125 million copies.
“This will set publishing back 25 years.” Rejecting The Deer Park. Its author Norman Mailer goes on to win The Pulitzer Prize, twice.
"I used to want the words ‘She tried’ on my tombstone. Now I want ‘She did it.’”-Katherine Dunham
“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”-Harriet Tubman
“Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success.”-Dale Carnegie
“Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” -Winston Churchill
Photo by Anna Ogiienko on Unsplash