April 1, 2025
Publishing Doesn’t Come Easy
Rejection. It is a dreaded word to any writer. However, some authors were able to get the last laugh at the foolish publishers who passed on their work. Here are a few classic authors and books that were disregarded before finding success.
Although The Color Purple won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award for Fiction in 1983, the book was not an easy sell for author Alice Walker. She received several letters of rejection. The Viking Press stated, “We were bothered by your decision to end every sentence with an exclamation point.” In 1982, Walker was published, achieving success and a movie deal … exclamation points and all!
Carrie launched Stephen King’s career, but it was rejected by over 30 publishers. One rejection stated, “We are not interested in science fiction which deals with negative utopias. They do not sell.” Although it originally didn’t sell well, Carrie sold over a million copies within a year when it was released in paperback.
It would be difficult to find someone who has never heard of or read Animal Farm by Geroge Orwell. It is, after all, still being read in schools today. However, T.S. Eliot, best known for his poetry, rejected the story while working at Faber & Faber, citing the political perspective and the author’s request for a rushed answer as the reasons.
The Sun Also Rises was rejected by Peacock & Peacock with a letter that attacked Ernest Hemingway’s technique and voice. The letter stated, “It’s hard to believe an entire novel’s worth of pages could be filled up with the short, stunted sentences you employ here.” To further drive home the point, the letter later states: “Nice? The river looked nice? I daresay, my young son could do better!”
How I Went Out to Service by Louise May Alcott was also met with harsh rejection from publisher James T. Fields. He stated, “Stick to your teaching, Miss Alcott. You can’t write.” To emphasize his opinion, he submitted a check for her to start a school. After one semester of running the school, she went back to writing. A few years later, her new book Little Women was not only published but an overnight success. She paid Fields back with money from the book’s substantial profits.
Follow the path of these great writers and never give up.
“I love my rejection slips. They show me I try.” — Sylvia Plath
“Only one attitude enabled me to move ahead. That attitude said, ‘Rejection can simply mean redirection.” — Maya Angelou
“Work like hell! I had 122 rejection slips before I sold a story” — F. Scott Fitzgerald