That's really interesting....it reminds me of a (true) story about Doris lessing. AFTER she had become famous for THE GOLDEN NOTEBOOK (which I admit i have never read--I started it and found it incredibly boring) and other things, she sent out two early novels anonymously, or under a made-up name.
One rejection letter said in part "this reads like warmed-over Doris Lessing."
No one took either ms. -- and then she went public with the story, which I always admired her for doing.