Rejection Letters? You're Not Alone!

Recently I sent a query letter to an agent in the United States. This was a big step for me. After all, my (now-famous) 35 rejection letters from British agents led to my self-publishing adventure. My book The Secret of the Sacred Scarab went on to win several (quite prestigious, I think) awards and I signed a movie option in 2011 with a British film company. Back to the US agent. He said no. That’s right. No. Actually it was a charming email saying the usual sugar-coated stuff that makes you want to go to hell with your eyes open and enjoy the trip, but it was still a no. How could that be, I wondered. I read very carefully the must-have list of requirements and I was positive my book fitted his bill exactly. Apparently not. So what, I wonder, do agents and publishers want? I was fortunate enough to win a signed copy of The Help by Kathryn Stockett through Penguin SA and it reminded me that the author had been rejected 60 times. Yet here she was, at last, published with her book turned into a film. I needn’t even cite JK Rowling and Harry Potter, except that (I hope this is not an urban legend) I read somewhere that the only reason Bloomsbury said yes was because the director’s 12-year-old child loved it and asked her father to publish it. It sounds true and it’s a sweet story anyway. Again, I ask myself, how did people miss the clues? How come agents and publishers are still missing the clues? Need I mention Amanda Hocking? I have decided that this is part of a process that will never be changed. A new writer is rejected; someone sees the light and publishes him/her; everyone throws up their hands and squeals, “How did we miss this gem?” Some happy thoughts below from Writer’s Relief, in case you think you’re the only one who has ever had a rejection letter. You’re in good company!


Many new or mid-level writers have received nasty or rude rejection letters. But when famous author rejection letters come to light, people laugh and say “What were those editors (or literary agents) thinking?” Many big names faced the same kind of adversity (and even hostility) in rejection letters that you may be facing now. Famous author rejection letters teach us a lot!

When you get a harsh rejection letter, keep these famous author rejections in mind.

Happens To the Best of Us: Famous Author Rejection Letters

Check out these excerpts from REAL famous author rejections:

1. Sylvia Plath: There certainly isn’t enough genuine talent for us to take notice.

2. Rudyard Kipling: I’m sorry Mr. Kipling, but you just don’t know how to use the English language.

3. J. G. Ballard: The author of this book is beyond psychiatric help.

4. Emily Dickinson: [Your poems] are quite as remarkable for defects as for beauties and are generally devoid of true poetical qualities.

5. Ernest Hemingway (regarding The Torrents of Spring): It would be extremely rotten taste, to say nothing of being horribly cruel, should we want to publish it.

Obviously, these famous author rejection letter phrases have gone down in history for how outrageous they seem to us now. The comments probably had more to do with the mood of the person writing them than with the quality of work. It seems odd to us now that Plath, Kipling, Ballard, Dickinson, and Hemingway were rejected so cruelly. But these comments show us that famous author rejection letters are no different than not-so-famous author rejection letters! Thank goodness these authors kept writing and submitting. Ask yourself: Where would we be if they had given up? We would have missed a lot of important literature!

Famous Author Rejections: Hitting a Dry Spell

Feel glum over oodles of rejection letters? Please note that the examples below are often referenced and we’ve done quite a lot of research, but as with so many things, there’s always a chance for error. Do not cite this article for your academic thesis! Go to the original sources.

1. John Grisham’s first novel was rejected 25 times.

2. Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen (Chicken Soup for the Soul) received 134 rejections.

3. Beatrix Potter had so much trouble publishing The Tale of Peter Rabbit, she initially had to self-publish it.

4. Robert Pirsig (Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance) received 121 rejections before it was published and went on to become a best seller.

5. Gertrude Stein spent 22 years submitting before getting a single poem accepted.

6. Judy Blume, beloved by children everywhere, received rejections for two straight years.

7. Madeline L’Engle received 26 rejections before getting A Wrinkle in Time published—which went on to win the Newberry Medal and become one of the best-selling children’s books of all time.

8. Frank Herbert’s Dune was rejected 20 times before being published and becoming a cult classic.

9. Stephen King received dozens of rejections for Carrie before it was published (and made into a movie!).

The Most Rejected Novelist in History?


Author Dick Wimmer passed away on May 18, 2011, at 74 years old. He received 160+ rejections over 25 years! He spent a quarter of a century being told “no.” He could have quit after 20 years, or 150 rejections, and no one would have blamed him. But he kept at it (maybe he had his own list of famous author rejection letters to keep him going!). Finally, his novel Irish Wine (Mercury House, 1989) was published to positive reviews. The New York Times called it a “taut, finely written, exhaustingly exuberant first novel.”

Assuming the author’s submissions were well-targeted, how could 160+ people have passed over Wimmer’s book? And what does that mean for YOUR writing career? Wimmer’s self-proclaimed legacy is of being the “most rejected novelist,” but we think his legacy is hope and persistence.

What’s Your Rejection Letter Threshold?

Famous author rejection letters teach us that there are lots of reasons why great works do not get chosen for publication right away (or after 25 years!). But there is only one way to get published: submit, submit, submit!

Writer’s Relief (est. 1994) is a highly recommended author submission service. Check out their free publishing leads, calls for submissions, and tips! This article was originally published at the following URL: http://www.writersrelief.com/blog/2011/07/famous-author-rejection-letters/

A New Kind of Eden with Author Louise Wise

Say hello to Louise Wise who hails from Northampton, United Kingdom. Louise is guest number 12 on my Virtual Book Tour.


Louise, tell us a bit about yourself: I am the author of Eden, my first published novel. It's a sci-fi romance—Beauty and the Beast for grownups. My second novel, A Proper Charlie, is going through its paces with my editor, and I'm busily working on my third, which I haven't named at the moment. I have written many short stories for People's Friend, Best, Take a Break etc and enjoy entering short story competitions where I can. I am a mum of four boys, happily married to Dave and live in damp England.

JOURNEY TO THE PAST... A tale of romance and survival as three people travel from 2236 to the beginning of time. Jennifer Daykin joins the three-man crew to explore the newly discovered planet, Eden. All was going well until Jenny found herself deserted...She listened for an answering shout - there was nothing. In the distance, Jenny was transfixed with horror as the space shuttle rose into the blue sky of Eden. 'No...Don't leave me here!' Only the pounding of her heart answered her...but not alone The instant she hit the floor she curled into the foetal position. Finally, the bare feet walked away. A Native American warrior, had been her first thought, but it was his eyes that had alerted her he wasn't an Indian or even human. They were completely black; black, dry orbs in a battered face. Ordinary people with ordinary emotions, fears and insecurities. Only this isn't Earth, and he isn't human. A modern day Adam and Eve.

It sounds fantastic! What inspired you to write Eden?
I had a dream, cliché, I know. I was stranded on the moon as my fellow travelers left me (I think I was Buzz Aldrin in the dream), such an odd dream and it stuck with me. I “romanced” it and turned the moon into a habitual planet, added an alien and crazy co-travelers. I started writing it about six or seven years ago, but the manuscript has been in my bottom drawer for several years.

How did you find the publisher?
I received many rejections, which stated that the novel was just too original for the current market. An agent took it on but failed to find a publisher for it. This urged me into believing in the novel and myself as a writer. Again, I put the manuscript away and concentrated on other things. Then I heard about youwriteon.com (a review website) and uploaded Eden to the site. It received brilliant reviews, and then YWO offered a fantastic publishing deal I just couldn’t say no to, and it went from there.

Your second novel, A Proper Charlie, can you tell us a bit about it?
This is a chick lit. I loved writing sci-fi/romance with Eden but it’s almost impossible to find a publisher for cross-over genres. I like comedy (there’s a bit of comedy in Eden), and really love reading chick lit myself and so I thought I’d give it a bash. I think I’ve found my niche.

Now that you have one novel under your belt, was the second easier to write? Did you make the same mistakes?
Because I took my time with Eden it seemed easy to write. Charlie (I’m editing it now) has taken 18 months, and it seems harder. It’s frustrating because chick lit is something people think is easy, almost badly written, but jokes have to be strategically placed, people have to be realistic yet still be “characters” and there has to be a plot. I made mistakes with Eden, and hopefully I haven’t repeated them with Charlie.

How do you juggle a writing schedule with a husband, four boys, and the English weather?
I write when the kids are at school and after my housewifey jobs, and again at night when they are in bed. The weather doesn’t bother me—I don’t like the heat so I’m suffering at the moment because it’s hot here. Love it cold and the sound of rain—guess I’m in the right country! I don’t think my husband understands my need to write. He’s proud of Eden, but thinks a book is something you “knock up” in between supermarket shopping and collecting the kids from school. It’s frustrating when I’m trying to concentrate and he keeps coming over to me to talk, then he gets all hurt when I’m snappy! Men!

What do you look for in a novel when reading for pleasure? Your Desert Island books? I'll let you choose three.
1) False Memory by Dean Koontz has stayed in my mind. It was really interesting, but as with all his books, they end a bit too abruptly.
2) Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella which is a chick lit but was sort of a cross-over to a ghost story. I thought it was very well written, and the author really knew her 1920s!
3) A Spring Affair by Milly Johnson, another chick lit. This had a multi viewpoint, and as writers we’re always told to avoid that, so it was interesting for that aspect. It had a good storyline and a nice “feel good” feel to it.

Who has/does inspire you with their writing? Anyone you've learned a lot from by reading their works?
I suppose Dean Koontz has inspired me the most. Even though he’s a thriller/horror writer and I’m a comedy/romance I love the way his novels are fast paced and hope that I have imposed some of that tension in my books. When I was a child I read a lot of Enid Blyton, and in hindsight now, think maybe the trigger for writing was then.

What made you decide to become a writer instead of a world-famous, filthy rich tennis player or a reality show star?
I think being famous would freak me out. I wouldn’t turn down filthy rich though. I generally think writers are born. Then they either hone their craft or fail.

What's the best/worst part of being a writer?
The best is for me is meeting other writers and be able to talk about my passion and them understanding. I used to write before the Internet on a little battered Amstrad and thought I was the only writer in the world struggling.

The worse is editing or rewriting when you thought you’d finished! You send it off to the editor, and get on with something new. But then it comes back with this, this and this that needs to be changed and you don’t want to do it because your mind is full of new characters and plots.

Do you eat chocolate to break writer's block or do you eat chocolate anyway?
I love chocolate, especially Cadbury, but I’m on a diet at the moment. Have you heard of the Ducan Diet? It’s a carb free diet and unfortunately chocolate is full of carbs. I’m excited though, I found a website that sells low carb chocolate (probably tastes disgusting!), and I’ve ordered a box! I shall stay in that day when it arrives.

If you'd like to read more about Louise and her books, please visit her blog. You can purchase her fascinating debut novel Eden on Amazon.

50 simple rules for making it as a writer - The Writer Magazine

50 simple rules for making it as a writer - The Writer Magazine

Yes, we've all read all the rules and tips on the art and craft of writing, getting an agent, dealing with rejection, marketing, persevering etc. But here is one of the best and simplest list of tips by Harvey Rachlin to help any writer, aspiring or established, get on track and stay there. Often we become distracted, confused by advice on what to do, how to do it, and other angles we feel might be worthwhile. A lot of time can be wasted chasing the wrong rainbows, hoping they will turn into great leads (or pots of gold!).

There are a number of tips I have read before, but I hadn't given much thought to them. An example is the possiblity of foreign rights.

Tip #15. Write books with international appeal. Foreign publishers buy books they believe will be of particular interest to their countries’ readers, so keep that in mind when planning or writing your book. (Harvey Rachlin)

Is your thriller/romance/mystery/adventure set in a foreign country or an exotic location? Does your story have an interesting French/Italian/other culture flavor? An overseas publisher might just open the right door for your work.


This is just one tip that sparked my interest.


As for the rest? This is a list I shall print out and stick on my wall!


Harvey Rachlin is an award-winning author of a dozen books. His most recent book, Scandals, Vandals and da Vincis (Penguin), was published in June 2010 in Poland, following other foreign editions in Korea, Spain and the U.K.

Scott Turow Offers Novel Writing Advice: "Persistence Is Critical"

Scott Turow Offers Novel Writing Advice: "Persistence Is Critical"

This Galleycat note popped into my email box just at the right moment. How many of us have reached a point where you think, "What am I doing this for? I must be mad!" Your life is bound up with a writing project that is all-consuming. You are starting to bore your friends and loved ones with blow-by-blow details of the working of the various characters populating your imaginary landscape ... and then AAAAARGH! You read (yet again) of (yet another) unknown debut author who has arrived on the literary scene with a glittering debut that eclipses even the most elaborate of your success fantasies. You're tired, maybe been working too hard, and now you feel that your goal (fame/fortune/both) is slipping away. You wonder how that darn author managed to find a story so close to your own. You wonder how it is that a genre/theme/topic you were told is now passe suddenly appears as the new flavor of the publishing month? It's crazy, confusing, can be very depressing ... but as the man says, "Persistence is critical!"

I have persisted in my own country (South Africa) where, traditionally, local authors are scorned in favor of overseas ones because somehow there's a weird mentality that if it's imported it must be good and if it's local, it must be sub-standard. However, I now have an interested distributor and things are looking good. Of course he has warned me that sales are usually low for a first-time author, don't get my hopes up etc etc. But my hopes are soaring high!