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Fifteen years ago, on Aug. 4, 2003, Utah author Shannon Hale published her very first book, “The Goose Girl.”

It took Hale about 30 tries to write “The Goose Girl” until she was satisfied with the final manuscript. It was rejected again and again by nine publishers until Bloomsbury decided to publish it.

"It was seriously high anxiety. My stomach was constantly rolling in case it didn't really happen and then it finally did," Hale said in a later interview. "There's nothing that...