I recently covered the topic of rejection, Are You Passionate and Excited Enough to Handle Rejection?

Today I want to list a few rejections received by some of the most famous and well-established authors in the industry–past and present.

• The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter was rejected 7 times before Beatrix self-published. One of the previous publishers, who had rejected the book, had a change of mind and is still selling the book today.
• Peyton Place by Grace Metalious received 14 rejections.
• Lust for Life by Irving Stone had 17 rejections, then went on to sell over 25 million copies.
• The cult classic, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert W. Pirsig was rejected 121 times.
• Pulitzer Prize winner Ironweed, by William Kennedy, was rejected 13 times.

For more famous rejections: http://susiesmith13.tripod.com/id12.html

The moral of the story is: Don’t give up. The one thing that sets a published author aside from a non-published author is persistence. This is the reason you have to be passionate enough and excited enough about your craft to keep trying.

Develop a thick skin and keep sending those submissions out!

image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/myloonyland/349811110/

Related posts:

1. Is Your Book Good Enough for Publication? Part 1
2. Believe in Yourself
3. 10 Things to Celebrate About Being a Writer