Author Refuses to Let Little Things Like 217 Rejection Slips Get Him Down

Bill Gordon doesn’t feel rejected, but he should. During the past year, he has received 217 rejection slips from 176 publishers--some of whom snubbed him more than once--for his manuscript, “How Many Books Do You Sell in Ohio,” a compendium of quotes.

“This is a good book” said Gordon, 37, who moved from Akron and now lives in Laguna Beach with his parents. “That city is dying,” he grumbled about his former hometown. “And it’s cold there. It’s rejection city.”

Before Gordon moved, he formed a publishing company called North Ridge Books to publish his own book, which he claims has sold 1,300 soft-cover copies at $9.95 each.

“The book has gotten a lot of good reviews,” he said. “But no one wanted to put it into print.”

The Cleveland Plain Dealer book reviewer wrote “very enjoyable,” and the Evening Post in Charlotte, S.C., called it “a delight to read.”

Despite the relentless rejections, Gordon said he has never lost faith. In fact, he is back writing another book that he calls “a major reappraisal” of the killings at Kent State University in Ohio. He is a Kent State graduate.

“I’ve always wanted to write,” said Gordon, who has worked as a typist, editor, claims adjuster and research coordinator. “I’ll probably break my own record for rejections with this new book,” he added.

While he feels success as a writer is yet to come, he said, “I’m already a publishing legend. If you work in the publishing business, you know me. I’m a go-getter, although I guess some people think I’m a pain. Actually, I’m persistent, but polite.”

While he was attending the recent American Booksellers Convention in Anaheim, Gordon said, one of the publishers who sent him a rejection “used one of the quotes from my book in a talk there. That tells me it’s a good book.”

However, Gordon’s major claim is the upcoming honor of being listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as receiving the most rejections for a manuscript that has been published. He said the record will appear in the September edition.

Gilbert Young, who wrote “World Government Crusade,” holds the record for the most manuscript rejections for a book that has never been published. At last count, the man from Bath, England, had been rejected 242 times.

Being listed in the Guinness book is something of a coup for Gordon, who said he wants to set up permanent residence somewhere in Southern California.

“I thought it was a good way of drawing attention to the book,” he said. “I got a couple of stories in newspapers, but they didn’t really help as much as I had hoped.”

In fact, it didn’t generate many sales, if any, and Gordon is out looking for a job.

“I’d like something in the communications field,” he said, “like a free-lance writer.”

Last year Myrna Noland, a third-grade teacher at Fletcher Elementary School in Orange, wrote letters to 500 famous people asking them to send something personal to her students.

It was her way of promoting reading to her students through research on the people who sent them something.

Most sent autographed pictures. But King Hussein of Jordan sent a gold watch that was bought at auction by a student for $86 in play money, which he “earned” by reading books.

This year, Noland is inviting famous people to visit the school and read and talk to her students. She calls it an incentive reading program.

Diver Pat McCormick of Seal Beach and gymnast Peter Vidmar of Irvine, both Olympic Gold Medal winners, have read and talked to the children, as has the Rev. Robert H. Schuller, pastor of the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove.

Schuller told them they could be anything they wanted to be through reading. One student, taken by his talk, said he wanted to be the Pope when he grew up.

Barbara Bush, wife of Vice President George Bush, read from the book “Fred’s Story” to the students Tuesday, and others who have said they want to participate are Dodger Manager Tommy Lasorda and car dealer Cal Worthington.

“I’m very pleased with the program,” said Noland, of Garden Grove. “Reading is the key to all success.”

Dewey’s Rubbish Service of Irvine wanted to do its part to support Orange County Sheriff Brad Gates’ war against drugs.

So the company mounted a telling sign on its newest rubbish truck. It reads, “Drugs Are Garbage.”

Acknowledgments--Dr. Harriet M. Opfell of Orange, a practicing physician for 30 years and mother of four children, has been named Physician of the Year by the Orange County Medical Assn. In pediatric private practice, she also serves as medical director at Childrens Hospital of Orange County.