If there was ever an example of why you should never give up, this would have to be it. Dr. Seuss is one of the best known authors to have ever lived. His fame among children is renowned the world over. One of his most famous creations is The Cat In the Hat, which has spread into television and cinema. But all of it nearly never happened. His first book that he completely created himself was rejected by publishers. Dr Seuss’s first book wasn’t only rejected by one publisher, it was repeatedly rejected, 27 times in a row.
Although Seuss had worked on other books before this one, it was the first book that he both wrote and illustrated. Prior to his first book he was contracted to draw for a collection of children’s sayings called Boners. It was when he decided to tempt his fate by going it alone that he discovered the publishing world can be a difficult one.
Dr Seuss’s first book Was rejected 27 times, how did he eventually get it published?
After facing 27 heart breaking rejections, Dr Seuss was heading back to his apartment to burn his first book. It was on his journey back that a chance encounter changed his future forever.
As he was walking to his apartment along Madison Avenue he bumped into an old Dartmouth College friend, Mike McClintock. McClintock, by chance, had just started working that very morning at Vanguard Press children’s section as editor. A few hours later the two had signed a contract to publish Dr. Seuss’s first book, “And to Think that I Saw It on Mulberry Street,” after it had been rejected 27 times.
That book was never as popular as his later works, but it launched his career. Dr. Seuss was later quoted as saying “If I had been going down the other side of Madison Avenue, I’d be in the dry-cleaning business today.”
If I had been going down the other side of Madison Avenue, I’d be in the dry-cleaning business today. Dr Seuss
