📕 Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was turned down 121 times.
It went on to sell more than five million copies. It still holds a Guinness record for the most-rejected bestseller.
It is in good company.
Gone with the Wind · Margaret Mitchell
Turned down 38 times.
Carrie · Stephen King
Turned down 30 times.
He binned the manuscript. His wife pulled it back out of the rubbish.
A Wrinkle in Time · Madeleine L'Engle
Turned down 26 times.
Publishers said it was too difficult for children and too strange for adults.
Dune · Frank Herbert
Turned down 23 times.
It was eventually published by a company best known for car repair manuals.
Lord of the Flies · William Golding
Turned down 20 times.
One reader's verdict: an absurd and uninteresting fantasy.
The Diary of a Young Girl · Anne Frank
Turned down 16 times.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone · J.K. Rowling
Turned down 12 times.
The editor who finally said yes did so because his eight-year-old daughter demanded the next chapter.
Everyone you admire was told no by someone with a desk.
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