My Novel Was Rejected By 41 Literary Agents Before Becoming a Bestseller. Here are 8 Truths About Perseverance I Want Everyone With a Big Dream to Know

When I tell my story, it’s the ending that gets attention.

New York Times bestselling author! Both of my books are being turned into movies! I’m adapting my first novel for the screen! Five separate seven-figure deals!

It’d be easy to conclude that with all that incredible success, the path to get here must have been smooth and clear.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

As a young twentysomething, I spent years pursuing my Broadway dreams in New York, which ended with me and my embarrassingly thin resume buying a one-way ticket back home to Arizona. My mid-twenties were spent sleeping in the twin bed in my childhood bedroom at my parent’s house, trying to figure out what a person with a degree in musical theatre (who failed at working in musical theatre) was supposed to do with the rest of her life. For years, I wrote “figure out my life” on every to-do list I created. I meant it sincerely. It never got scratched off.

I then got a job at a bookstore and began to write again; something I’d always done but had paused while I was in New York. When I would shelve a book of an author with my last name, I’d cover their first name with my thumb and pretend I was shelving my own book. It was hazy, but I was beginning to imagine a future that made sense for me. Those days at the bookstore were when my life-long dream of being a published writer turned into a concrete goal.

After the bookstore, I became a flight attendant. It was a job and an industry I loved deeply…but, even so, I was on the road half the time making 35k a year while being yelled at and called names by passengers. One day at work—standing at the front of the plane during a cold, quiet redeye to New York—I had a thought. What if a pilot were told, mid-flight, that his family had been kidnapped and that if he didn’t crash the plane, they would be killed? What would he do? I knew instantly that I had the makings of my first book.

I wrote much of the first draft of my first novel, Falling, by hand in the forward galley while my passengers slept. On my days off, I edited. After working on draft after draft after draft, I finally accepted that the story was as good as I could make it, and I started submitting it to agents.

The first 41 agents rejected it. (Apparently, an unpublished flight attendant without a platform is a tough sell. Who knew?) The 42nd was my one and only yes.

Falling, the book that was rejected by 41 agents, debuted at No. 2 on the New York Times bestseller list, and became Simon & Schuster’s fastest selling hardcover fiction debut since 2004. I’d signed a two-book deal with them for seven figures and another seven figures in foreign sales immediately followed. The film rights went to Universal and Working Title for $1.5 million.

On May 30th, the second book of that two-book deal comes out. That book, Drowning: The Rescue of Flight 1421—a book I almost couldn’t write because I was so afraid that my first success was a fluke and that I didn’t have what it takes to truly make it. (For the record, the doubting voices don’t stop with success; they get louder.) That’s the book Warner Brothers optioned the film rights to for $1.5M against $3M. That’s the book that five separate bidders—Apple with Jerry Bruckheimer; Paramount with Damien Chazelle; Warner Brothers; Legendary with Nicole Kidman, and Universal Television—put up seven-figure offers for.

I’m living proof that dreams do come true—if you don’t give up, if you keep trying every which way you can. I learned so much over the last fifteen years of struggle and rejection and learned a lot along the way. These takeaways are universally applicable to anyone who has a dream and wants to pursue it. Because it doesn’t matter if your dream is to write a book, start a business, change careers, or go back to school. Bold, risky moves take courage, intention, and perseverance.

The following were the guideposts that helped me find those traits in myself, even when I doubted they were there. Especially when I doubted they were there.

Whatever your dream is, keep going. I’m rooting for you.

Find a community who gets it.

Pursuing your passion as a living is not for the faint of heart, and the people who don’t do it rarely understand it. It’s crucial to find a community who not only understands how hard it is, but who understands why you’re doing it in the first place. You deserve to live the life you dream of without having to justify or explain yourself. Make sure you have people in your corner who get it.

Surround yourself with people who believe in you.

I didn’t believe I’d written a book until my best friend Brian read it and told me I had. I pushed my first book, Falling, from draft to draft because my mom refused to let me settle for anything less than everything I’ve ever wanted. My agent expects more of me than I think I am capable of. Every time I say, No, I can’t, he’s right there saying, Yes, you can.

You don’t only need people who get what you’re doing. You also need people who believe you can do it. Internal doubt is to be expected. So, surround yourself with people who believe in you more than you believe in yourself. But here’s the hard part—when they tell you to keep going, listen to them.

Ask yourself: Why not you?

I know I’m the exception, not the rule. And I know it’s tough as hell out there, because until very recently, I was out there with you. I know the odds are stacked against you. I know everything feels like it’s in a weird spot. And I know the future feels uncertain.

But I also know that the pessimistic, doubting voices saying all that—both externally and the ones inside your head—shouldn’t be the only voices you listen to. Yeah, the odds are tough…but why not you? Someone is going to break through. Why shouldn’t it be you?

Time will pass anyway.

When I was in high school, I overheard a conversation between my mom and my cousin and something my mom said has stuck with me ever since.

My cousin was in college, and she was debating if she should apply to medical school or not. She listed her hesitations, and at the top of the list was how long it was going to take. I remember my cousin seemed overwhelmed at the idea that it would be at least another seven years of school and residency. My mom listened, and then said, “Well seven years is going to pass anyway. Do you want to be a doctor at the end of it or not?”

The time is going to pass anyway. What do you want to have to show for it?

You only need one person to say yes.

You can have a mountain of “No”s. You can stack your rejections to the ceiling, and it’s fine. None of it matters. Because remember: You only need one yes. Get that one yes, and everything that came before it is irrelevant.

I assure you, each of my 41 rejections hurt. I felt every single one. And as they stacked up, the temptation to quit became stronger and stronger. I desperately wanted to give in to the voice in my head that was telling me: This book isn’t good enough, you’re not good enough. Give up.

But every time I almost pulled the plug, I’d come back to this: I didn’t come this far just to come this far.

And I’d pick myself up and keep going.

Ignore the gatekeepers.

I didn’t know anyone in publishing or in the film business. I didn’t have a family name or family money. I didn’t study writing or screen writing. I didn’t have a resume, a platform, or any experience that would support the notion that I should be given a shot. If it feels like the gatekeepers want you to think that it’s impossible to get where you want to go without any of those things going for you, I’m living proof that that’s a lie.

Be the example you needed.

When you get your break, when you’re fortunate enough to get paid to do what you love, make sure you tell others the story of how you did it and encourage them that they can do it to. A key part of seeing more dreams realized is having the people who break through pull up others behind them.

Own your dreams.

I still struggle with this one. When people ask me “Did you ever dream all this would happen?” I hedge. I play humble. I don’t want to come off as cocky. (As a woman, that’s what we’re told we’re supposed to do, right?)

But the truth is this: I did dream this big.

I wanted this. I believed it could happen. I refused to stop working until I got it.

Denying that doesn’t serve me or anyone who might be watching me and taking notes. Dreams are important. They’re what keep us going. So, own it. If not publicly, then at least for yourself. Give yourself permission to dream.

Because dreams do come true.

T.J. Newman is a former bookseller and flight attendant whose first novel, Falling, became a publishing sensation and debuted at number two on the New York Times bestseller list. The book was named a best book of the year by USA Today, Esquire, and Amazon, among many others, and has been published in more than thirty countries. The book will soon be a major motion picture from Universal Pictures. T.J. lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Drowning is her second novel.