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Friday, April 15, 2011

Fiction Friday: Some Encouragement


This is not my original list. I found it on a site called "How To Plan, Write and Develop Your Book." When I read it I was encouraged so I thought some of you out there might be as well:

Well-Known Writers with Large Number of Rejections--But Published!

Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo--397 rejections (and it became a movie)

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle--97 rejections (and it won the Newbery Medal for best children's book of 1963; it's now in its 69th printing)

Cinder Edna by Ellen Jackson--40 rejections (and it has won multiple awards and sold 150,000 hard copies).

Judy Blume says she received "nothing but rejections" for 2 years.

Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot--17 rejections

Harry Potter novels by J.K. Rowling--rejected by 9 publishers

The Diary of Anne Frank--16 rejections (and now more than 30 million copies are in print)

Dr. Seuss books--more than 15 rejections

Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach--140 rejections

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell--38 rejections

Watership Down by Richard Adams--26 rejections

Dune by Frank Herbert--nearly 20 rejections

To all book writers: Believe in your story. Keep trying. The right home for your book is out there, waiting for you to discover it.
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8 comments:

She Will Move Mountains said...

Sigh, 'A Wrinkle In Time' is by far my favorite book (besides the Bible) ever written. I loved this little list...it's kind of like a little glimpse of pieces of hope for those who wish to be published one day.

Rachel Olsen said...

Encouraging list! Here's what I want to know ... did they send out the exact same manuscript to everyone at once, or were they tweaking and revising it between sending out batches of submissions?

Enjoy Orlando!

Anonymous said...

Very encouraging, thank you for sharing.

JottinMama said...

So awesome.

How encouraging, Marybeth. Love it.

Thanks for sharing!

Blessings,
Katie :)

~Lisi P. said...

Thanks for sharing!

It was nice hearing you speak on the panel at the UCF Book Festival; very encouraging.

I can't wait to read your book "The Mailbox".

Blessings :)

Cheri Bunch said...

I have heard that Max Lucado was rejected a lot of times, too. Max, the artist with words! Thank you for this list! I needed this.
Blessings,
Cheri

Anonymous said...

Thank you for sharing Marybeth, just what I needed!!

Blessings,

Mary-Lynn

Cheri Bunch said...

Have to share this quote with you! There is stuff to read on the walls in my house. My most recent addition to the quotes and scriptures hanging around is from Babe Ruth. It says, "Never let the fear of striking out get in your way." I need to read that one over and over!!!