9 Quotes on Rejection From Famous Writers
Many professional writers are all too familiar with rejection. This is often especially true of fiction writers, who can grow accustomed to their stories and manuscripts being rejected time and time again — so much so that they often refer to “rejectomancy,” the art of analyzing and reflecting upon rejection.
But successful writers know that rejection is part of the process, and typically take a positive philosophical attitude toward it. They develop a thick skin and carry on, an attitude expressed beautifully by Samuel Beckett, who wrote, “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”
The following famous writers, like Beckett, had to take rejection in stride before ultimately becoming successful. While their advice often relates to rejected works of fiction, their wise words are just as applicable to rejection in all its forms. For these writers, rejection was a temporary set back that ultimately served as a great teacher, both in terms of their craft and their commitment to never lose sight of their dreams.
Sylvia Plath never abandoned her writing, despite initial rejections for both her poetry and prose. When her now-classic semi-autobiographical novel The Bell Jar was rejected, the editor wrote in a letter to Plath, “To be quite honest with you, we didn’t feel that you had managed to use your materials successfully in a novelistic way.” It was published the following year.
Harper Lee’s original version of To Kill a Mockingbird was rejected by publishers. When it was finally accepted and purchased for $1,000, the editor who worked with Lee still wasn’t entirely happy, calling it “more a series of anecdotes than a fully conceived novel.” They worked together on the novel for two years and it was finally published in 1960, becoming an instant bestseller and one of the most beloved novels of all time.
Neil Gaiman is a writer that new writers love, in part because of his wonderful advice. He, too, has received a respectable pile of rejection letters, but it never made him stop trying. As he says, “The best reaction to a rejection slip is a sort of wild-eyed madness, an evil grin, and sitting yourself in front of the keyboard muttering ‘Okay, you bastards. Try rejecting this!’”
Saul Bellow won the Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize in literature, among other accolades. He was helped on his way by a certain stubbornness that refused to let rejection stand in his way.
Isaac Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, writing or editing more than 500 books and publishing a huge amount of short stories. His talent, combined with his persistence and output, led him to become one of the “Big Three” science fiction writers, alongside Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke.
Stephen King experienced a lot of rejection, most notably for his first published novel, Carrie. It was rejected by 30 publishers before Doubleday decided to buy it. When the paperback was released, it sold more than one million copies in its first year. Since then, King has sold hundreds of millions of copies of his books worldwide.
Chicken Soup for the Soul was rejected by many major publishers in New York before eventually being accepted by a small self-help publisher in Florida. It went on to become a bestseller, launching an entire series and making author Jack Canfield a millionaire in the process.
Maya Angelou had to confront racism and sexism during her career, as well as rejection. And even after the publication of her most acclaimed work, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, she still had to confront those who tried — and still try — to censor her now-immortal autobiography.
Chuck Wendig is well-known for his trilogy Aftermath, a trio of novels set in the Star Wars universe. He’s also known for his Terribleminds blog, in which he often tackles the subject of rejection with large doses of colorful language. For him, the mountain of rejections is quickly flattened by that one, final acceptance: 200 “no thank yous” are immediately invalidated by a single “yes.” 
