The importance of not giving up

"We are not interested in science fiction which deals with negative utopias. They do not sell." - publisher's rejection of Stephen King's book, Carrie

Never give up if you truly love what you're doing. The following excerpt from a post by Michelle Kerns at Examiner.com. should provide inspiration, especially for business authors.  (And the publishers' comments are priceless!)

The revered sage Frank Sinatra once said, "The best revenge is massive success."
He never spoke a truer word, particularly when it comes to aspiring authors who, after suffering severe smackdowns from publishers, went on to become renowned writers.
Think this has happened to only a select few? Guess again. Cast your eye upon this list of Cinderella authors (and the nasty little notes publishers sent them) and savor the taste of their sweet, sweet revenge.
1. Stephen King
Mr. King received dozens of rejections for his first novel, Carrie; he kept them tidily nailed to a spike under a timber in his bedroom.
One of the publishers sent Mr. King's rejection with these words:
We are not interested in science fiction which deals with negative utopias. They do not sell.
2. William Golding
Mr. Golding's Lord of the Flies was rejected by 20 publishers.  One denounced the future classic with these words (which should be inscribed on the hapless publisher's tomb):
an absurd and uninteresting fantasy which was rubbish and dull.
3. John le Carré  


After Mr. le Carré submitted his first novel, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, one of the publishers sent it along to a colleague, with this message:


You’re welcome to le Carré – he hasn’t got any future.


4. Anne Frank


According to one publisher, The Diary of Anne Frank was scarcely worth reading:


The girl doesn't, it seems to me, have a special perception or feeling which would lift that book above the 'curiosity' level.


15 publishers (other than this dope) also rejected The Diary of Anne Frank.


5. Joseph Heller
In an act of almost unparalled stupidity, one publisher wrote of Mr. Heller's Catch-22:
I haven’t the foggiest idea about what the man is trying to say…Apparently the author intends it to be funny – possibly even satire – but it is really not funny on any intellectual level.
6. J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s (laterSorceror’s) Stone was rejected by a dozen publishers, including biggies like Penguin and HarperCollins. Bloomsbury, a small London publisher, only took it on at the behest of the CEO’s eight-year old daughter, who begged her father to print the book. God bless you, sweetheart.      
7. Ursula K. Le Guin
One publisher sent this helpful little missive to Ms. Le Guin regarding her novel, The Left Hand of Darkness:
The book is so endlessly complicated by details of reference and information, the interim legends become so much of a nuisance despite their relevance, that the very action of the story seems to be to become hopelessly bogged down and the book, eventually, unreadable. The whole is so dry and airless, so lacking in pace, that whatever drama and excitement the novel might have had is entirely dissipated by what does seem, a great deal of the time, to be extraneous material. My thanks nonetheless for having thought of us. The manuscript of The Left Hand of Darkness is returned herewith.


The Left Hand of Darkness went on to win both the Hugo and the Nebula awards.


8. George Orwell


One publisher rejected Mr. Orwell's submission, Animal Farm, with these words:


It is impossible to sell animal stories in the USA.


9. Tony Hillerman


Mr. Hillerman, now famous for his Navajo Tribal Police mystery novels, was initially told by publishers to


Get rid of all that Indian stuff.


10. William Faulkner


One publisher exclaimed in the rejection letter for Mr. Faulkner's book, Sanctuary:


Good God, I can’t publish this!

selected excerpts FROM MICHELLE KERNS BLOG

Nothing worthwhile comes without a struggle

“The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph,” Thomas Paine wrote during the dark days of the American Revolution. “What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: 'tis dearness only that gives everything its value." Paine knew that without struggle there is no real sense of accomplishment. Merriam-Webster defines accomplishment as a special skill or ability acquired by training or practice. They say practice makes perfect, but how many of us have struggled through the thousands of hours of practice needed to achieve perfection?

Recently, I read a book about storytelling and struggle by a man well on his way to becoming a billionaire: Hollywood producer Peter Guber. In his book, Tell To Win, he tells a story about one of the most heroic characters he's ever encountered -- a young boy in his neighborhood who would watch from his window every day as Peter and his friends rode their bicycles up and down the block. The boy couldn’t walk, could hardly speak and couldn’t go to school because of a terrible muscle-wasting disease. Then one day the boy’s father carried him outside and put him on a bicycle with six training wheels, front and back. Then the father went inside.

The kid started to pedal and in a minute the bike tipped over. I could see the father in his window watching. So could the boy. His dad watched him lying there and did nothing. Finally the boy pulled himself up.  Then he went about three feet and again the father just stood there watching. For weeks that kid kept trying and falling, and the father didn’t lift a finger. I complained to my mother but she told me to mind my own business. I couldn’t. The drama was too seductive. Then one Saturday morning the boy crashed off the curb. I had to go down. But when I reached the sidewalk, the kid waved me off. Then his father tapped on the window glass and shook his finger at me to go away. Convinced he must be some kind of monster, I left the boy trying to pull himself up and ran back home.

Then a couple of days later the kid was out there again. Over he went; up he went. Again.

But then suddenly he was rolling! He made it about sixty feet… then he turned around. And he rode all the way back without falling! I looked up and there was the father grinning down at his son. I looked back at the boy and he was beaming at his father. Then they both started laughing and waving like crazy. And I started to cry.

Finally I got it! They both knew the boy needed to face the challenge and struggle through it on his own. He needed to be his own agent of change, to be active in his own rescue. If his father did it for him, the boy wouldn’t feel like a hero.

We constantly overcome obstacles in our own lives. Small ones compared to this boy, without a doubt. But when we do accomplish something, we become heroes in our own lives for a few brief moments. There's nothing to compare to the feeling (however subtle that feeling may be) because we know that nothing worthwhile comes without a struggle. 

That's what stories are all about.

The Five Laws of Business Writing

1. Always tell the truth


2. Every story is an experience


3. Every story has a hero


4. Every hero has a goal


5. Every hero must meet obstacles




Why truth?
Because in an age of information overkill, truth is rare.

Why experience?
Because the audience must connect and be transformed.

Why a hero?
Because someone must drive the story.

Why a goal?
Because the audience must always feel there’s a finish line.

Why obstacles?
Because nothing worthwhile - in business or life - comes without a struggle.


The following are two excellent references that helped deepen my understanding of the rules of good storytelling. I was influenced by the first book a long time ago, the second much more recently.

1. The Hero's Journey (Joseph Campbell)

2. The Elements of Persuasion (Richard Maxwell and Robert Dickman)