We've talked about rejections over the years here at SleuthSayers, especially about rejections of well-known works by famous writers. I left out some of the famous rejections already discussed here (F. Scott Fitzgerald, Alex Haley, Stephen King, Louis L'Amour, George Orwell, J. K. Rowling, John Kennedy Toole, and others).
J. D. Salinger's desire to be published in The New Yorker brought many rejections until they finally accepted "A Perfect Day for Bananafish." After publishing a number of other stories there, Salinger asked if they would publish The Catcher in the Rye in segments and received a big NO from fiction editor William Maxwell.
Salinger submitted the novel to Harcourt Brace and editor Robert Giroux loved it only his boss, Eugene Reynal did not. Giroux called Salinger in to tell him the book needed to be re-written as Holden Caulfield was crazy. Re-write The Catcher in the Rye? It was too ingenious, too ingrown.
Salinger took it to Little Brown who published it without changing a word and the rest is history.
As for these other rejection stories, I don't know if all these are true. The come from multiple sources online but some probably are true:
Kon-Tiki was rejected by a number of publishers, so was Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Who wants to read a book about a seagull?
A rejection of John le Carre's The Spy Who Came In From the Cold came with the notation how Le Carre "hasn't got a future."
James Joyce's Ulysses was judged obscene by a number of publishers. Some of Jack Kerouac's work was rejected for being pornographic.
Lolita was rejected by publishers fearful of being prosecuted for obscenity.
Dune was rejected 20 times.
Usula K. Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness was rejected as being "endlessly complicated."
Pearl S. Buck's first novel East Wind: West Wind was rejected a number of times before publication.
Tony Hillerman was told to "get rid of the Indian stuff."
After a number of rejections, Zane Grey self-published is first book.
Marcel Proust also received so many rejections, he too self-published. So did Beatrix Potter with The Tale of Peter Rabbit.
James Baldwin's second novel, received a rejection describing the book as "hopelessly bad."
Lord of the Flies was rejected 20 times. That's right. Nobel Laurate William Golding's classic study of morality and immorality and human nature had a struggle getting into print.
William Faulkner's first novel was initially rejected as "unpublishable."
Chicken Soup for the Soul received 134 rejections.
Gone with the Wind was rejected 38 times.
The list goes on and on. Richard Adams, Rudyard Kipling, Irving Stone, Judy Blume, Sylvia Plath, D. H. Lawrence. Even Anne Frank whose diary was rejected by 15 publisher.
NOTE: Much of the above came from bio articles of some of the writers mentions as well as Writers Write and Writers Business and the PBS American Masters Documentary Salinger, a film by Shane Salerno (2013).
So, ya'll don't give up.
Murray Leinster said "Any story...if it is well-written, can be sold..." He was talking about selling sci-fi to the slicks but I get his point.
ReplyDeleteAn enjoyable post. Clearly misery loves company!
ReplyDeleteMore proof that acquisition choices are subjective.
ReplyDeleteJohn Grisham's first novel, A Time to Kill, fared so poorly that the publisher, over the objections of the editor), turned down his second novel… The Firm… which became a bestseller and a top-grossing film.
ReplyDeleteI think James Thurber received somewhere around 70 rejections before having a piece accepted (by The New Yorker??). Carrie was turned down 30 times, and A Wrinkle in Time 26. Not to put myself in the same league as King, L'Engle et al, but my first published novel had 69 rejections before ie was picked up...
ReplyDeleteI read that in 1876 Henry M. Robert couldn't get anyone interested in publishing his book so he self-published it. Called it Robert's Rules of Order...
ReplyDeleteLuck has a tremendous amount to do with life. Which editor, in what kind of a mood, at what time of day, reads a work can have long-term consequences.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments and for adding to the post.
ReplyDeleteElaine Borish's book UNPUBLISHABLE! also contains some surprising, funny, head-shaking rejections of, as she says, "Writers from Jane Austen to Zane Grey."
ReplyDelete