被拒莫灰心! JK罗琳晒退稿信
The Harry Potter author JK Rowling has shared some withering rebuffs publishers sent to her alter ego Robert Galbraith, in an effort to comfort aspiring authors.
近日，《哈利波特》系列图书的作者JK·罗琳为了激励其他作家，自曝数位出版商对其署名为Robert Galbraith的作品的冷酷无情的退稿信。Rowling posted the rejection letters on Twitter after a request from a fan. They related to The Cuckoo's Calling, her first novel as Galbraith. But Rowling also saw Harry Potter turned down several times before the boy wizard became one of the greatest phenomena in children's literature, with sales of more than 400m copies worldwide.
应某位粉丝的要求，罗琳在自己的推特上贴出了这几封退稿信。这些信件的内容全部与《布谷鸟的呼唤》这本小说有关。《布谷鸟的呼唤》是罗琳以Robert Galbraith的笔名发表的首部作品。而罗琳的《哈利波特》系列在全世界已卖出了4亿余本，成为了儿童文学史上的一座高峰，在此之前也曾数次遭到出版商的拒绝。Asked how she kept motivated, she tweeted: “I had nothing to lose and sometimes that makes you brave enough to try.”
当问及如何保持积极心态的时候，罗琳回复道：“我没什么好失去的，有时这样的情况令人有足够的勇气去尝试。”
When she pitched under the name Galbraith without revealing her true identity, she faced many more snubs. Since then, Galbraith has published three successful novels but the first was rejected by several publishers, and Rowling was even advised to take a writing course.
当罗琳在隐瞒真名并使用笔名投稿后，收到了许多的退稿信。此后，罗琳以该笔名发表了三本成功的小说，但第一本小说还是遭到了几位出版商的拒绝。有的出版商甚至建议罗琳去上一堂写作课。Rowling erased the signatures when she posted the letters online, saying her motive was “inspiration not revenge”. She did not reveal the full text of the most brutal brush-off, which came by email from one of the publishers who had also rejected Harry Potter.
罗琳隐去了信上的签名，表示自己的动机只是鼓舞他人而不是进行报复。一位此前拒绝了《哈利波特》系列的出版商的退稿信言辞最为刻薄，罗琳并没有公开这封信的全部内容。Rowling said she could not share the Potter rejections because they “are now in a box in my attic” before offering the Galbraith letters. The kindest and most detailed rejection came from Constable And Robinson, who – despite the advice about a writing course – included helpful tips on how to pitch to a publisher (“as on book jackets – don't give away the ending!”). The publisher added: “I regret that we have reluctantly come to the conclusion that we could not publish it with commercial success.”
在贴出这些信件前，罗琳表示，自己无法和粉丝分享《哈利波特》的退稿信，因为这些信现在都放在阁楼的箱子里了。出版商Constable And Robinson的退稿信贴心又细致--除了上写作课的建议--还包括许多如何投稿的建议。该出版商接着写道：“出版本书难以获得商业收益。得出此结论亦非我方所愿，对此我方深表遗憾。”The short note from publishers Creme de la Crime said the firm had become part of another publishing group and was not accepting new submissions.
而另一家出版商Creme de la Crime在一份简短的回复中表示，因公司被另一家出版社收购，所以将不再接受新的投稿。When The Cuckoo's Calling eventually found a publisher in 2013, it was achieving respectable sales before the secret of its authorship broke, and it then shot to the top of the bestseller lists.
2013年《布谷鸟的呼唤》出版后，销量颇佳，作者的真实身份遭曝光后更是占据了畅销书排行榜的榜首位置。
