Reject a Hit (from Writer’s Digest)

Imagine that you are the editor to a major publishing company. Stories come to your desk, and it is your decision to accept or reject the book for publication. In 300-400 words, write a response letter to a famous writer rejecting his or her book. Explain what the major problems were in plot, character, genre, conflict, intended audience (demographics), theme, cultural values, style, setting, author’s biography, etc.

What harsh rejection letters might the authors of some of our favorite hit books have had to endure? Below is an example of a rejection letter for Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat.

January 28, 1954

Dear Mr. Geisel, or “Dr. Seuss,” if you prefer,

We must respectfully decline to publish THE CAT IN THE HAT. While we’re always in the market for great children’s books, your submission is lacking in many ways:

* The depiction of latch-key children, abandoned by their mother to fend for themselves at home, is a less-than-wholesome image for families, made more disturbing by the children’s irresponsible action of allowing a stranger in the house while their mother is absent.

* The fact that the stranger is this most unsavory “cat in the hat” serves to escalate the situation to a point that most children would find unsettling. Remember that children’s books are often read at bedtime, and your story of a pillaging cat, marauding creatures (or “Things,” as you’ve branded them), plus threats to the family pet—an admittedly endearing fish—could certainly result in nightmares for impressionable young children.

* This brings us to the most compelling reason for rejecting your manuscript: The rhyme scheme is almost impossible to eradicate from one’s mind; it stays with one for hours, disturbing sleep and influencing one’s own speech most inappropriately.

In closing, doctor, there is no way that we would publish your book today. And not tomorrow, or next year; we ask you not to contact us here.

With concern,
Horton Hoover, Senior Editor

P.S.: We did not like it, not one tiny bit; as a
writer, sir, we urge you to quit.

Fun Facts about Famous Writers Who Have Been Rejected

Rejection Letters

Check out these excerpts from REAL famous author rejections:

  1. Sylvia Plath: There certainly isn’t enough genuine talent for us to take notice.
  2. Rudyard Kipling: I’m sorry Mr. Kipling, but you just don’t know how to use the English language.
  3. J. G. Ballard: The author of this book is beyond psychiatric help.
  4. Emily Dickinson: [Your poems] are quite as remarkable for defects as for beauties and are generally devoid of true poetical qualities.
  5. Ernest Hemingway (regarding The Torrents of Spring): It would be extremely rotten taste, to say nothing of being horribly cruel, should we want to publish it.

Obviously, these famous author rejection letter phrases have gone down in history for how outrageous they seem to us now. The comments probably had more to do with the mood of the person writing them than with the quality of work.

It seems odd to us now that Plath, Kipling, Ballard, Dickinson, and Hemingway were rejected so cruelly. But these comments show us that famous author rejection letters are no different than not-so-famous author rejection letters!

Thank goodness these authors kept writing and submitting. Ask yourself: Where would we be if they had given up? We would have missed a lot of important literature!

Famous Author Rejections: Hitting A Dry Spell

Feel glum over oodles of rejection letters? Please note that the examples below are often referenced and we’ve done quite a lot of research, but as with so many things, there’s always a chance for error. Do not cite this article for your academic thesis! Go to the original sources.

  1. John Grisham’s first novel was rejected 25 times.
  2. Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen (Chicken Soup for the Soul) received 134 rejections.
  3. Beatrix Potter had so much trouble publishing The Tale of Peter Rabbit, she initially had to self-publish it.
  4. Robert Pirsig (Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance) received 121 rejections before it was published and went on to become a best seller.
  5. Gertrude Stein spent 22 years submitting before getting a single poem accepted.
  6. Judy Blume, beloved by children everywhere, received rejections for two straight years.
  7. Madeline L’Engle received 26 rejections before getting A Wrinkle in Time published—which went on to win the Newberry Medal and become one of the best-selling children’s books of all time.
  8. Frank Herbert’s Dune was rejected 20 times before being published and becoming a cult classic.
  9. Stephen King received dozens of rejections for Carrie before it was published (and made into a movie!).*
  10. James Lee Burke’s novel The Lost Get-Back Boogie was rejected 111 times over a period of nine years and, upon its publication by Louisiana State University Press in 1986, was nominate for a Pulitzer Prize.

The Most Rejected Novelist In History?

Author Dick Wimmer passed away on May 18, 2011, at 74 years old. He received 160+ rejections over 25 years! He spent a quarter of a century being told “no.”

He could have quit after 20 years, or 150 rejections, and no one would have blamed him. But he kept at it (maybe he had his own list of famous author rejection letters to keep him going!).

Finally, his novel Irish Wine (Mercury House, 1989) was published to positive reviews. The New York Times called it a “taut, finely written, exhaustingly exuberant first novel.”

Assuming the author’s submissions were well-targeted, how could 160+ people have passed overWimmer’s book? And what does that mean for YOUR writing career?

Wimmer’s self-proclaimed legacy is of being the “most rejected novelist,” but we think his legacy is hope and persistence