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An aspiring young author had sent his first manuscript to several publishers, all of whom declined it, saying that his writing wasn’t “refined” or that his ideas were “too cliché”. While the author could take these refusals just fine, it was a whole other matter when his book actually did get published, and the negative backlash from the general public was overwhelming.

By readers, the book was dubbed to be a mediocre story not worth cutting down a rain forest to publish, and the author was advised to give up his ambitions and do something else with his life. Even his so-called “friends” thought his book was a poorly written piece of trash, unfit of being referred to as literature, and they were certainly not afraid to tell him so.

But these people just didn’t understand!

They couldn’t see the heart in every word of every line!

They had no idea that the book was not a mere product of the author, it was the author, and insulting the book was in the eyes of the author the same as insulting him. Why did people reject him, a kid who just wanted to tell a good story and contribute something to the world?

He was saddened immensely, and when his depression culminated and became unbearable, he hanged himself. "Let this be a good story," the author thought as his eyes closed.

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About a week after the author’s funeral, something odd began to happen. Manuscripts aplenty got sent to random publishers all over the country, and on each of these manuscripts was written the name of the deceased author – a pseudonym, they assumed.

The central theme in all of these books was human suffering, and all the facets of pain, hatred, and sadness were explored excessively. Really intricate descriptions of unfortunate souls being tortured in gruesome ways were scribbled on every page, and boy did readers love it!

The books got sold out quickly after hitting the shelves, and a new trend in modern literature was born. The mysterious author was proclaimed a literary genius with a thorough understanding of humanity’s greatest fears and darkest sides.

Hoping to keep the momentum going and making “suffering books” the new “vampire love stories”, many publishers started a wide-scale campaign in the media to find the true identity of the author, and you can be sure that many imposters showed up with crappy manuscripts. About to give up any hope of ever finding the author, all the publishers that had received manuscripts got a letter sent to them, addressed from the author, in which was written:

"I gave you my best, and you refused it.
Now that I give you my worst, you love it.
No creatures are lower than you, and this
comes from someone who spends
eternity under the soles of your shoes.
Warm greetings from a very warm place,
The Author"

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Written by Resident DeVir
Content is available under CC BY-SA