"Rejecting Jane" is the title of a 2007 article by British author David Lassman.
Retrieved 1 April 2009 The article, which was published in Issue 28 of ''Jane Austen's Regency World'' magazine, is a critique of the publishing industry through their inadvertent rejection of
Jane Austen
Jane Austen ( ; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for #List of works, her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment on the English landed gentry at the end of the 18th century ...
.
[De Bruxelles, Simon]
"How A Laydee showed that First Impressions really are misleading."
''The Times''. 19 July 2007. Retrieved 1 April 2009.
The idea
Using the pseudonym 'Alison Laydee' – a play on Austen's original
pen name
A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name.
A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...
"A Lady"
[ – Lassman sent out the opening chapters of '']Pride and Prejudice
''Pride and Prejudice'' is the second published novel (but third to be written) by English author Jane Austen, written when she was age 20-21, and later published in 1813.
A novel of manners, it follows the character development of Elizabe ...
'', ''Northanger Abbey
''Northanger Abbey'' ( ) is a coming-of-age novel and a satire of Gothic fiction, Gothic novels written by the English author Jane Austen. Although the title page is dated 1818 and the novel was published posthumously in 1817 with ''Persuasio ...
'' and ''Persuasion
Persuasion or persuasion arts is an umbrella term for influence. Persuasion can influence a person's beliefs, attitudes, intentions, motivations, or behaviours.
Persuasion is studied in many disciplines. Rhetoric studies modes of persuasi ...
'' to several major publishers and literary agents, with different titles but only minor changes to the text, such as character names and locations. The resultant article discussed how all but one of the publishers and agents failed to recognise her works, including Penguin Books
Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...
and Bloomsbury
Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural institution, cultural, intellectual, and educational ...
, with the vast majority rejecting the attempt to gain a publishing deal. This was also despite ''Pride and Prejudice'' opening line, "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife," being left intact.[
]
Reaction
On its publication the article created worldwide media coverage,[Jane Austen in Modern Day.]
ABC News. 20 July 2007. Retrieved 1 April 2009.["Publishers fail to spot plagiarized Jane Austen"]
Reuters. 19 July 2007. Retrieved 1 April 2009
''New York Times''. 20 July 2007. Retrieved 1 April 2009.Good Morning America
''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...
''.[
]
References
{{Reflist
Cultural depictions of Jane Austen
Journalistic hoaxes