What's Your Number?
What’s your number?
Steven King’s number was 30. Writer Robert Pirsig’s was 121. Theodore Geisel’s (better known as Dr. Seuss) was 27, and Madeline L’Engle’s was 26.
These are the number of times these authors’ books were rejected before they were finally published.
James Patterson's first novel, The Thomas Berryman Number was rejected by 31 publishers before it was accepted by the 32nd. The novel went on to win the Edgar Allen Poe Award for best first novel, and Patterson has sold hundreds of millions of books. What if he had stopped after 30 tries?
Kathryn Stockett, author of The Help, said this about her persistent belief in the story she wanted to tell: “In the end, I received 60 rejections for The Help. But letter number 61 was the one that accepted me. After my five years of writing and three and a half years of rejection, an agent named Susan Ramer took pity on me. What if I had given up at 15? Or 40? Or even 60?”
Think of the grit it takes to endure 60 rejections. For something that you believe in. Something you love. Something no one else sees yet. Think about the humility.
Think also about the lessons learned. The skills acquired. The emerging clarity and professionalism as you take yet one more critique and turn it into an improvement.
I once heard record executive Portia Sabin say that sometimes it’s not the most talented musicians who end up making it. It’s the ones who can last the longest. I would add that it's the ones who last the longest and keep learning who make it.
Because there are things you learn from your 60th rejection that you couldn’t have conceived of when you were submitting your 11th. Your 61st version is vastly better than your 11th was. That version of the work wasn't ready.
That version of you wasn't ready.
So how long will you last? What are you working on that will take all of your ingenuity, grit, and persistence to accomplish?
And how many rejections will you have to pile up before you finally break through and gain momentum? Will it take 30 rejections of your screenplay pitch? 60 “nos” to your manuscript submission?
Will it be the 100th song that you write that’s the one that breaks through?
Then you better get started writing 99 of them.
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