Book Quote by George Bernard Shaw

It had been fourteen years and I hadn't had anything published. I had 250 rejection slips. I got my first novel published and it…

— Lisa Alther

My first novel was rejected by some of the most eminent publishers in the world. Starting again was a real wrench.

— Wilbur Smith

After seven years of writing - and working many jobs to support my family - I finally got published.

— Lloyd Alexander

I didn't write professionally at first. It took me nine years to get anything published. At the beginning I mostly wrote picture books, which…

— Gail Carson Levine

I was a book editor for nine years. I'm familiar with the opposite experience, bracing myself for the likelihood that no one would want…

— Karen Thompson Walker

I had a hard time publishing my books in the beginning of my career, because editors were afraid what people would think of THEM,…

— Susie Bright

My first novel was turned down by about twenty publishers over a period of two and a half years. Because my name is Irish…

— Colm Toibin

I have SO many books I didn't sell. Some my agent rejected outright, others made it all the way to my editor to be…

— Sarah Dessen

When I was growing up the publishing world seemed so far away. When my mother wrote a book, she would look up the address…

— Kiran Desai

I began writing seriously in my mid-20s and didn't publish my first book until I was 41.

— Kent Haruf

I began writing seriously in my mid-20s and didnt publish my first book until I was 41.

— Kent Haruf

My first novel took almost six years to sell and was rejected 37 times in the interim, and then finally sold for the smallest…

— Daniel Handler