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Debbie Ridpath Ohi reads, writes and illustrates for young people. Every once in a while she shares new art, writing and reading resources; subscribe below. Browse the archives here.
I tweet about the craft and business of writing and illustrating at @inkyelbows. If you're interested in my art or other projects, please do visit DebbieOhi.com. Thanks for visiting! -- Debbie Ridpath Ohi
Did you know that Madeleine L'Engle almost gave up writing when she turned 40 because of discouragement over rejections? "With all the hours I spent writing, I was still not pulling my own weight financially." She discovered, however, that her subconscious wouldn't let her NOT write.
"I had to write. I had no choice in the matter. It was not up to me to say I would stop because I could not. It didn't matter how small or inadequate my talent. If I never had another book published, and it was very clear to me that this was a real possibility, I still had to go on writing." (Source)
A Wrinkle In Time was rejected 26 times before John C. Farrar of Farrar, Straus and Giroux published it. It ended up winning the 1963 Newbery Medal and became a beloved classic.
Did you know that Madeleine L'Engle almost gave up writing when she turned 40 after getting yet another rejection notice? "With all the hours I spent writing, I was still not pulling my own weight financially." She discovered, however, that her subconscious wouldn't let her NOT write.
"I had to write. I had no choice in the matter. It was not up to me to say I would stop because I could not. It didn't matter how small or inadequate my talent. If I never had another book published, and it was very clear to me that this was a real possibility, I still had to go on writing." (Source)
The book was Kathryn's debut as a novelist and took her five years to complete. Since it came out in 2009, The Help has been published in 35 countries and three languages.
Pat Zietlow Miller wrote SOPHIE’S SQUASH, which won the Golden Kite Award, an Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Honor and a Charlotte Zolotow Honor. She has two books coming out this year: WHEREVER YOU GO (Little, Brown, April) and SHARING THE BREAD (Schwartz & Wade, August.) Pat also has six other books under contract.
For a synopsis of WHEREVER YOU GO plus more about the illustrator, Eliza Wheeler, see yesterday's Three Questions With Eliza Wheeler. Wherever You Go is a new picture book written by Pat, illustrated by Eliza, coming out from Little, Brown Books For Young Readers on April 21, 2015. As I mentioned in earlier posts, I absolutely ADORE this book and strongly recommend it.
Q. Could you please take a photo of something in your office and tell me the story behind it?
This is a dictionary and a bookmark I received when I was a senior in high school from my English teacher Gladys Veidemanis. The class voted on several awards, and I won “most likely to be published.” It took about 25 years after high school, but it did happen!
Q. What advice do you have for young writers?
Read anything you can. Write anything you can.
When I was young I read anything and everything. Books. Newspapers, Magazines. Cereal boxes. The backs of shampoo bottles. I remember being very indignant once as a teen when the copy on the back of a soap container was missing a hyphen. “How could someone not have noticed that?” I asked my mom. She didn’t have a good answer.
I also tried to write like my favorite writers. I was a huge Erma Bombeck fan, and a huge Rick Reilly fan and I tried to write essays that sounded like them. It might seem counterintuitive, but recognizing other people’s writing styles and trying to replicate them ends up helping you figure out your own best writing voice.
But even if you read and write anything you can, you still may have a hard time getting your book published. I got 126 rejections before I sold my first book. This video tells how I persevered. (And now, I’ve sold nine books, so it was definitely worth the wait.)
Q. What are you excited about right now?
What a great question! Let me make you a list:
• Dark chocolate peanut butter cups from Trader Joe’s.
• Finding out which colleges my daughter gets accepted into and helping her decide where she’ll go.
• An oh-my-goodness-you-must-read-this middle grade book by Kate Messner called ALL THE ANSWERS.
• The fact that illustrator extraordinaire Eliza Wheeler is coming to Wisconsin from California to launch our picture book WHEREVER YOU GO.
• These shoes, which I cannot, unfortunately, afford.
I could keep going. There are lots of things to be excited about.
A bunch of my "successful writers who got rejected" posts got trashed during the Big Move After Being Hacked some years ago, but I'm starting up the series again. I'll be reposting some old rejection stories as well as new ones.
Rex Pickett's SIDEWAYS was rejected 70-80 times before finally being accepted. The book was later adapted into an Academy Award-winning film.
I've recently been enjoying the audiobook version of Kathryn Stockett's bestselling book, THE HELP. I tend to listen to audiobooks whenever I'm out for a walk (in a safe neighbourhood) or doing household chores.
But that's the way the game is played: you win some, you lose some, and the take-away for me from this story for authors is that confidence in your work, persistence, and of course a good dose of luck and timing, can make all the difference. It's a great success story, and in a time where there are so many grim reports about book publishing, it's refreshing to see a story about a book that got it all right, even if it had some stumbling blocks along the way.
Tuesday, May 30, 2017 at 8:02 AM
