• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Meg Waite Clayton

New York Times Bestselling Author

  • Meg
    • Bio
    • Short Works
    • Meg’s Writing Process
  • Books
    • The Postmistress of Paris
    • The Last Train to London
    • Beautiful Exiles
    • The Race for Paris
    • The Wednesday Sisters
    • The Four Ms. Bradwells
    • The Language of Light
    • The Wednesday Daughters
    • International Editions
  • Events
  • News
  • Videos
  • Bookgroups
    • The Postmistress of Paris
    • The Last Train to London
    • The Race For Paris
    • The Wednesday Sisters
    • The Four Ms. Bradwells
    • The Language of Light
    • The Wednesday Daughters
    • My Bookclubs
  • Writing Tips
    • Tips for Writers
    • How Writers Get Started
    • On Agent Queries
    • Publishing Tips
  • Contact

April 21, 2009 By Meg Waite Clayton

Jane Austen: Fourteen Years of Rejection

I just read a wonderful piece in The Literary Review that says, in the context of a review of a new book about Jane Austen:
“In 1797, Thomas Cadell made one of the greatest mistakes in publishing history. A Hampshire clergyman had written to him, offering a three-volume novel for publication by a first-time author. Without a word of encouragement, Cadell declined the book, manuscript unseen, by return of post.
Unfortunately for Cadell, the clergyman was the Revd George Austen, soliciting publication on his daughter Jane’s behalf, and the novel in question was an early version of Pride and Prejudice, recently voted the one book that the British nation can’t do without. It would be another fourteen years before Jane Austen saw her first novel in print…”
You can read the full review, “Austenmania,” in the British Literary Review, not the America one that I hold in high esteem for many reasons, including the fact that they published my first short story. Enjoy! – Meg

Share:

Filed Under: Guest Authors, Meg's Posts Tagged With: Jane Austen, novels, rejection, writing

Meg Waite Clayton

Meg Waite Clayton is a New York Times and internationally bestselling author of THE LAST TRAIN TO LONDON, a Jewish Book Award finalist based on the true story of the Kindertransport rescue of ten thousand children from Nazi-occupied Europe—and one brave woman who helped them escape. Her six prior novels include the Langum-Prize honored The Race for Paris and The Wednesday Sisters, one of Entertainment Weekly's 25 Essential Best Friend Novels of all time. A graduate of the University of Michigan and its law school, she has also written for the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, Forbes, Runners World, and public radio, often on the subject of the particular challenges women face. megwaiteclayton.com

Reader Interactions

Trackbacks

  1. Guest Blog – Meg Waite Clayton : Adventures in Writing says:
    November 10, 2009 at 4:01 pm

    […] mostly written by the authors themselves, about how much persistence it takes to break into print. Even Jane Austen faced rejection: it was fourteen years – yes, fourteen! – from the day Pride and Prejudice was first […]

    Reply
  2. Writer Unboxed » Finding the Right Agent For YOUR Book says:
    March 15, 2011 at 10:48 am

    […] Jane Austen: Fourteen Years of Rejection […]

    Reply

Primary Sidebar

Categories

  • Book Marketing Tips (23)
  • Bookstores worth Browsing (34)
  • Guest Authors (215)
  • How a Book Gets Published (32)
  • Literary Travel (4)
  • Meg's Posts (388)
  • Poetry Tuesdays (24)
  • Publishing Tips (20)
  • Top Writing Tips (10)
  • Uncategorized (6)
  • Writing Quotes and Other Literary Fun (115)
  • Writing Tips (61)

Archives

Footer

Post Archives

Follow Meg on Goodreads

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Instagram

Copyright © 2022 Meg Waite Clayton · Site design: Ilsa Brink