At first take it may read it as another example of the publishing industry getting it wrong. I found it in an advice article for new writers and it was included to boost confidence. The implication was that you shouldn't be deterred by rejection because even the greats of English literature had to endure it. Shaw's plays and essays are important to me. I love his reviews and prefaces and speeches. And there's no doubt that he is one of the all time great letter writers... but has anyone read a GBS novel? And wouldn't it have been a shame if he had ignored the rejections and stuck with novel writing instead of turning to the theatre? I know that every night there are agents who go to bed knowing that they once had the manuscript of Harry Potter in their hands and let it go, but if there is a consensus of opinion in a writers' group or in the publishing industry there's a chance they may just have a point.“I finished my first book seventy-six years ago.
I offered it to every publisher on the English-
speaking earth I had ever heard of. Their
refusals were unanimous: and it did not get into
print until, fifty years later, publishers would
publish anything that had my name on it…”
A creative commons photograph by Peter Beens from Niagara Falls, Canada
No comments:
Post a Comment