That’s what happens:
books by women that question gender ideology, such as Material Girls by Kathleen Stock and Trans by Helen Joyce, were similarly rejected by every publisher but one
In many areas of life in fact. “No, No, No, No, Yes…..” or “No, Yes” or even “Yes”.
As the answer being looked for is yes then the question keeps getting asked until the desired outcome. This is true of book publishing and also of such other activities as trying to get laid.
Surely *every* book is rejected by “every publisher but one”?
(Even those accepted by the first).
You always find lost objects in the last place you look. Because then you stop looking.
How often are publishers sought serially? I’m sure it was pretty common back in the days of handwritten, or even typed, manuscripts, but today? Isn’t the point here that, of all the potential publishers, only one accepted? Which still seems to be fine as far as I can see, but it’s not quite the same as finding something in the last place you look.
Book publishing, getting laid, some people want it to be true of referendums as well.
J.K.Rowling was rejected by many publishers before Harry Potter was accepted. According to this: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/mar/24/jk-rowling-tells-fans-twitter-loads-rejections-before-harry-potter-success she was rejected by the first agent she approached, and the next had to submit Harry Potter to 12 publishers before it was accepted. And then when she tried publishing under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, her work was again rejected even though it too was very popular once published.
Rejection is a normal part of being a writer. As Hadley Freeman says in the opening sentence of the referenced article, “The history of publishing is littered with books that were rejected by dozens of editors but went on to sell like gangbusters,”.
It happens in music as well. A young beat combo once auditioned at Decca but were passed over in favour of Brian Poole and the Tremolos.
Luckily they didn’t give up and went on to do alright.
What Charles said…
Between the pothumously published correspondence, editorials, introductory blurbs in anthologies, and even stories with the protagonist/sidekick as a writer of authors/editors I happen to like, there’s one single common theme:
The continuous war with editors and publishers. With Rejection implied as a Law of Nature in the business.