Over the past month or so I’ve applied to dozens of jobs - thinking they would be a great fit or opportunity for me. In the past I’ve always taken the first job I was offered, usually glad to have any kind of job. Then, six months into the job it became very obvious that what I wanted, and what they expected weren’t anywhere near the same thing and we parted ways. Sometimes we parted amicably, like adults, and remained friends after the pain of the separation passed.

Other separations were more traumatic and ugly, with both sides angry, bitter and disillusioned, as well as determined to cause the other as much grief, pain and trouble as humanly possible in as little time as possible.

In the past two years I’ve come to appreciate the value in turning down jobs that, on closer look, don’t fit. And, I’ve learned to value potential employers that on closer examination of my credentials and “uniqueness” - I don’t quite fit their corporate climate either. Whether you initiate the “Sorry, this isn’t a fit,” or they do, it’s always kind of difficult, or painful and disappointing - if only for a few moments.

It’s a lot like never getting a call for that first date after giving the person your phone number over a conversation at a party. You wonder what exactly it was that you did, or didn’t do to kill the call. But - the pain of deciding up front that something didn’t “fit” is a lot easier than investing six months or even two or three before finding out there’s just not going to be a 50-year anniversary party, a gold watch and a plaque, or a happily ever after.

So in wondering today where I fit, where I will fit, and what shape puzzle piece I am, knowing that I am a writer and a story teller, I remembered this:

Published in 1972, Watership Down was Richard Adams’ first novel, and by far his most successful to date. Though it was initially rejected by thirteen (other sources say 26) publishers before eventually being accepted by Rex Collings Ltd, Watership Down has never been out of print, and was the recipient of several prestigious awards.

J.K. Rowling completed Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in 1995 and the manuscript was sent off to several prospective agents. Rejected by the first agent (not a good fit), the second agent she tried, Christopher Little, offered to represent her and sent the manuscript to Bloomsbury. After eight other publishers had rejected Philosopher’s Stone, Bloomsbury offered Rowling a £2,500 advance for its publication. On the eve of publishing, Rowling was asked by her publishers to adopt a more gender-neutral pen name in order to appeal to the male members of this age group, fearing that they would not be interested in reading a novel they knew to be written by a woman (not a fit!!). She elected to use J. K. Rowling (Joanne Kathleen Rowling), using her grandmother’s name as her second name because she has no middle name.

[Thanks to InkyGirl.com for the following examples]

The Diary Of Anne Frank received the following rejection comment: “The girl doesn’t, it seems to me, have a special perception or feeling which would lift that book above the curiosity’ level.” The book was rejected 16 times before it was published by Doubleday in 1952. More than 30 million copies are currently in print, making it one of the best-selling books in history.

Stephen King got the following rejection for his bestselling novel, Carrie: “We are not interested in science fiction which deals with negative utopias. They do not sell.”

Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach was rejected 140 times before it was eventually published.

Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With The Wind was rejected 38 times.

Frank Herbert’s Dune was rejected nearly 20 times before being published.

Richard Hooker’s book, M*A*S*H was rejected 17 times.

John Kennedy Toole received so many rejection letters for his novel, A Confederacy Of Dunces, that he finally killed himself. Only the persistence of his bereaved mother led to the eventual publication of his novel and its receipt of the Pulitzer Prize in 1980.

The Dr. Seuss books got rejected more than 15 times before the author finally found an editor who accepted his work.

Ray Bradbury, one of the most well-known and famous science fiction authors, has had about a thousand rejections over his 30 year career according to a Barnes & Noble interview, and says he is still getting rejected.

Judy Blume received “nothing but rejections” for two years. “I would go to sleep at night feeling that I’d never be published. But I’d wake up in the morning convinced I would be. Each time I sent a story or book off to a publisher, I would sit down and begin something new. I was learning more with each effort. I was determined. Determination and hard work are as important as talent,” Blume has said.

Ever read or hear of “Earthsea“? An excerpt from a rejection letter to Ursula K. Le Guin reads: “The book is so endlessly complicated by details of reference and information, the interim legends become so much of a nuisance despite their relevance, that the very action of the story seems to be to become hopelessly bogged down and the book, eventually, unreadable. The whole is so dry and airless, so lacking in pace, that whatever drama and excitement the novel might have had is entirely dissipated by what does seem, a great deal of the time, to be extraneous material. My thanks nonetheless for having thought of us. The manuscript of The Left Hand of Darkness is returned herewith.” (The novel won both the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award.)

Meg Cabot said that her Princess Diaries got rejected seventeen times before it was finally bought.

So after dejectedly learning today that I don’t “fit” with a couple of potential employers (two I rejected, one who rejected me) it occurred to me to remember that it’s not a rejection. It truly is a “Fit.” And I counted my blessings and reminded myself:

I “fit” with Tim Russert. I “fit” with TED Global. I “fit” with the admittedly wild and wacky bunch of friends and acquaintances in my “Vandweller” group, and I fit with more than a dozen other groups - from RV’ers, boomers, writers, jocks and leaders from a hundred walks of life.

So if you’re applying to jobs, being turned down by employers, or potential dates, or clients - remember. You DO fit. Of all the puzzle pieces in any puzzle, the fact is, a puzzle piece fits where it belongs, where it is meant to be. When you find that place (and it does exist - keep looking!) you’ll click right into it. You’ll be the only piece that fits there. So don’t try to force a fit. It won’t work. You’ll only take yourself out of the running for that perfect fit if you settle for trimming a corner, denying who you are or what you do.

Yes. I live in a van (usually). And I am not your typical writer, woman or human being really. But the perfect place is out there for me, just as it is for you. Find it. Embrace it. Be glad you waited for it. And most importantly of all - remember you’re a piece of the puzzle and it’s NOT a rejection. It’s a fit.