Well, isn’t this just classic: A Jane Austen fan submitted samples of her writing to publishers and agents, but got nothing but rejections and a bit of ill-informed commentary.
David Lassman typed up chapters of three Austen novels, changing only the titles and character names. Only one publisher recognized Austen’s words.
“It was unbelievable,” Lassman said. “If the major publishers can’t recognize great literature, who knows what might be slipping through the net?”
One agent pronounced Austen’s words as “a really original read” but said he was “not confident of placing this material with a publisher.”
Here’s more from the Daily Mail.
—————
If you like my articles, click the orange button to subscribe:
Steve Weber is author of Plug Your Book! Online Book Marketing for Authors
Related posts:
3 Comments
I read about this yesterday and even commented on the newspaper's website.
Have you read Jane Austen lately? Yes, it's a classic now, but a new publisher could maybe sell a few hundred copies.
It's a book that was written for a different time and a different place.
I've seen this story, and I have to agree with tcn. I LOVE Jane Austen, and I firmly believe that many literary agents do as well, but their job is to sell books and spot new literary talent that they can market. The sad truth is that your average reader will only buy a Jane Austen novel after watching a movie version of Pride & Prejudice.
Some years ago, Doris Lessing got someone to resubmit one of her novels to a publisher, changing the names and other relevant bits. It was turned down. Others have tried this on numerous occasions, with similar results.
I find it rather cheering: Jane Austen and myself, both rejected by literary agents. Sadly, for no doubt very different reasons…
My takeaway from this is that publishers very seldom read the first sentence of unsolicited manuscripts.
Then, how likely is it that an unsolicited manuscript will be read by someone who recognizes good writing, and that the author will get a contract? Our odds are probably better playing the lottery