Marc Tyler Nobleman has faced a lot of rejection as a writer and a cartoonist. Like all writers, he submits hundreds of story and cartoon ideas to various sources needing just one “yes.” But the majority of the answers are “no.”

“This may surprise you but there was a time when we didn’t have the internet …” Nobleman told kids at Thoreau Elementary during an assembly on Tuesday. “I would have to mail out all of my cartoons and I could get 120 ‘no’s in one day. But it only takes one yes to make the 120 ‘no’s go away.”

His presentation to the kids, masked by his career as a children’s author and artist, was about persistence and never giving up.

“I am more afraid of never knowing (than of rejection),” said Nobleman. “… You can’t let your nervousness win.”

Nobleman has been writing and illustrating books since 1996, along with drawing cartoons for magazines and newspapers. He has 70 publications to his credit. His latest children’s book, “Boys of Steel, the Creators of Superman,” was also a part of his lesson.

He talked about how it took the creators of Superman three-and-a-half years to get someone to take on the story idea. Nearly 75 years later Superman is a billion dollar industry.

Nobleman, who is originally from Connecticut and lives in Washington D.C., was in Washington for the first time. He was in the area for a writer’s conference on Whidbey Island and calls himself a “comic book geek.”

“I am usually more unfiltered with adults,” said Nobleman, 39. “You just have to talk with kids more at their level. My job is to engage them and I should be able to hold their attention.”

His upcoming book “Bill the Boy Wonder, the Secret Co-creator of Batman,” will be out in July.

“It is equal parts inspiring and heartbreaking,” said Nobleman.

He won a Mother’s Day poem contest in his hometown when he was young. It was his first time being published.

“When they came to my house and told me I said ‘I can’t believe no one else entered,’” said Nobleman.

But the story was used to show the kids that you can’t win if you don’t enter.

“If you want something you have to take that first step,” said Nobleman.

Visit Nobleman’s blog at noblemania.blogspot.com/.