Writers, though filled with passion, must also be thick skinned and a little daring—if not outright brave.
In a Twitter dialogue with fans and other authors, J.K. Rowling, of “Harry Potter” fame, said that she kept her first rejection letter on a wall in her home for motivation.
I pinned my 1st rejection letter to my kitchen wall because it gave me something in common with all my fave writers! https://t.co/ZmGNWDdF7x
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) March 25, 2016
“Robert Galbraith” is one of Rowling’s pen names, under which she published the thriller “The Cuckcoo’s Calling. On choosing to write under a pseudonym, Rowling remarks that she desired “to work without hype or expectation and to receive totally unvarnished feedback” for her venture into the crime mystery genre.
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While the author didn’t share the rejection letters she received for the “Harry Potter” novels—another of which is set to be released this summer—she did share the letters she received under the Galbraith pseudonym.
By popular request, 2 of @RGalbrath‘s rejection letters! (For inspiration, not revenge, so I’ve removed signatures.) pic.twitter.com/vVoc0x6r8W
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) March 25, 2016
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Yes, the publisher who first turned down Harry also sent @RGalbraith his rudest rejection (by email)! https://t.co/22Jwf2u8hy
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) March 25, 2016
The first publisher to reject Rowling’s magical saga that, according to Scholastic has been “translated into 68 languages and [has] sold over 400 million copies worldwide,” also passed on a Galbraith work.
The most inspirational tweet of the exchange came in response to an emotional tweet from a fan asking how one could “risk it all,” Rowling replied:
I had nothing to lose and sometimes that makes you brave enough to try. https://t.co/ETEk8lcih1
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) March 25, 2016
