Superhero Author Teaches Local Students About Persistence

The first Harry Potter book was rejected 12 times. The first Dr. Seuss book was turned down 27 times. The original Superman comic took three years to be published. 

But the persistence of their authors made them classics.

That’s the kind of persistence you need to be a writer or artist because you will encounter lots of rejection along the way, Marc Tyler Nobleman told about 100 students gathered in the school library on Monday in the first of three assemblies. Nobleman is currently on a speaking tour through the metro area, which winds up in Alpharetta on Thursday.

students in Alpharetta will get a chance to hear Nobleman speak at their school, Thursday, March 29, at 9 a.m. during a morning assembly.

Nobleman knows about rejection, he told the kids, because he is both a writer and artist. His career started at the age of nine when he won a newspaper poetry contest. Since then, he has published more than 70 books, and his cartoons have run in more than 100 publications. His next book, Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman, is coming out in July.

Nobleman also authored a picture book about Superman, titled Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman. A resident of Washington, D.C., he is visiting schools in Roswell, Marietta, Alpharetta and Dunwoody this week to talk about his career path.

In spite of his success, Nobleman told the students he still gets rejected every day. He recalled one day when 120 of his cartoons, submitted to publications, came back in the mail.

“What you learn is that it takes only one ‘yes’ to make 120 ‘no’s go away,” he said.

He also described how he persevered when he first approached Nickelodeon Magazine for a job. After an editor turned him down, he tried again every six months until he was hired. He then wrote for the magazine for several years.

“They weren’t chasing me. They never even heard of me. I had to be the one to go to them,” Nobleman told the students.

He advised his young audience to push through their nervousness.

“Kids are some of the most persistent people on the planet,” Nobleman told them. “If you want something, how many times do you ask for it and how often do you get rejected? But here you are. You survive.”

Nobleman pointed to other historical figures who battled rejection, such as Harland “Colonel” Sanders, who had a new idea for a fast food franchise, a concept that is commonplace today. And by ignoring naysayers, two men created Superman, the world’s first superhero, thus paving the way for others to follow, such as Batman, Spider-Man and Wonder Woman.

Nobleman told Patch he wants to instill persistence in kids so they don’t give up the first time they are rejected.

“I want them to see that lots of people they admire have been rejected and turned into people they know,” Nobleman said. “So they have to think of themselves in good company.”