"Jealousy is the tribute mediocrity pays to genius." ------ Fulton J. Sheen

Click on Book Image to view Details

'Rejected Bestsellers' ( This article has been contributed by ReadnSurf Editorial Team. ) Nothing embarrasses a publisher or a critic more than the public knowledge that a literary classic or a mega best seller has somehow slipped away. Here is an interesting peep into the rejected ones which eventually went on to become phenomenal bestsellers and have touched our hearts and minds.    1. “The Diary of a Young Girl”, by Anne Frank In the summer of 1950, Alfred A. Knopf Inc. turned down the English-language rights to a Dutch manuscript after receiving a particularly harsh reader’s report. ....continued below.....

Sales would be small because the main characters were neither familiar to Americans nor especially appealing. “Even if the work had come to light five years ago, when the subject was timely,” the reader wrote, “I don’t see that there would have been a chance for it.”

Knopf wasn’t alone. “The Diary of a Young Girl,” by Anne Frank, would be rejected by 15 others before Doubleday published it in 1952. More than 30 million copies are currently in print, making it one of the best-selling books in history.

 2. “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” by Richard Bach

Richard Bach has always said that this story, told from the point of view of a young seagull, wasn't written but channeled. When he sent out the story, Bach received 18 rejection letters. Nobody thought a story about a seagull that flew not for survival but for the joy of flying itself would have an audience. Boy, were they wrong! Macmillan Publishers finally picked up Jonathan Livingston Seagull in around 1972, and that year the book sold more than a million copies. The book contained fewer than 10,000 words, yet it broke all hardcover sales records since ‘Gone with the Wind’.

 3. “Chicken Soup for the Soul” by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen

Within a month of submitting the first manuscript to publishing houses, the creative team behind this multimillion dollar series got turned down 33 consecutive times. Publishers claimed that "anthologies don't sell" and the book was "too positive." Total number of rejections? 140. Then, in 1993, the president of Health Communications, a small publication that was going bankrupt at the time, took a chance on the collection of poems, stories, and tidbits of encouragement. Today, the 65-title series has sold more than 80 million copies in 37 languages.

4. Notes to myself by Hugh Prather

Hugh Prather wanted to be a writer and had sent everything he could think of -- novels, stories, articles and poems, to publishers; but was repeatedly rejected.

Finally, he sent in a collection of his thoughts, which was initially accepted by a small publishing house who didn’t even have a wide distribution reach. But slowly, through word-of-mouth publicity, ‘Notes to Myself’ became a phenomenal bestseller, which has been delighting readers ever since.

5. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig

This book, regarded as "one of the most widely read philosophy books ever”, has sold millions of copies in twenty-seven languages and still continues its winning march. But very few people know that it was rejected by a record 121 publishers before it found a home.

The book features two types of personalities: those who are interested mostly in romantic viewpoints, e.g., Zen, and those who need to know details, the inner workings, mechanics (classic viewpoints, e.g., motorcycle maintenance). Pirsig's manuscript attempts to understand the true meaning of life. The editor who finally published “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”, said of Pirsig's book, "It forced me to decide what I was in publishing for."

6. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

The first title of Catch-22 was Catch-18, but Simon and Schuster planned to publish it during the same season that Doubleday was bringing out Mila 18 by Leon Uris. When Doubleday complained, Joseph Heller changed the title. Why 22? Because Simon and Schuster was the 22nd publisher to read it. Catch-22 has become part of the language and has sold more than 10 million copies.

7. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
The Fountainhead, a 1943 novel by Ayn Rand, has been a phenomenal success and inspirational bestseller. The book's title is a reference to Rand's statement that "man's ego is the fountainhead of human progress".

The book was rejected by twelve publishers, before a young editor, Archibald Ogden, at the Bobbs-Merrill Company publishing house wired to the head office, "If this is not the book for you, then I am not the editor for you." Despite generally negative reviews initially from the contemporary media, the book gained a following by word of mouth and gained a foothold.

 8. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Due to its subject matter, Vladimir Nabokov was unable to find an American publisher for Lolita. Not only was it rejected by most of the reputed publishing houses, it was equally criticized and panned by publishing house reader as well as critics on many grounds --- “too racy”, “the filthiest book I have ever read”, “sheer unrestrained pornography” etc. etc. First published in 1955, it was a runaway bestseller, the first book since ‘Gone with the Wind’ to sell 100,000 copies in the first three weeks of publication. Today, it is considered as one of the finest novels written in the 20th century and in 1998, it was named the fourth greatest English language novel of the 20th century. The novel is both internationally famous for its innovative style and infamous for its controversial subject.

9. Books for Children by Dr. Seuss

The sales of Dr. Seuss’ children’s books have soared to more than 100 million now. However, getting his first book ‘And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street’ published, required a great degree of persistence - it was rejected 27 times before being published by Vanguard Press. His bestsellers include ‘Green Eggs and Ham’ and ‘The Cat in the Hat’.

 10. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

‘The Alchemist’ is an international bestseller that was first published in 1988 and is the most famous work of author Paulo Coelho. This symbolic story, that urges its readers to follow their dreams, sold only 800 or so copies in its first release and was dropped by its first publisher, as a result. It has now been translated into more than 60 languages, and has sold more than 75 million copies in more than 150 countries, and is one of the best selling books in history.

‘The Alchemist’ is also said to be based on or similar to two other sources : Jorge Luis Borges’ ‘Tale of Two Dreamers’ and the work of the 13th century Persian poet Jalal-u-Din Rumi, in one of his stories titled "In Baghdad, Dreaming of Cairo: In Cairo, Dreaming of Baghdad".
                                                         

David Lassman, the director of the Jane Austen Festival in Bath, decided to strike back when a number of publishers rejected his novel. Using a pseudonym, he sent the opening chapter and plot synopsis of “Pride and Prejudice” to major British publishers and literary agents. He titled his offering “First Impressions”, Austen’s original title for “Pride and Prejudice”. Lassman tinkered with the story a little, but did not change the famous opening line: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.”

No one accepted his manuscript and only one person recognized the borrowing. Penguin Books, which republished Pride and Prejudice last year, wrote to him that the work was an ‘original and interesting read’ but not right for the company.

Alex Bowler, assistant editor at Jonathan Cape, recognized what he was reading. He wrote to Lassman as follows. ‘I suggest you reach for your copy of Pride and Prejudice, which I’d guess lives in close proximity to your typewriter, and make sure that your opening pages don’t too closely mimic that book’s opening—there is, after all, such a thing as plagiarism, and I’d hate for you to get in any kind of trouble with Jane Austen’s estate. All the best, and thanks for a truly exceptional submission.’

Readnsurfing is Fun. Enjoy !!!