Getting a novel published is an extremely difficult affair, especially if you are an unknown author. One freelance writer named Chuck Ross decided to test this maxim in an unusual way. Ross took a novel by Jerzy Kosinski, titled Steps, which had won the National Book Award six years before. Ross retyped the first 21 pages of Steps and sent them out to four publishers, using the name Erik Demos as a fictitious by-line.

All four publishers rejected the manuscript. Two years later, he retyped the novel Steps in its entirety and submitted it, again credited to Erik Demos, to several more publishers, including the original publisher, Random House. It was rejected by all with unhelpful comments, including Random House, which used a form letter. All told, 14 publishers and 13 literary agents failed to recognize a book that had already been published and had won an important award.

Sometimes our approach to the Bible is a similar "been there, done that."