I.

Unbelievable but True!

Indranil Sarkar
Truth is sometimes stranger than Fiction. It happens in life as in ones works. The story of the initial rejection(s) and subsequent worm acceptance of some Great and Grand best-selling books is definitely a good read in this regard. The overwhelming popularity and appreciation of some Great books make one stupefied when their sordid and sweet Publication History comes to the fore. It is said that Rejection is an imperative test of ones character. The writers of some Glorious books bear testimony to this statement. The reactions of the authors in such cases differ but what they all have shown in common is a persistence to never give up their dream; a dream that ultimately elevate them from writers, to authors. Once Frank Sinatra, the revered sage said, "The best revenge is a massive success." The ultimate massive successes of such authors make the saying meaningful. Some of them may even be bracketed with Wellington, the great English General in matters of courage, patience and smile of the lady-luck. The list is not a short one. But keeping a conscious acknowledgment of my little knowledge in this regard, I would feel satisfied mentioning only sixteen of them. And it appears that a beginning
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with the 1983 Nobel Laureate William Goldings Lord of the Flies will do proper justice to the title. #1: William Golding

William Golding got the blessings of Lord of the Flies after 2o humiliating rejections.

William Goldings Nobel Prize winning novel Lord of the Flies was published in 1954 but it required nearly 30 years to bring the coveted Nobel for its author. The publication history of this acclaimed novel is simply incredible. It was refused 20(Twenty) times before finally published by London Publishing House Faber & Faber in 1953. But, how can we forget the foolhardy rejection of the book by a professional reader of Faber &Faber previously commenting it as an absurd and uninteresting fantasy which was rubbish and dull?

The comment may serve a very good and appropriate Epitaph to grace the Tombstone of that gentleman for his nonsense-critique on the book. #2: James Joyce

Dubliners brought joy to Joyce after 22 sorrowful rejections James Joyces Dubliners is considered as the manifesto of Stream of Consciousness movement. It was published by Grant Richards Ltd. under certain conditions. It is enormously popular now and Tops the list of many esteemed Book-Review organizations. It contains memorable classic literary pieces like Portrait of the artist as a young man, Ulysses and Finnegan. But the publication history of the book was not at all pleasing to its author. It was refused by 22(twentytwo) Publishers before finally published by a small publishing House who just gamble with the fate of Young Joyce.However,the publisher
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Grant Richards Ltd.won the bet and became a millionaire. But, Joyce himself had to purchase 120 copies in the first year to keep his agreement alive. #3: Stephen King

Stephen Kings Carrie carries his name and fame. Stephen King is another such writer. Carrie was his fourth but first published novel. It received 30 refusals before its final publication by Doubleday in 1974. Refusal letters became so numerous that King used to keep them tidily nailed to a spike under a timber in his bedroom.Frustated King threw it into the garbage. But, luckily his wife, Tabitha rescued it from the garbage and told King to send it to the publisher after a little modification. King reluctantly obliged her request and the rest is known to the world. One of the publishers wrote: We are not interested in science fiction which deals with
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negative utopias. They do not sell. But, what a U-turn of the situation! It bagged a sell of 30,000 copies in its first print and more than 1 million sales in the very first year. Sometimes a little encouragement from someone who has faith in you makes a history. #4: Joseph Heller

Joseph Heller catches a smile in his 22nd attempt. Catch-22 is a satirical novel by the American author Joseph Heller. He began writing it in 1953, and the novel was first published in 1961.It suffered 21 (Twenty-one) humiliating refusals. One publisher even wrote: I havent the foggiest idea about what the man is trying to sayApparently the author intends it to be funny possibly even satire but it is really not funny on any intellectual level. But, the 22nd publisher Simon and Schuster dared to publish it and time has proved that the decision was not erroneous. To date, it has a sell of 10 million copies. Originally, it was titled Catch-18 but he increased the
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number with each rejection letter from leading publishers. But Heller had the last laugh as his comic masterpiece became an international bestseller as well as a cultural reference point of 1960s. The story is a pointer to the fact that tastes differ and experts are not always the best judges! #5: Margaret Mitchell

The lone novel of Margaret Mitchell had Gone with the wind after 38 refusals.

Gone with the Wind is the only novel written by Margareta Mitchell. It is an epic historical novel. It was published in 1936. Mitchell earned enormous popularity for this novel and bagged the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1937. But it was refused as many as 38 (Thirty-eight) times before being finally published by Macmillan Publishers. It is a story of love, war, friendship, jealousy, devotion and selfsacrifice. With a captivating plot, it focuses on the problems of
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human values in the world of purchase and sale. There is hardly more vivid character in American 20th century literature, than Scarlett O'Hara, the conqueror of America, the protagonist of the book, who made the world to tremble for her fate. The novel is frequently remembered for its memorable last line is: After all-------Tomorrow is another Day. #6: Frank Herbert

Dune made Frank Herbert a Dude after 20 rejections. Dune is an epic science fiction. Frank Herberts several award winning novel was published in 1965.It won the Hugo Award in 1966.It also bagged the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1965.Dune is the world's best-selling science fiction .It has started the Dune Saga. But Frank Herbert had to suffer 20 (Twenty) rejections of his novel before successfully reaching print and becoming one of the
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most beloved science fiction novels of all time. It has already an envious sell of 12 million copies worldwide. Here, Herbert explored numerous themes such as politics, the power of love, facets of conflict, human survival, lessons from history, the power of genetics, the complexity of human relationships, and the family etc. Perhaps the most pervasive theme in the Dune series is the optimistic view of human potential. #7: Mark Victor Hansen & Jack Canfield

Mark Victor Hansen & Jack Canfield got the chicken soup for their ailing mothers souls after 140 refusals. Its really funny. The Chicken Soup for the Soul by Jack Canfield & Mark Victor Hansen embraced disgraceful 140 (one hundred forty) rejections before being published by Health Communications, Inc. in 1993.They all said it was a stupid title and nobody would buy his
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collections of short stories because there was no edge, no sex, no violence. Why would anyone read it? One publisher had even written back stating Anthologies dont sell. But, the history of The Chicken Soup for the Soul series proved otherwise. It has already an enviable sell of 125 million copies. In the first volume there were 101 Stories to Open the Heart and Rekindle the Spirit. The book has already been translated into 52 languages. #8: Alex Haley

Roots enrooted Alex Haleys success. The full name of Alex Haley is Alexander Murray Palmer Haley. He is an American writer. His famous book, Roots was published in
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1976. But, it encountered an unbelievable 200 (Two hundred) consecutive rejections. Haley required long eight years to write it. But, it became a publishing sensation with a sell of 1.5 million copies in its first seven months of release. It has crossed a total sell of 8 million so far. The astounding success of the novel prompted the Pulitzer Prize to award a Special Citation for the book in 1977. #9: Stephanie Meyer

Twilight becomes Moonlight to Mayer after 14 consecutive rejections. Stephanie Meyer is an American young adult author. Her Twilight (2005) is called a vampire romance .It has a sell of 17 million copies
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and it has spent 91 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list. The book has made Mayer one of the most influential women of America. It has earned a total sell of over 175.5 million so far. It made Mayer a celebrity author with a monthly income of more than $50 million. But the book was initially rejected by 14 Publishing Houses. Nine of those publishing houses sent refusal letters while five others did not feel the necessity to response. But the 15th was intelligent enough to publish it and earned huge benefits. #10: Kathryn Stockett

The Help could help Kathryn Stockett to become a Celebrity only after 60 rejections.

The Help was rejected 6o times. But the 61st letter brought good news to Kathryn Stockett. It is a 464 page book published in 2009 by the
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Berkley Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Books, New York. ISBN: 978-0-425-23220-0. It has millions of sell till date. The novel is written in first-person narrative and alternates between the three main characters: Skeeter, Aibileen, and Minny. The book throws significant light on the extent of colour-prejudice in American Society. The actual view of the whites to their black counterpart is revealed through the incident of a black boy and an elderly gentleman. The coloured boy, Jackson is blinded for accidentally using a whites only bathroom and Civil Rights activist Medgar Evers is shot in his driveway in front of his children. The book ends with a promise of working for their goal secretly. #11: J.K.Rowling

The Sorcerer performed the sorcery for Rowling after 12 humiliating rejections.

Hardly there exists a single man who doesnt know the name of J.K. Rowling, the proud authoress of the Harry Potter series of fantasy
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stories. But the path of glory was not at all smooth for her. She sent her first book Harry Potter and the Philosophers stone to many publishers. But as many as 12 Publishing Houses including Biggies like Penguin and Harper Collins out right rejected it. Even the editor of Bloomsbury Group, a small publishing Concern was not in favour of publishing it. However, he sent the manuscript to the chief editor to give the final opinion. The Chief Editor also faced a dilemma and wanted to perform an experiment before sending it into the trash. He gave the first chapter of the book to her eight years old daughter to read and asked her to comment on it. The girl read it in a single breath and demanded more. Barry Cunningham, the CEO of Bloomsbury got the result and telephoned Rowlings agent that the book was selected for publication. The rest is history. The book made an unknown house-wife to a celebrity writer. She has been chosen as the most influential women of England recently. The Harry Potter books have been translated in 64 languages and remain the bestselling series in history.

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#12: Vladimir Nabokov

Lolita caused too much trouble to Vladimir Nabokov. Vladimir Nabokov is one of the most celebrated authors internationally acclaimed for his controversial novel Lolita. "Nabokov writes prose ecstatically, the only way it should be written," once commented John Updike. Lolita has been translated in almost all major languages of the world. But the publication history of this monumental book was really painful to its author. It was rejected by at least 15 publishing concerns .One of the publishing House editors sent a refusal letter to the author with the suggestion: I recommend that it be buried under a stone for a thousand
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years. Shunned by all the major publishers, the author went to France and landed a deal with Olympia Press. The French Publishing Concern took the chance and the first 5000 copies were sold out very quickly. And today, the erstwhile disgraced author Vladimir Nabokov sees his novel, Lolita, published by all those that initially turned it down, with combined sales of 50 million. #13:e.e.cummings

e, e Cummings got the enormous room for a celebrity writer after 15 refusals. Mr. Cummings first work, The Enormous Room, was rejected by 15 publishers. He eventually self-published the book and it went on to become considered a masterpiece of modern poetry. As revenge
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towards the foolish publishers he dedicated the book to all those 15 publishers who humiliated his Herbart educated creative mind by rejecting him. Quite unprecedentedly e, e Cummings tagged a dedication page in his book The Enormous Room captioned With No Thanks To all 15 publishers who dared to turn it down. #14: Chinua Achebe

Things Fall Apart makes all earthly things to befall on Chinua Achebe.

Chinua Achebe created a history with his novel Things Fall Apart. It is one of the first African novels to receive global acclaim. It is undoubtedly a milestone in modern African literature written in English. It has already bagged a sell of over 8 million copies worldwide. It has also been translated into 50 major languages. Time
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Magazine included it as one of the best English novels from 1923 to 2005. It was sent to several publishing houses; some rejected it immediately, claiming that fiction from African writers had no market potential. Finally it reached the office of Heinemann, where executives hesitated until an educational adviser, Donald MacRae just back in England after a trip through West Africa read the book and forced the company's hand with his succinct report: "This is the best novel I have read since the war". Things Fall Apart is an English novel by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe. It was published in 1958 by William Heinemann Ltd.UK. #15: Herman Melville

To

date:

Call

me

Ismail,

is

the

best

opener.

Herman Melvilles Moby-Dick has got the sub-title The Whale. It

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was first published in 1851 after a series of rejections. Moby-Dicks opener Call me Ishmael" is considered one of the most recognizable opening lines in Western literature. D.H. Lawrence wrote, Moby Dick "commands a stillness in the soul, an awe . . . [It is] one of the strangest and most wonderful books in the world." But the publication history of the book is really sordid. It was rejected by a number of Publishing Houses. One of the Publishing Concern rejected the book simply because of the term Dick in the title. They jointly wrote the refusal letter: Our united opinion is entirely against the book. It is very long, and rather old-fashioned.However, it was later published by Harper & Brothers, who released a first print run of 3000 copies. But alas! Only 50 of those were during the authors lifetime. #16: Yann Martel

Yann Martel and his Life of Pi

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Life of Pi is the 4th novel of the Canadian writer Yann Martel (1963--). It was published in 2001.The book brought him the Man Booker award in 2003. Martel was inspired to write the story about sharing a lifeboat with a large cat (Tiger) after a ship disaster in the Pacific Ocean. He conceived the idea after reading a review of the novella Max and the Cats by Brazilian author Moacyr Scliar. The hero, Pi or Piscine Patel, is an Indian boy from Pondicherry. He finds himself stranded in the boat only with a living Royal Bengal Tiger. He has to pass 227 days in such a dangerous condition. But the book was rejected by 5 Publishing Houses before being accepted by Knof Canada, a Canadian Publishing House for promoting Young aspirant writers. Initially Martel was charged of Plagiarism but the court did not find so. D.H.Lawrences Sons and lovers, George Orwells Animal Firm, Dan Browns Da Vinci Code, Rudyard Kiplings The Jungle Book, Richard Hookers M*A*S*H, Richard Adams Water ship Down ,John Grishams A Time to Kill ,Anne Franks The Diary of a
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Young Girl, William Faulkners Sanctuary and Louisa May Alcotts Little Women were also got refused more than once by the learned editors of various Publishing Houses. Is it not really funny to read the words of the editor who commented that Kipling does not know how to use English language? We cant control our laughter because many of Kiplings books including The Jungle Books are prescribed as text to many schools and Colleges all over the world. Again, how can we digest the suggestion of another to Louisa May Alcott who suggested her to stick to teaching without aspiring for becoming a published author? Similarly we cant help laughing at the revered reviewer when we see him saying Faulkners Sanctuary is Unpublishable. It is really a matter to ponder whether these learned reviewers were ever pardoned by the writers they disgraced or not.
**** References, Links & Acknowledgements:1. www.wikipedia.org

2. www.literaryrejections.com
3. www.examiner.com 4. www.buzzfeed.com 5. www.cracked.com 20

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