I would like to think I have been somewhat successful in the 30+ years that I have been a writer. Famous? No. Wealthy from it? No. Published? Yes, many, many times. As far as I am concerned, that's success enough.
Along the way, however, I have received my fair amount of rejection notices -- for both articles and books.
I have written two novels and have had both resoundly rejected -- often.
I received a contract for my one non-fiction book, which I promptly signed amid much dancing around the living room, only to be notified shortly thereafter that the publisher was filing for bankruptcy.
Have publishers made a mistake in passing by my gems of art? I would like to think so. Such confidence is bolstered by a fascinating little essay in tomorrow's New York Times about the books that were rejected by the venerable Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Among them, "The Good Earth," "Animal Farm," "Lolita," and “The Diary of a Young Girl,” by Anne Frank, which was dismissed as “very dull.”
So, I guess there is still hope for "News on the Homefront" (my second novel).
You may read the essay here.
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