Jane Yolen gets rejected?

Interesting, and you could take it as depressing (Even Jane Yolen gets rejected ) or encouraging (It's not you! Even Jane Yolen gets rejected )

She's a writer's writer for sure. The picture book market seems very tight now -- not as many highly literary books published, so maybe it was a PB.

Bookmama said:

So I guess we are all in good company and that neither getting published, nor being rejected indicates what will happen the next time around!

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For some, maybe. On the other hand, getting many years of rejections on a variety of things unbroken by the slightest blemish of acceptance does tend to generate a certain degree of predictability for the future.

Heck, every published writer I know -- and I know lots -- has books and stories that they love but that haven't found a home.

There are four unpublished Ernest Hemingway mss. They've never been published as books, just as holograph facsimiles.

At the other end of the spectrum are Robert Ludlum and V.C. Andrews, who are still producing publishable manuscripts long after being dead.

blacbird said:

At the other end of the spectrum are Robert Ludlum and V.C. Andrews, who are still producing publishable manuscripts long after being dead.

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Then the rest of us have no excuse

regdog said:

A different thought on a similar idea. If a multi published, best selling author has a manuscript that their publisher doesn't want to publish can that author self publish? And would main stream brick and mortar books stores carry the book?

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... it would be a huge undertaking with all the distribution that would have to be done, nearly like starting a business. That aside, it is feasible I'd say. And there probably are one or two big-name authors who've tried such.

Maybe her choice of market wouldn't accept a story, but I can't imagine NO market would.

Maybe she doesn't share (doesn't need to share) my go-through-every-frickin'-market-on-the-planet strategy.

Good point, Phael. I'm sure there are many medium and small presses that would jump at a chance to publish her, but she has a long-term career. It would make more sense to stick with her favorite editors and imprints, especially since she likely has many additional projects and ideas.

this is the very first time i have even ever heard of her name being mentioned anywhere by anyone. sounds like others know who she is, though. oh well.

not everything everybody writes is golden.

KTC, Yolen is one of the biggest names in kidlit today. Her work ranges from picture books to Middle Grade and YA. But if you're not into children's books & don't have kids, not hearing of her is understandable.

Wordwrestler said:

KTC, Yolen is one of the biggest names in kidlit today. Her work ranges from picture books to Middle Grade and YA. But if you're not into children's books & don't have kids, not hearing of her is understandable.

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My youngest is 14. My kids are big readers. I did google her...found her website. She does seem pretty big. Still...looking through her titles, I didn't recognize any. Surprises me! We always buy books as gifts for all of our nieces and nephews. Oh well. I guess I'm getting old. (-:

regdog said:

A different thought on a similar idea. If a multi published, best selling author has a manuscript that their publisher doesn't want to publish can that author self publish? And would main stream brick and mortar books stores carry the book?

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Not many, and probably only those near the writer.

Bookstores really do depend on returnability. It's huge, for them.

Such an act could disenfranchise the writer's mainstream publishers--and even the very best writers have bad days.

The book/story might not sell because it's just not all that. There are two Dickens novels that while, with some effort, he managed to sell for serialization they didn't do well in magazines, and he never could get them to sell as books.

It's because they're awful. Really really awful.

Well, I think Yolen is a librarian's writer as well as writer's writer, literary, feminist, more awards than bestsellers over her long career. I'm a fan

Jane Yolen writes so many difefrent types of books, over two hundred, most of them children's books, and writes them so fast, that some rejection is inevitable.

And many of her rejections are published somewhere else.

When you're super prolific, some things you write just aren't going to be good enough, or they will have no market. Rejection happens. Ray Bradbury says he's had a rejection every week for fifty years, including last week.

But rejections by good writers usually get published somewhere, and if they do not sell, tons of other things do.

Professional writer or not, quality matters.

regdog said:

A different thought on a similar idea. If a multi published, best selling author has a manuscript that their publisher doesn't want to publish can that author self publish? And would main stream brick and mortar books stores carry the book?

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They can, but why would they? If one publisher doesn't want the book, which isn't likely to happen with a multi-published, bestselling author, another publisher almost certainly will.

If no publisher wants it, you can bet the writer goofed and the book stinks, which is a reason not to self-publish it.

Yeah, I agree with JAR. Some authors write what they feel, what they want to write, instead of starting each project with the intent of creating a commercial product. Which is fine, it's probably even good that some people do that, but if you start your projects from that stance it's hardly surprising that sometimes you're not going to find a home for your work, because that's ALL publishers look for.

I agree that Yolen is a writer's writer, with fabulous stories that may be a little too cerebral for many current YA trends. The fact that she's having rejections depresses me, but doesn't shock me.

As for published writers with stalled mms and careers, I know of at least three genre writers who've found ways out of that trap.

Sherwood Smith was known for some solid YA fantasy novels, but then managed to get an adult fantasy trilogy sold in the early 2000's. The buzz from that is letting her and a co-writer revisit a spectacular space opera from years ago.

'Robin Hobb' is the newest pen-name of Megan Lindholm (also a pen-name), whose agent had her change names to market some strong epic fantasy novels after her career stalled at midlist.

Tanith Lee is a famous YA fantasy, adult fantasy, and horror writer who could not get her previous publisher to reissue some of her most famous fantasy novels -- or even take a look at the unpublished concluding mms. So she's working with a high-quality small press publisher to bring out new hardcover editions of her books.

E-books are really also starting to change publishing status, for writers savvy enough to handle the formatting and marketing.

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