Melvin's blog

Nshima & Curry

Melvin's  Blog

Nshima & Curry

REJECTION CAN LEAD TO SUCCESS

Did you hear the story of the University of
Maryland mathematics professor who tried to
write fiction? Poor guy. He was rejected more
than 50 times. He should have stuck to solving
complex equations, leaving the business of
making up stories to authors, playwrights and
presidential candidates.

For more than a decade, Manil Suri's attempts
at writing produced only one minor credit, a
short story published in a Bulgarian-language
journal whose editors somehow mistook him for
a writer. The Indian native couldn't get a single
short story published in English, yet he had the
nerve to embark on a novel. What was he
thinking? Or, more precisely, what was he
drinking?

Surely he must have realized, after so many
rejections, that bookstores wouldn't want to give
up valuable space for his writing, not even on
their bathroom walls. Surely he must have
realized, after so many rejections, that he'd have
better luck trying to explain his complex
equations to George W. Bush.

Suri: "Mr. President, I've come to the White
House to explain the numerical analysis of
partial differential equations."

Bush: "The numerical what of what? Who sent
you here? The Democrats? Those left-wing nuts
are peeved at me for pushing a tax cut."

Suri: "No, Mr. President, it wasn't the
Democrats. I'm just trying to see if this is easier
than writing a book."

Bush: "You're thinking of writing a book? We
have something in common. I'm thinking of
reading a book. My wife, Laura, knows a lot
about books. She was once a librian. I mean,
liberian."

Suri: "From Liberia?"

Bush: "No, silly. From Midland, Texas. She used
to work in the lie-bury. You know, that place
where people lie buried in books. She once
brought a book home for me. It was long. Took
me 10 years, but I finally got through the first
chapter. I still don't know what happened to
Hansel and Gretel."

Suri: "They moved to Liberia."

Bush: "Oh no, they became Liberals."

It's a good thing Suri persisted in writing his
novel "The Death of Vishnu," for it eventually
created a bidding war among publishers,
earning him an advance of $350,000 and
allowing him to immediately show support for
Bush's tax cut.

Yes, the aspiring writer who endured years of
rejection is now happily ascending the
bestseller list, using his advanced math skills to
extrapolate his royalty checks. For his next
book, he'll be the one doing the rejecting.

"An advance of only $500,000? Sorry, that's
way too little. My last book was translated into
42 languages and sold out within a day in
Bulgaria. Simon & Schuster has offered me a
cool million, as well as a Porsche, yacht, and
Sony PlayStation 2."

As Suri knows, rejection may sting a little, but
it's better than not trying. That's why I've always
tried hard to get rejected. I've been rejected so
many times, I should be in the Guinness Book of
World Rejects. I've been rejected by women,
employers, editors, women, banks, credit card
companies, women, newspaper syndicates,
colleges, and did I mention women?

Despite all that rejection, I'm following in Manil
Suri's footsteps and trying desperately to get
published in Bulgaria. From him and others, I've
figured out something important: Learning to
handle rejection is a vital ingredient of success.

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