The Insecure Writer's Support Group (IWSG) is the brilliant idea of Alex J. Cavanaugh. The purpose of the group is to share doubts and insecurities and to encourage one another. Please visit the other participants and share your support. A kind word goes a long way.
The road to publication is long and hard. Sometimes we just want to give up after so many rejections. But the key to making it as a writer is perseverance. Many great novels would've never been published if the author just gave up. So to help inspire you to carry on, here's how many times these famous writers were turned away.
Stephen King's CARRIE was rejected 30 times. Stephen threw the book into the trash, but his wife retrieved it and sent it out. Lucky for him! And us.
A WRINKLE IN TIME by Madeleine L'Engle was rejected 26 times. Once published, it went on to win the prestigious Newbery Medal.
DUNE received 23 rejections before Frank Herbert was picked up by Chilton.
WATERSHIP DOWN by Richard Adams was rejected 26 times.
LORD OF THE FLIES was rejected by 20 publishers. William Golding was told it was absurd and uninteresting.
J.K. Rowling's first Harry Potter book was rejected a dozen times. It was only picked up at the request of a CEO's eight-year-old daughter. Thank you, little girl!
Judy Blume had nothing but rejections for two years straight.
Don't ever give up. Keep writing. Keep submitting. You can do it!
I love reading these rejection stories. I always wonder how these guys got rejected, but knowing they did makes me worry less about rejections.
ReplyDeleteThank you for an encouraging and inspiring post, Christine. Sometimes it is so hard to stay positive in the face of constant rejection so it is reassuring to know we are not alone. Perseverance is the key.
ReplyDeleteSuzanne
IWSG co-host
Those stats do make it all seem better, don't they? And the JK Rowling story just proves that time and place are just as important as having a perfect MS.
ReplyDeleteRejection stories like this are always so inspiring!
ReplyDeleteIf those authors kept going, then so can we!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the encouragement! We can find a lot of inspiration in these facts.
ReplyDeleteThanks for inspiring me today. =)
ReplyDeleteI always find it a bit ironic that I receive such comfort in knowing how many times very successful people failed. It seems like a malicious way to receive reassurance, but there you have it. For some reason it reminds us all that the path is rarely easy for anyone-- and that provides us hope.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing those stats!
ReplyDeleteOh those stats were so awesome. Just what the doctor ordered and what I needed to hear today!
ReplyDeleteOh those stats were so awesome. Just what the doctor ordered and what I needed to hear today!
ReplyDeleteIt's always so inspiring to read these stories! I knew some of these but didn't know about Carrie. So hard to imagine now.
ReplyDeleteit's good to remember we're not alone and the authors we love have also been there.
ReplyDeleteNever knew that about Judy Blume....wow.
ReplyDeleteThanks for those little tidbits...they're inspiring :)
Thanks for sharing these publishing rejection before success stories. Writing is tough and getting published is even tougher. Endurance is the name of the game.
ReplyDeleteBlog: Queendsheena
IWSG Co-host
Wow - Endurance is the name of the game.
ReplyDeleteRejections only make you stronger and more determined. Or at least, they should. Can't give up, no matter what. It's like I say on Twitter all the time: "Someone will like the genre" and "If you reach at least one person with your writing, you're a success!"
ReplyDeleteThanks for this inspiration. It's nice to know even hugely successful people received multiple rejections!
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that about Harry Potter! Cool.
ReplyDeleteAllison (Geek Banter)
Scary. You and I wrote on same topic this month. :-)
ReplyDeleteIWSG #207
Rejection is a part of writing and we have to be okay with that.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the information and encouraging post! No, we should never give up!!
ReplyDeletesandysanderellasmusings.blogspot.com
By the way, I read a biography on the woman that wrote the Harry Potter series, and she went through quite much, and look at her now!
Can never hear too much about perseverance. We all need it.
ReplyDeleteThese are all great inspiration for keeping us going with our own projects. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteVery inspiring post. Never give up.
ReplyDeleteThank you to everyone for stopping by while I was gone. I try to keep reminding myself that we all don't succeed at first. Perseverance is the key!
ReplyDelete