“Editors choose their stories, but sometimes stories choose their editors”

Author Salmon Rushdie said in 1990, “Books choose their authors; the act of creation is not entirely a rational and conscious one.” The quotation has been frequently cited in books and in blogs.
 
“There’s an old saying in journalism that editors choose their stories, but sometimes stories choose their editor” was cited in print in 2011. However, it’s not known if there are other citations for this “old saying in journalism.”
 
     
Google Books
The Quotable Writer
By Lamar Underwood
Guilford, CT: Lyons Press
2004
Pg. 67:
Books choose their authors; the act of creation is not entirely a rational and conscious one.
SALMAN RUSHDIE
In The Independent (February 4, 1990)
   
LiveJournal
another_wip wrote,
2006-12-16 17:48:00
Stories Choose their Author…
I found this quote today…I don’t even know who to credit it to…but it spoke a truth I hold dear. “Books choose their authors; the act of creation is not entirely a rational and conscious one.” How true this is. I never started out with the intention of telling one of my stories. They come and find me. The characters whisper it into my mind, into my soul, until it is a living breathing entity aching to be free. Until it demands I write it.
   
Google Books
The Golden Age of Bicycle Racing in New Jersey
By Michael C. Gabriele
Charleston, SC: The History Press
2011
Pg. 13:
There’s an old saying in journalism that editors choose their stories, but sometimes stories choose their editor.
 
Twitter
David Lindsay-Abaire
‏@lindsayabaire
“Stories choose their authors; the act of creation is not entirely a rational and conscious one.” ― Salman Rushdie
7:38 AM - 14 May 13
 
NorthJersey.com
Nutley opinion: Bicycle racing
Thursday, June 13, 2013
By VICTORIA CHALK
(...)
To sum up how he happened to develop such enthusiasm for one assignment he was given so long ago, Mike noted, “There’s an old saying in journalism: Editors choose their stories, but sometimes stories choose their editors.”