First-Time Novelists Talk About What It's Like To Get Published

We've all heard it before: Getting published is hard. Even some of the famous writers had trouble publishing their first books.

Judy Blume told NPR, "I would cry when the rejections came in the first couple of times."

Even J.K. Rowling had her share of rejection from publishers. "I know it sounds masochistic," Rowling told Oprah, "but I was even quite pleased with the rejection letters. 'Oh, Scott Fitzgerald got these, it's all part of being a writer.'"

But is that narrative still true today? How has the publishing world changed and what is it really like to be out there, trying to get published?

Louie Cronin will be speaking at Newtonville Books on Nov. 30. Katherine Sherbrooke will be speaking at Cohasset Public Library on Dec. 10. 

Katherine Sherbrooke, author of the novel "Fill the Sky" and chair of Grub Street. She tweets @Kazzese.

Louie Cronin, author of the novel "Everybody Loves You Back" and producer for PRI's The World and long-time producer on WBUR's Car Talk. She tweets @louiecronin.