What do all these novels have in common:
- Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
- Dune by Frank Herbert
- Carrie by Stephen King
- Animal Farm by George Orwell
- Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling
They're classic, important sci-fi/fantasy books which you might be assigned in a high school or college class. They were also rejected, some by multiple publishers. For example, the serialized version of Dune was expanded and reworked—and rejected by more than twenty publishers—before being published by Chilton Books, a printer known for its auto repair manuals*.
The other authors on this list will tell similar stories of repeated rejection. They may not have predicted just how popular and important these works would become, but these authors, and sometimes their agents as well, had something important: confidence that they had created something of value, something that others would want to read.
What are your stories of rejection and eventual success? Share them in the comments.
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