You’ve heard of J.K. Rowling. Love her or hate her, ya gotta admit: the woman has sold some books. 450 million of them. “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” – the first in the series – was rejected by 12 different publishers. It finally sold, but her editor advised her to stick with her day job – which was teaching – because she probably wasn’t going to be able to make a living as a writer.

“Gone With the Wind” was given the thumbs down 38 times before Margaret Mitchell finally found a publisher for it.

A Bucket of Pig’s Blood

Stephen King’s manuscript “Carrie”? 30 different publishers said, “no” to it. It was finally accepted, sold more than a million copies, got made into movies – you know the Carrie story. The bucket of pig’s blood, up in the rafters – yikes!

“M*A*S*H*” – it was a book, then a movie and then an iconic and long-running TV series. Twenty-one publishers turned down Richard Hooker‘s book. One finally saw it’s worth. All it takes is one.

Agatha Christie – her first novel never got a nod from a publisher. Never. She didn’t let that stop her. She wrote another novel. It finally found a publisher only because she agreed to change the ending. Sometimes ya gotta be flexible. Ms. Christie went on to publish 71 more novels.

A Time to Kill…Publishers

Dr. Seuss – turned down by 27 publishers. What? Now, you can read Theodor Seuss Geisel’s many published books in the air. You can read them anywhere.

John Grisham’s first novel, “A Time to Kill” – rejected many times. Finally picked up by a small publisher, who printed 5,000 copies. It didn’t sell well, until he wrote more novels and they became bestsellers, and then his fans went back and found “A Time to Kill.”

William Faulkner, James Patterson – I really shouldn’t mention those in the same breath, I know – but they do have something in common: their first novels collected MANY rejection slips from publishers. They persevered. If Louisa May Alcott took rejections to heart and stopped submitting to publishers, we wouldn’t have “Little Women.”

“The Diary of Anne Frank,” a book that has had an extraordinary impact on our public psyche, was turned down by 15 publishers before one that recognized how extraordinary it was. Through it, the memory of Anne Frank and all those who suffered during the Holocaust lives on.

The Takeaway

The lesson here is obvious. If you believe in your work, don’t let rejections get in your way. Badass writers reject rejection. Keep submitting. If you don’t believe in your work, no one else will.