Before I began my article, I wanted to write about another literary topic, but I could not put it into the form I had in mind, and I became upset. Feeling defeated, I tried to pull myself together after a while. Meanwhile, the subject of what kind of ordeals writers might have suffered came to my mind. I knew the stories of some of them, but as I researched and learned about others, I came to my senses. It was a day that reminded me how human failure is and that it can happen to anyone. I thought it might have a positive effect if I shared it with you, to give you the same feeling.
One of the things I learnt last year was about Stephen King. The first story he wrote is called “Carrie” and he describes it as a complete disappointment. Even before he sent it in for publication, he made the first criticism of himself, he threw away all his fiction. He did this because he thought he was wasting his time and that it would never sell.
The next day his wife asked him to take it out of the bin and finish it, which he did. The publishers he sent it to were mostly negative and it was rejected 30 times. When it was finally accepted, it sold millions and a film was made.
Although she had previously written short stories, Agatha Christie wrote her first novel at the age of 22. Of course, she went through a similar process, being rejected from many places. On advice, she began writing her second novel. Her first novel was never published and her second was barely accepted. She was also asked to revise the last part.
Magazines rejected all her submissions under pseudonyms. She revised some of her submissions and eventually published them under her real name with new titles.
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Let's talk about one of the best-selling authors in the world: J. K Rowling. Rowling, who became the first billionaire author, did not start her adventure easily.
The British author worked on her stories while unemployed and alone with her child. After completing her first work, she was rejected by 12 different places. When she was finally accepted, her editor gave her some advice. She said that she could not make a living writing children's books and that she should become a teacher.
Rowling, who began thinking and writing about her series at the age of 25 and had her work published by the age of 32, was 42 when she had completed the entire series and was the owner of the best-selling series in the history of the world.
According to her, “Harry Potter” was the biggest failure of her life. However, she was able to hold on to it and make a wonderful transformation from where she had fallen.
J.R.R Tolkien has a completely different story. Tolkien, who was actually a professor, found himself in failure, not financially, but rather in terms of prestige and time.
In fact, Tolkien, who turned the stories he wanted to tell his children before going to bed into a book and published it in 1937 under the name “The Hobbit”, was struggling for his next book. This book is “The Silmarillion”.
Allen & Unwin, the publishers of this book, are also the publishers of “The Hobbit” and according to their agreement with Tolkien, they want the draft of the book to be sent to them first if the sequel is written. This happened, but “The Silmarillion” was rejected.
In 1950, Tolkien wrote them a letter saying that he had written “The Lord of the Rings” and wanted it to be published together with “The Silmarillion”. Because the works contain complementary narratives. Although they were in favour of publishing “The Lord of the Rings”, they did not think the same about the other one. Remember that these are long books. And the costs are very expensive for both the publisher and the author. Tolkien also realises that this is not a profitable business.
But after this refusal, Tolkien became angry. He was also advised that the two books should be combined and published as a single volume if possible, but he refused. He then learnt that neither of his two books would be published in response to his letter in which he stated "publish both books or neither of them".
Having burned his ships, Tolkien put aside his anger and tried to reach an agreement with the other publisher with whom he had been in contact during the process (he was no longer bound by their agreement, as he had corresponded with them primarily by letter). All is well at first, but they too become concerned about the length and ask for an abridgement. Tolkien is back at work.
At the end of the year, neither book is finished and neither is published. His contractor falls ill and things are delayed. He receives a letter from the previous publisher saying they want to do another deal. Tolkien writes a letter refusing.
By 1952, not much progress had been made and Tolkien was disappointed. He began to see the project as a waste of time. He also told his publisher. In reply he received a letter explaining the problem of the length of the book, the cost of printing it, and a recommendation to send it to another publisher.
In the middle of the year, Tolkien sent a desperate letter of apology to his former publisher, asking for an agreement to publish only “The Lord of the Rings”. As they had liked his literary side since “The Hobbit”, they gave him a chance, but on one condition.
Tolkien would not earn a penny until the profits from the sale of the books fully covered the cost of printing. Explaining that they were embarking on an expensive and risky venture, the publishers persuaded the author to approach them in this way. It was agreed that the 10% royalty he would normally receive on subsequent sales would be increased to 50%. This means that the only way for Tolkien to profit from this deal is to be extremely successful.
The first two parts of the three-volume book were published in 1954, with the final part appearing towards the end of 1955. Although the work was only a few months old, it was very successful and paid for itself. He was also beginning to earn more than he had ever earned before. By this time he was 64 years old.
“The Silmarillion” could not be published during his lifetime. After Tolkien's death in 1973, his son Christopher Tolkien was able to publish the book (with some changes and additions) in 1977. It is now one of the most popular and influential works of fantasy fiction in the history of the world.
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In addition to what I have read on the subject, there is of course what the authors have said. I would like to mention some of them. I will quote them directly.
I will give you an extract from the book “Snoopy's Guide to the Writing Life”, written by Ray Bradbury, one of my favourite authors, who decided to become a writer at the age of twelve.
“I have several walls in several rooms of my house covered with the snowstorm of rejections, but they didn’t realize what a strong person I was; I persevered and wrote a thousand more dreadful short stories, which were rejected in turn. Then, during the late forties, I actually began to sell short stories and accomplished some sort of deliverance from snowstorms in my fourth decade. But even today, my latest books of short stories contain at least seven stories that were rejected by every magazine in the United States and also in Sweden! So, dear Snoopy, take heart from this. The blizzard doesn’t last forever; it just seems so.”
Stephen King, whom we mentioned at the beginning of our article, still seems to be a personal critic because of his character. It is difficult to accept, but he touches on a point that is necessary for our development.
“I think being rejected can be very beneficial, especially if the work really isn’t good. If it gets published, you are almost certain to find yourself looking back with great embarrassment!”
Isaac Asimov, one of the fathers of science fiction, who has hundreds of works and who addresses passionate and persistent writers, states as follows.
“You must keep sending work out; you must never let a manuscript do nothing but eat its head off in a drawer. You send that work out again and again, while you’re working on another one. If you have talent, you will receive some measure of success—but only if you persist.”
Finally, Neil Gaiman, one of the most influential writers of our time, has included a crazy expression like in his works.
“It does help, to be a writer, to have the sort of crazed ego that doesn’t allow for failure. 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 b*stards. Try rejecting this!” and then writing something so unbelievably brilliant that all other writers will disembowel themselves with their pens upon reading it, because there’s nothing left to write. Because the rejection slips will arrive. And, if the books are published, then you can pretty much guarantee that bad reviews will be as well. And you’ll need to learn how to shrug and keep going. Or you stop, and get a real job.”
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In my opinion, when we consider what we have read, we should not forget the following: Failure will always be with us, no matter who we are. Accepting this is the hardest but most useful part of the job. Although there will be times when each of us will be driven to despair, it is important to realise that we are not alone. I'm not going to discuss what effect this may or may not have at the time, but we need to realise (even if later) that this is part of the reality. In other words, it is not just happening to us, and it will not be the last time.
On the other hand, even important writers of the time and of the genre were subjected to it. We can understand that it is not only a matter of material and knowledge, but also a matter of luck.
It would be most realistic and healthy to analyse the country, the period, the mentality, the validity of the literature (and the genre) and the personal difficulties of the authors.
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