One of the most recognizable names in fiction has a message for aspiring authors: Don’t give up until every publisher has turned you down.
Earlier today (March 25) J.K. Rowling, the creator of the Harry Potter series, tweeted rejection letters she received from publishers—not from her storied early days, but from just a few years ago.
Rowling had sent around a manuscript for a crime fiction novel called The Cuckoo’s Calling under the pen name Robert Galbraith; without knowing her identity, publishers sent it back.
“I regret that we have reluctantly come to the conclusion that we could not publish it with commercial success,” reads a letter from then-independent publisher Constable & Robinson.
The Cuckoo’s Calling, the first in a series, was eventually picked up by Little, Brown and Company’s Mulholland Books and published in 2013. The series is set to be adapted for BBC One.
After her initial message the Twitter-happy author responded to a fan asking about tenacity: