Rejection Proof: How I Beat Fear and Became Invincible

by Jia Jiang

I wondered how many times famous authors had been rejected by publishers before one of them finally accepted their first book. When I actually looked into it, the numbers were astonishing: • Lord of the Flies by William Golding: 20 • The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank: 15 • Carrie by Stephen King: 30 • Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig: 121 (a record in the Guinness Book of World Records) • Dubliners by James Joyce: 22 • The Help by Kathryn Stockett: 60 • Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J. K. Rowling: 12 • The Cuckoo’s Calling (J. K. Rowling using the pseudonym Robert Galbraith): at least one confirmed, allegedly many more