Along with the hoopla surrounding the opening of the movie Julie and Julia, I am feeling a new respect for one of the true queens of cooking. Her great book, Mastering The Art of French Cooking was, in fact, the first cookbook I purchased as a new bride in 1963. It’s surprising to find out that this revered book was rejected by several publishers before it was finally published in 1961 by Knopf.
It’s also no surprise to find that many other successful authors received their share of the dreaded rejection letters before finding someone who believed in their books. One of those famous authors is John Grisham, who was reportedly rejected by a dozen publishers before his career was launched. (Who’s crying now?) Then there are J.K. Rowling’s famous Harry Potter books which were also rejected by a number of large publishers. Add to the list the authors Stephen King, George Orwell, William Faulkner and Irving Stone. Even The Diary of Anne Frank received its share of rejections.
It’s never fun being rejected. My reaction when I received my first rejection notice was to throw myself a pity party and eats lots of chocolate. After two days, I had to actually pick myself up from my bed, shove the chocolate wrappers aside, slap myself across the face and say, “I’ll show them!” One of the keys for me has been to remember that “Success is the best revenge!” I had to understand what I was doing, do it well, keep my eye on the goal and never give up. And, through it all, I had to promise myself that I would at least try to enjoy myself.
I consider each of my rejection slips as a badge of honor, a ticket to the world of writing, a promise of things to come. Show me an author who has never received a rejection slip and I’ll show you someone who still has a lot of living to do.
As Julia would say, “Bon Apetit!”
Bobbie Hinman
http://bestfairybooks.com
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