Rejection of Authors: Part Eight - Remember, Everybody Gets Rejected

In any profession, everyone has to start somewhere and writers are no different. Every published author out there was once an unpublished author. Even writers who have sold millions of books were told at some point early in their careers that they would never be published. And of course if they had stopped submitting their work, they would never have been successful. Yes, it can be daunting, but no one ever succeeded by stopping trying. 

Fourteen publishers, including big names such as Penguin and Harper Collins, rejected J K Rowling’s manuscript for the first novel in the Harry Potter series, while A Wrinkle in Time received almost thirty rejections over the course of a decade before securing a publisher. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies was rejected by twenty publishers, while Stephen King’s first novel Carrie was rejected by dozens as well. Margaret Mitchell received thirty eight rejections for Gone with the Wind and Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Peter Rabbit was rejected so many times that she initially self published it. John Grisham’s first novel, A Time to Kill, was rejected by a dozen publishers and sixteen agents, before it was published and launched his career as a best seller. 

So although you might be receiving rejections, rest assured you’re in good company, so keep sending out your work, because you never know when your time will come.

On my website, you can find details of my coaching programs, creative writing workshops, online writing workshops, editing services, ghost writing and copywriting for business.