Is rejection good for us?

During my blissful Saturday, enjoying Bookfest, I stood back for a few minutes and took in the seemingly endless tables holding thousands of books, while hundreds of people methodically sorted through the boxes. All these people LOVED books and I felt a strong sense of camaraderie as I joined the endless search for that special volume. After a couple of hours, I sat with friends enjoying a cup of coffee wondering how many of the thousands of books stacked along the tables had actually been rejected before being published.

I know rejections are a way of life for writers, artists, and those who pursue an artistic existence. But it’s a horrible feeling to be rejected and speaking for myself I’ve worked hard to never allow the fear of rejection prevent me from taking a risk. One of those risks was my choice to independently publish my novels. I did this for a variety of reasons and I have to say straight away that the fear of publisher rejection was not one of them. The main reason was the need to stay in control of my life. Due to owning a horse stud I’m unable to travel without prior planning.

Although many would not believe it, I now strongly believe that rejection makes you stronger. With over 35 years of breeding Arabian horses, rejection is part of the course, you get used to hearing the bad things about a horse before the good. I don’t mean this in a negative manner, it’s just the way competitive fellow breeders behave. So in saying this, it means I should be thanking my fellow breeders for teaching me to take rejection in the right way. If you learn to do this, you can actually come away with a new perspective and understanding of the big picture.  “Rejection is the curse, confidence is the cure.”

On one of my internet searches on rejection I came across some excerpts from some 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.

The book poster for “The Jungle Book,” by writer Rudyard Kipling, published by The Century Company, New York, $1.50. Courtesy of the New York Public Library Digital Collection

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.

Can you believe these phrases from famous author rejection letters,  it’s amazing that the authors persevered. These comments show us that famous author rejection letters are no different than not-so-famous author rejection letters! Can you imagine if these  authors had stopped writing and submitting.  If they had given up we would have missed so much important literature!

Famous Author Rejections: Hitting a Dry Spell

I came across some very interesting statistics.  Please remember regardless of how hard you search there still may a chance for error.

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

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

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

4. Robert Pirsig (Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance) received 121 rejections before being 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. It 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 and we all know what a cult classic it became.

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