The Magical Art of Asking and Receiving

Q: Is it true that, before Rocky, you were so broke that you sold your dog?

A: Yeah, I sold my bull mastiff Butkus to a little person. [Turns to his publicist] You can’t use the word ‘dwarf’ any more? Let’s just say a little person. I tied my dog up at the store with a sign that said a hundred bucks. I got $50 from this guy called Little Jimmy.

Q: This is the same dog that appeared in Rocky, right?

A: Yeah. When I sold the Rocky script, I went to see Little Jimmy and begged for the dog back. He lined up his children [Stallone mimes crying], “Oh my kids love the dog.” I said, “You’ve only had him for a week!” I offered to pay double. Anyway, $3,000 later …

Q: What happened to Little Jimmy?

A: I ended up putting him in the movie. Do you remember in Rocky, when the little guy goes, “Hey, did ya win?” and I go, “What are you, deaf?” and he goes “No, I’m short.” That’s him.

Jack Canfield
Jack kept trying to get Chicken Soup for the Soul published only to get rejected countless times until he finally got it published, and then it sold millions of copies. Jack said, “When we wrote Chicken Soup for the Soul we were rejected by 144 publishers over a period of 18 months before finally getting a contract. By then I didn’t feel like we’d failed; I just felt like we should keep improving the book proposal and we eventually got 20,000 people to sign a form saying that they would buy a book if it were published. We got more proficient at learning how to work with publishers and now I can do it in my sleep. It’s a matter of seeing failure as a learning experience and not taking it as a sign to stop or a sign that you are incompetent.” The entertainment industry has spent tons of money figuring out how to grab your attention and we have to spend just as much willpower to resist being trapped by that. Ron Scolastico, quite a profound being. He said to us, “If you go to a tree with a sharp axe everyday and take five swings with the axe, eventually the tree, however big, will eventually have to fall down.” So we came up with this idea that we would do five things every single day to promote the book. This could mean signing five books and giving them to people for free. It could be giving talks at churches or sending out free copies to reviewers, or giving five radio interviews. There were five specific actions we did every day so there was always something happening that promoted the book. Eventually, I wrote a letter to the publisher of a publication called L.A. Parents. We had a story in the book about parenting, and I asked them to reprint it. In exchange for printing it, we asked that they put at the bottom a little box that said it was excerpted from Chicken Soup For The Soul^®. He liked the story so much that he told us there were many more of these parenting magazines all across the country. He helped me to send out this article to every editor and we got 55 copies of it printed. I think that is one of the things that helped the book to take off. Eventually that led to 135,000 copies of the book selling, and by a year and a half’s time we had sold 1.3 million copies. We really didn’t hit a best seller list until September 1994, even though it came out in July of 1993. About a month after that, it was on The New York Times list, and then USA Today, and we stayed on those bestseller lists for almost 4 years. At one point Chicken Soup for the Soul^® was number one and A Second Helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul^® was number two. Eventually we came out with the whole series of books, 32 titles so far. That is basically how it added up–it was NOT an overnight success. What happened, I think, is that one person would read it, they’d tell five others; those five would read it and tell five others and eventually that had a snowball effect that finally reached critical mass, and we had a bestseller. We were rejected by 123 publishers all told. The first time we went to New York, we visited with about a dozen publishers in a two day period with our agent, and nobody wanted it. They all said it was a stupid title, that nobody bought collections of short stories, that there was no edge–no sex, no violence. Why would anyone read it? We then kept going to publishers for another couple of months. It was rejected by another 22 publishers and then our agent said, “Sorry boys, I can’t sell it.” So we went to the American Bookseller’s Association Convention in Anaheim and walked the floor from booth to booth asking publishers if they would be interested in our book. There were 4,000 booths there! I don’t think we hit every one of them, but close to it. Finally, we went to the booth of Health Communications, which became our publisher. They were a small company out of Deerfield Beach, Florida. Their primary focus was on the recovery world, such as people getting over alcoholism or drug addiction or being co-dependant. They were slowly going out of business at the time because that whole market had become saturated. They said they would take a look at it and they read it on the way home on the airplane. They loved it and said that they would publish it. There was no advance. When we told them we wanted to sell 150,000 copies by Christmas, they laughed at us. But we said let’s just see what happens. So as I told you, we sold 135,000 copies–not quite the goal, but we really impressed them. Chicken Soup for the Soul went on to become Health Communication’s biggest selling book ever. I think there are eight million copies of that book that they have printed so far.

“I believe that people make their own luck by great preparation and good strategy. We used The Rule of 5 which I write about in The Success Principles, which is to do 5 specific action steps each day to move you towards the completion of a goal. So every day for the 14 months before we hit the New York Times bestseller list we would take 5 actions steps. We would make 5 phone calls to newspapers to review the book. We would send out 5 free copies of the book to reviewers.

Once we sent copies to all the producers of TV shows like “Touched by An Angel” and when the producer got a hold of the book, they required everyone on their staff, including the cameramen, script writers and actors to read it. That story reached the Hollywood Reporter which printed it and then it went out to syndication and appeared in many more newspapers all across the United States.

So we worked very hard. We actually studied how to create a bestselling book by interviewing 10 bestselling authors and everything they told us they’d done, we then did the same. We also bought a book called 1001 Ways to Market a Book by John Kremer. We made a post-it for each of the 1000 ways and put it on a wall, where our commitment was to do everything in the book and then remove each post-it until we were finished. It took us the better part of a year to do it, but I believe it is this kind of committed to a long series of actions that is what’s always required to create major success that lasts.”

Additional Resources:

See my interview with Pastor Andrew Wommack and listen to the part where he talks about how to combat unbelief and fight against negative words that are spoken to you, whether it be through rejection or speaking death over a vision. Also read my post on Prayer Pharmacy about taming your tongue; don’t accept no for an answer.“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.” Unbelievers can simply mean someone who doesn’t believe in your dream. You must find out what your strengths are and be around people who are going to help you develop and focus on those strengths. There are billions of people in this world, countless cities, and many people who would love to be in your life and would love for you to be in theirs. For every person that you meet, write down what you like about them, and make a list of other people who might have those qualities, even well-known people, and reach out to them, sharing your goals and asking them to help you, as well as asking them how you can help them. Know people’s love languages. Don’t be afraid to walk away from a relationship, and at the same time don’t close the door of what it is that they were offering, because the bottom line is, whenever there’s friction in a relationship, you’re not getting what you want. It’s important to know that you can get whatever you want by asking, and if that person says no, you must make a list of another ten people who might potentially say yes, and ask each of them, if any say no, make a list of another ten people until you finally get what you want – and be sure to learn from your approaches, then study about sales and asking, then apply what you learn. Keep in mind a yoke is a wooden bar that joins two oxen to each other and to the burden they pull. An “unequally yoked” team has one stronger ox and one weaker, or one taller and one shorter. The weaker or shorter ox would walk more slowly than the taller, stronger one, causing the load to go around in circles. When oxen are unequally yoked, they cannot perform the task set before them. Instead of working together, they are at odds with one another.

In order to get people to say YES to doing things for you, you need BE doing the following:

LIST OF AUTHORS WHO REJECTED REJECTION:

• After 5 years of continual rejection, the writer finally lands a publishing deal: Agatha Christie. Her book sales are now in excess of $2 billion. Only William Shakespeare has sold more.
• The Christopher Little Literary Agency receives 12 publishing rejections in a row for their new client, until the eight-year-old daughter of a Bloomsbury editor demands to read the rest of the book. The editor agrees to publish but advises the writer to get a day job since she has little chance of making money in children’s books. Yet Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling spawns a series where the last four novels consecutively set records as the fastest-selling books in history, on both sides of the Atlantic, with combined sales of 450 million.
• Louis L’Amour received 200 rejections before Bantam took a chance on him. He is now their best ever selling author with 330 million sales.
• “Too different from other juveniles on the market to warrant its selling.” A rejection letter sent to Dr Seuss. 300 million sales and the 9th best-selling fiction author of all time.
• “You have no business being a writer and should give up.” Zane Grey ignores the advice. There are believed to be over 250 million copies of his books in print.
• 140 rejections stating “Anthologies don’t sell” until the Chicken Soup for the Soul series by Jack Canfield & Mark Victor Hansen sells 125 million copies.
• The years of rejection do not break his spirit. He only becomes more determined to succeed. When he eventually lands a publishing deal, such is the demand for his fiction that it is translated into over 47 languages, as The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis goes on to sell over 100 million copies.
• “It is so badly written.” The author tries Doubleday instead and his little book makes an impression. The Da Vinci Code sells 80 million.
• After two years of rejections stating that her fiction would have no readership, Reilly and Lee agree to publish The One in the Middle Is the Green Kangaroo, launching the career of the best-selling author Judy Blume. Combined sales: 80 million.
• Having sold only 800 copies on its limited first release, the author finds a new publisher and The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho sells 75 million.
• “We feel that we don’t know the central character well enough.” The author does a rewrite and his protagonist becomes an icon for a generation as The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger sells 65 million.
• 5 publishers reject L.M. Montgomery‘s debut novel. Two years after this rejection, she removes it from a hat box and resubmits. L.C. Page & Company agree to publish Anne of Green Gables and it goes on to sell 50 million copies.
• “I recommend that it be buried under a stone for a thousand years.” Shunned by all the major publishers, the author goes to France and lands a deal with Olympia Press. The first 5000 copies quickly sell out. But the author Vladimir Nabokov now sees his novel, Lolita, published by all those that initially turned it down, with combined sales of 50 million.
• The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter was rejected so many times she decided to self-publish 250 copies. It has now sold 45 million.
• “Nobody will want to read a book about a seagull.” Richard Bach‘s Jonathan Livingston Seagull goes on to sell 44 million copies.
• “Undisciplined, rambling and thoroughly amateurish writer.” But Jacqueline Susann refuses to give up and her book the Valley of the Dolls sells 30 million.
• Margaret Mitchell gets 38 rejections from publishers before finding one to publish her novel Gone With The Wind. It sells 30 million copies.
• “The girl doesn’t, it seems to me, have a special perception or feeling which would lift that book above the ‘curiosity’ level.” Perhaps the most misguided literary critique in history. With a further 15 rejections, there remained little hope her personal thoughts would see the light of day. Eventually, Doubleday, bring the translation to the world, and The Diary of Anne Frank sells 25 million
• “A long, dull novel about an artist.” Publisher rejects Lust For Life by Irving Stone. 25 million sales.
• “An irresponsible holiday story that will never sell.” Rejection of The Wind In The Willows by Kenneth Grahame. The novel did sell: 25 million copies worldwide.
• His publishers Doubleday reject the first 100 pages. So the author Peter Benchley starts from scratch and Jaws sells 20 million.
• Thor Heyerdahl believes his book Kon-Tiki: Across The Pacific is unique. 20 publishers disagree. The 21st takes it on and sells 20 million: one for each rejection.
• Despite 14 consecutive agency rejections Stephenie Meyer‘s Twilight goes on to sell 17 million copies and spends 91 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list.
• “An absurd and uninteresting fantasy which was rubbish and dull.” Rejection letter sent to William Golding for The Lord Of The Flies. 15 million sales.
• After 20 rejection letters, WM Paul Young self-publishes his novel The Shack. 15 million sales and a cultural phenomenon.
• Three years of rejection letters are kept in a bag under her bed. The bag becomes so heavy that she is unable to lift it. But Meg Cabot does not dwell on the failure. Instead she keeps sending her manuscript out. It gets taken on and The Princess Diaries sells 15 million copies.
• “Too radical of a departure from traditional juvenile literature.” L. Frank Baum persists and The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz sells 15 million.
• Little, Brown & Company passes on a two book deal for Alice Walker. When complete her novel The Color Purple sells 10 million and wins The Pulitzer Prize.
• 26 publishers reject A Wrinkle in Time. It wins the 1963 Newbery Medal and becomes an international best-seller. 8 million sales and counting.
• “Unsaleable and unpublishable.” Publisher on Ayn Rand‘s The Fountainhead. Random House takes a chance on it. It sells 7 million copies in the US alone.
• After 25 literary agents reject her debut manuscript, she mails it unsolicited to a small publisher in San Francisco, MacAdam/Cage. They believe it is a classic. Upon publication, the world agrees. Translated into over 33 languages and adapted into a movie, The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger sells 7 million copies.
• To deal with publisher rejections, Hugh Prather decides to write a book about them in his early struggles and Notes To Myself sells 5 million.
• To prove how hard it is for new writers to break in, Jerzy Kosinski uses a pen name to submit his bestseller Steps to 13 literary agents and 14 publishers. All of them reject it, including Random House, who had published it.
• “It was rejected 60 times. But letter number 61 was the one that accepted me. Three weeks later we sold the book to Amy Einhorn Books.” Kathryn Stockett on the worldwide best-seller: The Help.
• Rejected by publishers, Ruth Saberton leaves her 400 page manuscript Katy Carter Wants a Hero on the holiday home doormat of Richard and Judy in Cornwall. They love the book so much that their recommendation secures a publishing deal with Orion.
• “Frenetic and scrambled prose.” Viking Press disagree, and publish one of the most influential novels of all time. Since 1957 it has regularly sold at least 60,000 copies every year. Which has seen On The Road by Jack Kerouac, become a multi-million best-seller.
• 5 London publishers turn it down. The little book finally finds a home: Life of Pi by Yann Martel, winning The Man Booker Prize in 2002.
• 100 literary agents and publishers reject it. Andersen Press does not and Out of Shadows by Jason Wallace wins the Costa Children’s Book Award.
• Rejected by 20 literary agents and publishers, one editor believes in the book and Catherine O’Flynn‘s What Was Lost wins the 2008 Costa Book Award.
• Rejected by his agent because it is narrated by a dog, Garth Stein switches to Folio Literary Management and The Art Of Racing In The Rain sells for 7 figures.
• “An endless nightmare. I think the verdict would be ‘Oh don’t read that horrid book.” Publisher rejects The War Of The Worlds by H.G. Wells. It is soon published in 1898, and has been in print ever since.
• “Our united opinion is entirely against the book. It is very long, and rather old-fashioned.” Publisher rejects Moby Dick by Herman Melville. It is later published by Harper & Brothers, who release a first print run of 3000 copies. Only 50 of these sell during the author’s lifetime.
• T.S. Eliot as head of Faber & Faber rejects it because of “Trotskyite politics.” Secker & Warburg spot potential, and George Orwell’s Animal Farm becomes a best-seller.
• “An absurd story as romance, melodrama or record of New York high life.” Yet publication sees The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald become a best-selling classic.
• “Stick to teaching.” Louisa May Alcott refuses to give up on her dream. Little Women sells millions, and is still in print 140 years later. Unlike the name of the publisher who told her to give up.
• Rejected by leading publishers, the 21-year-old finally persuades a small publishing company Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, to take a chance on her debut. They agree, but do not put her name on the cover, and only print 500 copies in 1818. Booksellers only bought 25 of them. Despite a named credit in 1822, sales did not improve, until a 3rd edition was published by Henry Colburn & Richard Bentley in 1831. Word of mouth combined with some of the finest prose ever written in the genre, quickly sees Frankenstein by Mary Shelley become a best-seller.
• “I haven’t the foggiest idea about what the man is trying to say. Apparently the author intends it to be funny.” Publisher rejects Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, a novel believed to have been given its name because it was the 22nd publisher, Simon and Schuster, who agreed to take it on. To date: 10 million sales.
• “Older children will not like it because its language is too difficult.” On Watership Down by Richard Adams, one of the fastest-selling books in history.
• After Random House reject his debut novel The Long Walk the author puts it away and ponders his next move. He decides to write a new novel: Stephen King.
• “We are not interested in science fiction which deals with negative utopias. They do not sell.” Stephen King’s Carrie sells 1 million in the first year alone.
• “The American public is not interested in China.” Pearl S Buck‘s The Good Earth becomes the best-selling US novel two years running in 1931/32, and wins The Pulitzer Prize in the process.
• With 23 rejections, Frank Herbert finally lands a publisher, and Dune becomes the best-selling science-fiction novel of all time.
• 24 literary agencies turned down The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. The 25th did not and sold it to Time Warner one week later for $1 million dollars.
• 31 publishers in a row turn down The Thomas Berryman Number. It wins the Edgar for Best Novel becoming a best-seller for James Patterson. An author with 19 consecutive number #1′s on the New York Times best-seller list and sales of 220 million.
• 16 literary agencies and 12 publishers reject A Time To Kill. Its modest print run of 5000 quickly sells out, as it goes on to become a best-seller for its author: John Grisham. Combined sales of 250 million.
• Despite 17 rejections Patrick Dennis in 1956 becomes the first author in history to have 3 books ranked on the New York Times best-seller list at the same time. He had worked through publishers in alphabetical order. The one that finally agreed to take him on: Vanguard Press.
• “It’s Poland and the rich Jews again.” Editor at Alfred A. Knopf publishing house rejects Isaac Singer. His book Satan in Goray becomes a best-seller, and the author himself later wins the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1978
• 30 publishers tell Laurence Peter that his book The Peter Principle will never sell. In 1969, a mere 18 months later it is a number #1 best-seller.
• “This will set publishing back 25 years.” Rejecting The Deer Park. Its author Norman Mailer goes on to win The Pulitzer Prize, twice.
• Alex Haley writes for eight years and receives 200 consecutive rejections. His novel Roots becomes a publishing sensation, selling 1.5 million copies in its first seven months of release, and going on to sell 8 million. Such is the success that The Pulitzer Prize award the novel a Special Citation in 1977.
• Taking on the advice of his 76 rejections Jasper Fforde writes a new book The Eyre Affair and it becomes an instant New York Times best-seller.
• “Every last publisher in England rejected my first two books.” So Simon Kernick writes a third and The Business Of Dying lands him a publishing deal with Bantam.
• “Utterly untranslatable.” Jorge Luis Borges tries a different publisher. He wins 50 Literary Prizes and dies with his books in many languages.
• “We suggest you get rid of all that Indian stuff.” Publisher to Tony Hillerman, on his best-selling Navajo Tribal Police mystery novels.
• Rejected by all publishers in the UK and US, the author self-publishes his novel in Florence, Italy, using his own press in 1928. After being banned for nearly 30 years, Grove Press publish the controversial work in 1959. A year later Penguin finally launch the UK edition. The book quickly sells millions, as Lady Chatterly’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence becomes a worldwide best-seller.
• Rejected by several publishers Jonathan Littell‘s Les Bienveillantes becomes the number #1 best-seller in France and wins The Goncourt Literary Prize.
• Her literary agent believes in her. The publishers of New York do not. So Emily Giffin flies to London to write Something Borrowed and it becomes a New York Times best-seller.
• Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis as an editor at Doubleday sees potential in Dorothy West‘s unfinished novel The Wedding and it later becomes a best-seller.
• “Rejection slips could wallpaper my room.” Dennis Kimbro on Think and Grow Rich: A Black Choice used in seminars throughout the US.
• Despite initial rejections, E.C.Osondu persists with his book Waiting and it wins the 2009 African Booker.
• Rejected by everyone except Heinemann. Chinua Achebe‘s Things Fall Apart becomes the most widely-read book in modern African literature.
• “I rack my brains why a chap should need thirty pages to describe how he turns over in bed before going to sleep.” French editor rejects Remembrance of Things Pasts by Marcel Proust. Now regarded as a literary classic, its word count would be a challenge for any editor: 1.5 million – making it the longest novel in the history of literature.
• “We found the heroine boring.” Mary Higgins Clark switches genre to suspense and her second book gets a $1.5 million advance. She is now on a $60 million book deal.
• “This author is beyond psychiatric help. Do not publish.” Publisher rejects Crash by J.G. Ballard. The author immediately declares this as sign of “complete artistic success.” The novel goes on to inspire countless songs, and the film adaptation wins the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1996.
• The Alfred A. Knopf publishing house turned down: Jack Kerouac, George Orwell, Sylvia Plath, and Mario Puzo‘s The Godfather.
• The E.E. Cummings best-seller The Enormous Room has a dedication page ‘With No Thanks To’ all 15 publishers who turned it down.
• “He hasn’t got any future.” Yet, publication of The Spy Who Came in From the Cold leads to its author, John le Carré, having one of the most distinguished careers in literary history.
• Robert M. Pirsig‘s Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is in the Guinness Book Of Records for 121 rejections, more than any other best-seller.
• “Hopelessly bogged down and unreadable.” The 1968 letter from an editor did not deter the author, Ursula K. Le Guin, as her book The Left Hand of Darkness goes on to become just the first of her many best-sellers, and is now regularly voted as the second best fantasy novel of all time, next to The Lord of the Rings.
• After 21 rejections, Richard Hornberger switches to the pseudonym, Richard Hooker, and his debut novel becomes a phenomenal publishing success, spawning an Oscar-Winning Film Adaptation, and one of the most watched Television shows in history: M*A*S*H.
• “Good God, I can’t publish this.” So it finds itself at the offices of publishers Jonathan Cape and Harrison Smith instead, who immediately spot the talent of its author, and in 1931 propel him and his controversial, Sanctuary, into the literary limelight. The author, William Faulkner, goes on to become one of the most critically praised novelists of all time.

I personally have four books that I’m writing, a few that were accepted to be published, and I haven’t finalized the publishing of it. After writing this post I am much more amp’d to do so. One book is called P48x (a play on p90x) – Extreme Mental Fitness, and it’s about Philippians 4:8 “Finally, believers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable and worthy of respect, whatever is right and confirmed by God’s word, whatever is pure and wholesome, whatever is lovely and brings peace, whatever is admirable and of good repute; if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things [center your mind on them, and implant them in your heart].” Another is called Confess the Truth, a 12 step guide to taking control of your life through the power of the Word of God spoken over your own life and into your circumstances – a compilation of all of my findings during my time building up the Power Prayer Channel and maintaining the Prayer Pharmacy. Another is, “Jesus is my Best Friend,” a study on what makes someone a best friend, highlighting the story of Jonathan (King Saul’s son) and David. (1 Samuel 18 & 1 Samuel 19) The fourth book is a book called, “Quality Questions,” and is all about asking yourself the right questions, and finding out what you need to do in order to keep moving towards and eventually embracing and receiving your hearts desires, inspired by Tony Robbins’ quote, “The quality of your life is determined by the quality of questions you ask yourself.”