Anyone who has ever wanted to work in a creative field, be it writing, painting or playing music has been told they’d better develop thick skin. After all, it doesn’t matter how good you are, someone will always be there to tear you down. It’s hard to think of a better example of this than to look at some rejected books that would later become some of the best-selling titles in the world. From the Twilight saga to Anne Frank’s Diary, the success of these books shows that even people paid to evaluate the commercial potential of a work of art sometimes underestimate the most valuable titles.
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Lolita is one of the best-selling novels of all time, with over 50 million copies sold since its debut in 1955. When Nabokov was shopping the title around though, he had a hard time finding anyone willing to publish it because so many publishers were worried about getting tried for obscenity as soon as they touched it.
One rejection letter even went so far as to inform the author, “It is overwhelmingly nauseating, even to an enlightened Freudian. To the public, it will be revolting. It will not sell, and will do immeasurable harm to a growing reputation… I recommend that it be buried under a stone for a thousand years.” Ahem.
Comments (40)
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[...] about a few popular books that might have otherwise been blocked by the literary gatekeepers. From Flavorwire: Anyone who has ever wanted to work in a creative field, be it writing, painting or playing music [...]
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Very interesting. I knew many of these books faced difficulty in getting published, but had never really known for what reasons. Very enlightening read. Thank you!
Why is the content spread over _ten_ pages without the decency of a “printer” view that puts all the content on one page view? Ten page loads for such short paragraphs would be annoying on a desktop, but on a phone the latency is measured in seconds, not milliseconds. This might have worked fine five years ago, but today it is just annoying.
Thanks
[...] 10 cărți best-seller care inițial au fost respinse [...]
Paul Auster’s New York Trilogy also racked up a staggering number of rejections, if I recall correctly.
I don’t know if this necessarily fits into the “rejected” or “best-selling” category, but A Confederacy of Dunces had some difficulties before it was actually published.
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Pirsig’s Zen and The Art of Motorcycle maintenance was rejected by something like 121 publishers, making it the most rejected book, according to the Guinness Book of records…
[...] selling over 130 million copies worldwide, Chicken Soup for the Soul was passed on by over 100 publishing houses. And it took Doctor Seuss’s first book twenty-seven publisher rejections before it finally [...]
[...] friends at Flavorwire posted their list of 10 Best-Selling Books That Were Originally Rejected. From the Anne Frank’s Diary of a Young Girl to Lolita, the classics on this list may surprise [...]
[...] Flavorwire 10 Best-Selling Books That Were Originally Rejected2 days ago Lolita is one of the best-selling novels of all time, with over 50 million copies sold since its debut in [...]
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It does make you wonder how many great novels were rejected and were never released at all. Rejections are depressing. (I know. A book of mine has had 100 rejections). It also makes you wonder how these people are able to keep their jobs after failing so miserably to recognize a good book when they see one.
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[...] Flavorwire 10 Best-Selling Books That Were Originally Rejected4 days ago 10 Best-Selling Books That Were Originally Rejected. (Though really, this is way more common than [...]
[...] Flavorwire 10 Best-Selling Books That Were Originally Rejected4 days ago 10 Best-Selling Books That Were Originally Rejected. (Though really, this is way more common than [...]
A great article, thank you, but I agree, better to make it a scroll down all on one page
[...] 10 Best-Selling Books that were originally rejected [...]
Anonymous Coward- Well said!
[...] list of best selling novels that were initially rejected should keep your spirits high. [...]
Have you read Jonathon Livingstone Seagull? I did, and I even saw the movie (yes, there was a movie), but I can completely understand why it would have been rejected. It may have sold a lot of copies and the movie, but it was pretty ridiculous.
[...] In my first post on this blog, way back in May, I linked to several pieces about rejection in the literary world. It’s such a pervasive reality, though, that I think the topic deserves revisiting. [...]
I tried the “getting a publisher” route. It wasn’t the rejection letters that got me to stop (they stung a little, but I knew it’d take many shots at it), but I’d rather write my books than letters to people. So, I went with independent publishing. It’s now out and available on Amazon. Of course, now I have to do the work the publisher would. But I got it out there. shirleymiranda.com
Cacth-22 was rejected 32 times before it sold.
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anonymous coward is absolutely right
you don’t pumlish what i say
[...] it might be just the time to remind yourself the excellent company you’re currently keeping. This slideshow on Flavorwire highlights 10 best-selling books that were rejected. How many of these have you read, and how happy [...]
[...] Η έμπνευση δεν έρχεται από το πουθενά. Στην πραγματικότητα, ο ασυνείδητος νους κωπηλατεί μανιωδώς προς τον προορισμό μιας σκέψης χωρίς εμείς να το παίρνουμε χαμπάρι. Ο εγκέφαλος μας γνωρίζει περισσότερα από εμάς, φαίνεται να λέει ο David Eagleman (Discover Magazine) *** Ο γαστρεντερολόγος Ron Shaoul είναι πρωτοπόρος στον τομέα του: μελέτησε για πρώτη φορά τη συνήθεια ανάγνωσης βιβλίων στην τουαλέτα. Το συγκεκριμένο ζήτημα έχει απασχολήσει στο παρελθόν τους συγγραφείς. Ο Henry Miller για παράδειγμα θεωρούσε ότι κάποια βιβλία απαιτούν συγκεκριμένες προδιαγραφές τουαλέτας (The Guardian) *** Σε παλαιότερες εποχές ο θάνατος ήταν συνήθως ακαριαίος. Σήμερα, η σύγχρονη ιατρική έχει αυξήσει σημαντικά το προσδόκιμο ζωής όσων πάσχουν από ανίατες ασθένειες, παρατείνοντας και το χρόνο φροντίδας. Στο Saying Goodbye οι Barbara Okun και Joseph Nowinski εισάγουν τον όρο “το Νέο Πένθος” (New York Times) *** Παρηγοριά για νέους συγγραφείς: 10 best seller που αρχικά απορρίφθηκαν (Flavorwire) [...]
This just goes to show that if your book is originally rejected keep going and this could be you.
Kroatisches Küstenpatent
of certain monsters originate? * Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery: check out these 10 cartoons inspired by live-action characters (or real people)
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