Margaret Mitchell's 'Gone with the Wind' was rejected by publishers 38 times. The premiere in Atlanta in 1940 (?) was called "The greatest event in the south in my lifetime" by President Jimmy Carter- audiences in the theaters stood up and cheered before the film even started.

Science-fiction writer Ray Bradbury, author of over 100 books, short stories, and essays, was rejected about 800 times before he could get anything published.