FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92  
93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   >>   >|  
nevertheless I would have promoted their welfare, more than those who have so basely betrayed them. REJECTED BOOKS THAT WON FAME. "Ben-Hur," "Vanity Fair," "Jane Eyre," and Scores of Other Masterpieces Were "Declined With Thanks" by Several Publishers. There used to be an old superstition that a flash of lightning would turn milk sour. This is the sort of effect produced upon a young author by the rejection of a manuscript by a publisher. As the author becomes older, more successful, and more experienced, such incidents do not discourage him, and if he sighs at all, the sigh is one of commiseration for the publisher who cannot appreciate a really good thing when he sees it. The owner of a rejected manuscript is in good company, for many of the more celebrated works of literature have been summarily returned to their authors by unappreciative publishers. Few books published in the United States have yielded to their publishers and authors larger returns than "Ben-Hur," by the late Lew Wallace, and yet the manuscript had been rejected by nearly every first-class publisher in this country before it finally was accepted by the Harpers, to whom it was submitted for the second time. "Rejected Addresses," by Horace and James Smith, was offered to Mr. Murray for twenty pounds, but refused. A publisher, however, purchased it, and, after sixteen editions, Mr. Murray gave a hundred and thirty pounds for the right to issue a new edition. The total amount received by the authors was more than a thousand pounds. "Jane Eyre," by Charlotte Bronte, was, it is said, rejected by several publishers. This, however, is rather doubtful. We believe the manuscript was sent to Messrs. Smith, Elder & Co., in Cornhill, and there it remained for a long time, till a daughter of one of the publishers read it and recommended her father to publish it. The result is well known. It brought the author fame and money. "Eoethen," by Mr. Kinglake, was offered to twenty different houses. All refused it. He then, in a fit of desperation, gave the manuscript to an obscure bookseller and found the expenses of publication himself. This also proved a success. "Vanity Fair," that most famous work of Thackeray's, was written for _Colburn's Magazine_, but it was refused by the publishers as having no interest. "The History of Ferdinand and Isabella," by Mr. Prescott, was rejected by two of the first publishers in London, and it
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92  
93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
publishers
 

manuscript

 

rejected

 

publisher

 

author

 
authors
 
refused
 

pounds

 
Murray
 

twenty


Vanity

 

offered

 
doubtful
 

Messrs

 
thirty
 

purchased

 
sixteen
 
editions
 

Rejected

 

Addresses


Horace

 

hundred

 

amount

 

received

 

thousand

 

Charlotte

 

edition

 

Bronte

 

success

 

famous


Thackeray

 
proved
 

bookseller

 

expenses

 

publication

 
written
 

Colburn

 
Isabella
 

Ferdinand

 
Prescott

London
 

History

 
interest
 
Magazine
 

obscure

 

desperation

 
recommended
 

father

 
publish
 

result