Saturday, August 02, 2008

9 of The Best-Selling Books REJECTED



Here is nine of the Best-Selling books REPEATEDLY rejected by Publishers
By the editor’s of Publication International, Ltd.


Novelists spend years developing their craft, editing and reediting their work, agonizing over the smallest word, often to be rejected by publisher after publisher. The following famous books and authors were turned down by publishers at least 15 times before they became household names.

1. Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis Based on his party-throwing, out-of-control aunt, Patrick Dennis's story defined in 1955 what Americans now know as "camp." However, before Vanguard Press picked it up, 15 other publishers rejected it. Within years, Auntie Mame would not only become a hit on Broadway but a popular film as well. Dennis became a millionaire and, in 1956, was the first author in history to have three books simultaneously ranked on The New York Times best-seller list.

2. Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach has always said that this story, told from the point of view of a young seagull, wasn't written but channeled. When he sent out the story, Bach received 18 rejection letters. Nobody thought a story about a seagull that flew not for survival but for the joy of flying itself would have an audience. Boy, were they wrong! Macmillan Publishers finally picked up Jonathan Livingston Seagull in 1972, and that year the book sold more than a million copies. A movie followed in 1973, with a sound track by Neil Diamond.

3. Chicken Soup for the Soul by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen Within a month of submitting the first manuscript to publishing houses, the creative team behind this multimillion dollar series got turned down 33 consecutive times. Publishers claimed that "anthologies don't sell" and the book was "too positive." Total number of rejections? 140. Then, in 1993, the president of Health Communications took a chance on the collection of poems, stories, and tidbits of encouragement. Today, the 65-title series has sold more than 80 million copies in 37 languages.

4. Kon-Tiki by Thor Heyerdahl With a name like Thor, adventure on the high seas is sort of a given, isn't it? In 1947, Heyerdahl took a crew of six men on a 4,300-mile journey across the Pacific Ocean. But not on a cruise ship -- their vessel was a reproduction of a prehistoric balsa wood raft, and the only modern equipment they carried was a radio. Heyerdahl wrote the true story of his journey from Peru to Polynesia, but when he tried to get it published, he couldn't. One publisher asked him if anyone had drowned. When Heyerdahl said no, they rejected him on the grounds that the story wouldn't be very interesting. In 1953, after 20 rejections, Kon-Tiki finally found a publisher -- and an audience. The book is now available in 66 languages.
5. The Peter Principle by Laurence Peter In 1969, after 16 reported rejections, Canadian professor Laurence Peter's business book about bad management finally got a green light from Bantam Books. Within one year, the hardcover version of The Peter Principle was in its 15th reprint. Peter went on to write The Peter Prescription, The Peter Plan, and the unintentionally amusing The Peter Pyramid: Will We Ever Get to the Point? None of Peter's follow-up books did as well as the original, but no one can deny the book's impact on business publishing.

6. Dubliners by James Joyce It took 22 rejections before a publisher took a chance on a young James Joyce in 1914. They didn't take too big of a chance -- only 1,250 copies of Dubliners were initially published. Joyce's popularity didn't hit right away; out of the 379 copies that sold in the first year, Joyce himself purchased 120 of them. Joyce would go on to be regarded as one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. Dubliners, a collection of short stories, is among the most popular of Joyce's titles, which include A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Finnegans Wake, and Ulysses.

7. Lorna Doone by Richard Doddridge Blackmore You know you've done well when you've got a cookie named after your novel's heroine. Not only does Nabisco's Lorna Doone cookie remind us of Blackmore's classic, but there are nearly a dozen big-screen or TV versions of the story as well. This Devonshire-set romance of rivalry and revenge was turned down 18 times before being published in 1889. Today, Blackmore is considered one of the greatest British authors of the 19th century, though his popularity has waned over time.

8. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig Pirsig's manuscript attempts to understand the true meaning of life. By the time it was finally published in 1974, the book had been turned down 121 times. The editor who finally published Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance said of Pirsig's book, "It forced me to decide what I was in publishing for." Indeed, Zen has given millions of readers an accessible, enjoyable book for seeking insight into their own lives.

9. M*A*S*H by Richard Hooker Before the television series, there was the film. Before the film, there was the novel. Richard Hooker's unforgettable book about a medical unit serving in the Korean War was rejected by 21 publishers before eventually seeing the light of day. It remains a story of courage and friendship that connects with audiences around the world in times of war and peace.


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You might ask why I am sharing this with you? Well, because this is proof that persistence pays off!

Hang in there writer's of the 21st century! Keep writing and keep submitting!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

ive done something here to have you a few cents!

June said...

Hi Joni....and Harry Potter...the first book was rejected by numerous publishers.

It happens!

Take care,
June

Anonymous said...

Chicken Soup 144 rejections? And Richard Bach's wonderful story was ever rejected? I sometimes think about the wrong people in the publishing houses. Who gives them the right to decide what is good and what is not? Do they really know? As from this list you have here, they don't know anything!
This makes me upset but also gives a lesson of persistence and believing in oneself and the story one wrote.
Thanks for sharing, Joni.

-Susan