Modern Inspiration
In the Hampshire house where Jane Austen lived for the last eight years of her life, (now a Museum), in the drawing room, lying on antique desk is a letter written in 1797 by her father George to a publisher Thomas Cadell. In the letter, which is short and to the point, George pitches First Impressions: a “novel, comprised of three Vols. About the length of Miss Burney’s Evelina.”
Written more than two hundred years ago, George’s note is recognisable as a classic cover letter. After that bestseller comparison, he appeals to Cadell’s reputation, telling him he’s aware that “a work of this sort should make its first appearance under a respectable name”. Then, with finances in mind, he asks about the cost of publishing the book at the “author’s risk” and the prospect of any advance. Understanding his market, he doesn’t mention who the author is: his daughter Jane. The offer was declined by return of post, manuscript unseen.
First Impressions was eventually published more than a decade later in 1813 with a new title: Pride and Prejudice. The book’s first edition sold out and the first of many new editions was republished that year – when its first foreign language translation appeared in French.
I find Jane’s rejection so inspiring. Jane arrived at the house in Chawton, Hampshire, in 1809 after the death of her father, with her mother, sister Casandra and childhood friend Martha Lloyd. She also carried with her four unpublished manuscripts that included the plots and characters that had been swirling through her imagination for years.
Now living in secure accommodation, with time to write and creative supporters around her, Jane didn’t give up on her talent. She ditched one of the stories and set to work revising the remaining three. They were published as Sense and Sensibility in 1811 (under the pseudonym A Lady), then Pride and Prejudice (by the Author of Sense & Sensibility – building her brand), and Mansfield Park in 1814, the year she started writing Emma.
The parallels with a modern writing career are striking. Her journey to publication and recognition was long, uncertain, and when she arrived there, the commercial learning curve remained steep. In what seems to be a sort of equivalent of hybrid deal, she paid to have her debut published by bookseller and auctioneer Thomas Egerton, who earnt commission on each sale of Sense and Sensibility. It was a risky, but ultimately financially astute, decision.
Bearing out the observation that second novels often outshine an author’s debut, Pride and Prejudice was a smash, although this time Jane didn’t get the financial return from her work that she was due having sold the copyright to Egerton. A harsh lesson. Egerton also published the first edition of Mansfield Park before Jane, now an author with a solid track record, moved on, upgrading to influential publisher John Murray.
She published only one more book in her lifetime, Emma, in 1815. Northanger Abbey eventually saw publication in December 1817 – six months after Jane died – in a four-volume set along with Persuasion. For the first time, she is identified as the author.
It’s so telling of Jane’s commitment to her writing and her endurance that she might have begun writing Northanger Abbey, a coming-of-age tale, as early as 1798, according to the museum. Called Susan, she first sold it to a publisher in 1803 for £10, but, despite her appeals, it was never printed. Finally, in 1816, her brother Henry acquired the copyright for the same price, and she set to work revising it even though she was unwell. Like her other novels, Northanger Abbey is still in print.
While some writers might be discouraged that even someone with Jane Austen’s genius had to be so patient, so resilient and dogged to finally see her books in print. I take heart.
Her story says that the struggle to get published doesn’t necessarily say anything about the quality of your work or its validity; it’s about taste and timing and myriad of other commercial factors, as the industry has shown for centuries. Keeping going seems to be a large part of the trick to getting there.
Source: https://janeaustens.house/timeline/
