Pink Slips before Publishing

We read books authored by celebrated writers and think they all perfected the art of writing at the very beginning. What we read is incredible, its brilliance hits us the moment we pick up the book.  But do these writers really elevate to this platform without struggling ?  

Let's break the myth. 

You will be surprised to note the number of times, your favorite author was let down before their oh-so-awesome best seller was first published!

Whatever genre the author may choose to weave his book around, there is a need for persistence and resilience to succeed – both essential to an author longing for his work to get its due recognition.
Here are 10 best known authors who treaded this difficult path to success & today, they veritably epitomize the same:

James Joyce

James Joyce's Ulysses was rejected by several publishers given on obscenity basis. It is now proclaimed to be one of the most beautifully written, widely read books.  
       
Jack Canfield & Mark Victor Hansen

The series that has portions with a flavor to suit each section of its audience, Chicken Soup for the Soul received no less than 134 rejections before publication.

Meg Cabot

 

The series most sought after by preteen & teenage girls The Princess Diaries received a mail bag of rejection letters too. Life isn’t a always a fairy tale after all!! ;)

Richard Bach

                                                 

18 publishers thought a book about a seagull was ridiculous before Jonathan Livingston Seagull started conquering the skies with his passion for self - perfection.

James Patterson

The celebrated author, James Patterson humbled the 26 publishers who had rejected him earlier, when his book won the Edgar Award in 1977 .

Rudyard Kipling

In one rejection letter, Mr. Kipling was told he doesn't know how to use the English language. Kipling received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907

J.K.Rowling 

The enchanting series of Harry Potter & his wizarding adventures was submitted to 12 publishing houses, all of who rejected it. From being unbelievable to raking in sales of 400 million dollars is what we would probably call J.K.Rowling’s witchcraft.

Joseph Heller

                                                    

Story after story that he wrote as a teenager were rejected by the New York Daily News. But his work in humor-filled novel Catch-22 Joseph Heller must have given the New York Daily News a run for their money.

Margaret Mitchell

Margaret Mitchell’s popular novel Gone with the Wind was showed the door 38 times before being published. Today, even after 75 years of its first edition, it is one of the most sought after classics.

James Baldwin

Baldwin admitted that his publisher first told him to "burn" the book because of the homosexual theme. However, upon publication Giovanni's Room was ranked number 2 on a list of the best 100 novels compiled by The Publishing Triangle in 1999.

As Flavia Weedn rightly put it “If one dream should fall and break into a thousand pieces, never be afraid to pick one of those pieces up and begin again.”  ~, Flavia and the Dream Maker, and that’s the learning curve for the writers & writers to-be fraternity.

Don't give up! If your aspirations are to become an eminent writer one day, the journey is not going to be an easy sail through. Their shall be intense struggle involved. But keep up your chin and you might soon be in the list of best selling authors.
- Librarywala