James Patterson: first novel rejected 26 times

James Patterson’s first novel, The Thomas Berryman Number, was rejected 26 times before finally being accepted by Little, Brown in 1976. One publisher held it for seven months (which made him hopeful) before turning it down.

The book went on win the Edgar Award for the best first mystery novel.
[image error]
Patterson now holds the New York Times bestsellers list record with 39 New York Times bestselling titles overall and has sold more than 150 million books worldwide. He’s the only author to occupy the #1 sl