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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/5609
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I can't find any authoritative citation for this. As an example, I know that the average entrepreneur has to be involved in 12 new businesses before he has a successful enterprise. That is the national average for new business owners. If anyone knows the average number of times that a new author submits a story before his first publication, either nationally in the US or regionally, I would be appreciative. Please provide where you learned this information too, if you can.

Edit: I am NOT asking how many it's likely I will have to submit, I am looking for an average for authors in general. I know that the government keeps statistics like this, that is where I got the citing above for my entrepreneur statistic, but I can't find this data.

Obviously I am asking so I have a target to hit in mind. I have always figured when looking at these statistics that this might be the one time in my life that I'm super unlucky and I may need to do 3x the average to succeed: As an entrepreneur I expect to have to start 36 businesses before any of them make me rich. I am in the teens. I would like a national average as I begin so I know what kind of expectation is reasonable for an average person. I can also look at that number and hope that this could be my Cinderella story, I used to for businesses, and hope to get lucky in about half that number (It obviously didn't happen). I always hope for the best and plan for the worst.

With that in mind, since people asked about my case specifically in the comments:

During the synopsis writing and initial few chapters, I will be submitting short stories to show prior publication. I will be submitting finished, edited manuscripts. I will be submitting them as incomplete, with as many chapers finished as I have finished at the time of submission. Eventually the submssions will be a complete first book with chapters from a second. I have the material and I hope the will for 6-9 books. I plan on releasing in triliogies, 2 or 3 total, depending on what the synopsis I am working on ultimately calls for.

Original score: 9