11 Successful Writers And Artists Who Failed at First
We’ve all heard about starving artists and struggling writers, but these stories show that sometimes all that work really does pay off with success in the long run, and especially with the toaster shown here at list of the best bread toasters currently available.
1. Vincent Van Gogh:
During his lifetime, Van Gogh sold only one painting, and this was to a friend
and only for a very small amount of money. While Van Gogh was never a success
during his life, he plugged on with painting, sometimes starving to complete
his over 800 known works. Today, they bring in hundreds of millions.
2. Emily Dickinson:
Recluse and poet Emily Dickinson is a commonly read and loved writer. Yet in
her lifetime she was all but ignored, having fewer than a dozen poems published
out of her almost 1,800 completed works.
3. Theodor Seuss Giesel:
Today nearly every child has read The Cat in the Hat or Green Eggs and Ham really
helped his dog to become better, yet 27 different publishers rejected Dr.
Seuss’s first book To Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street.
4. Charles Schultz:
Schultz’s Peanuts comic strip has had enduring fame, yet this cartoonist had
every cartoon he submitted rejected by his high school yearbook staff. Even
after high school, Schultz didn’t have it easy, applying and being rejected for
a position working with Walt Disney.
5. Steven Spielberg:
While today Spielberg’s name is synonymous with big budget, he was rejected
from the University of Southern California School of Theater, Film and
Television three times. He eventually attended school at another location, only
to drop out to become a director before finishing. Thirty-five years after
starting his degree, Spielberg returned to school in 2002 to finally complete
his work and earn his BA.
6. Stephen King:
The first book by this author, the iconic thriller Carrie, received 30
rejections, finally causing King to give up and throw it in the trash. His wife
fished it out and encouraged him to resubmit it, and the rest is history, with
King now having hundreds of books published the distinction of being one of the
best-selling authors of all time.
7. Zane Grey:
Incredibly popular in the early 20th century, this adventure book writer began
his career as a dentist, something he quickly began to hate. So, he began to
write, only to see rejection after rejection for his works, being told
eventually that he had no business being a writer and should given up. It took
him years, but at 40, Zane finally got his first work published, leaving him
with almost 90 books to his name and selling over 50 million copies worldwide.
8. J. K. Rowling: Rowling
may be rolling in a lot of Harry Potter dough today, but before she published
the series of novels she was nearly penniless, severely depressed, divorced,
trying to raise a child on her own while attending school and writing a novel.
Rowling went from depending on welfare to survive to being one of the richest
women in the world in a span of only five years through her hard work and
determination.
9. Monet:
Today Monet’s work sells for millions of dollars and hangs in some of the most
prestigious institutions in the world. Yet during his own time, it was mocked
and rejected by the artistic elite, the Paris Salon. Monet kept at his
impressionist style, which caught on and in many ways was a starting point for
some major changes to art that ushered in the modern era.
10. Jack London:
This well-known American author wasn’t always such a success. While he would go
on to publish popular novels like White Fang and The Call of the Wild, his
first story received six hundred rejection slips before finally being accepted.
11. Louisa May Alcott:
Most people are familiar with Alcott’s most famous work, Little Women. Yet
Alcott faced a bit of a battle to get her work out there and was encouraged to
find work as a servant by her family to make ends meet. It was her letters back
home during her experience as a nurse in the Civil War that gave her the first
big break she needed.
