Writing Made Them Rich #1: JK Rowling

Writing Made Them Rich #1: JK RowlingThe Philosopher's Stone was published on 30 June,
1997 andwas an instant success.
Joanne Kathleen Rowling was born in ChippingThe book was published under her initials because
Sodbury,herpublisher feared that boys would be less likely to
England in 1965. She began writing at the age of 6read thebook if they knew it was written by a
with astory called 'Rabbit', which she never finished.woman.
In high school her favorite subject was English. FromAt a book fair in Italy later that year, Scholastic
HighBooksbought the American rights for $105,000, an
School, Rowling went to Exeter University where sheunheard offigure for a children's writer with only one
earneda degree in French.book to hername.
After graduating, she spent a year studying in ParisIt was published in the States in 1998 with the title
andthen went back to London where she worked in'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone'.
a number ofjobs, including a year with AmnestyThe sequel - 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of
International and ashort time as secretary for aSecrets' -was published in June of 1999 and later that
publishing company, where shewas responsible forsame year, thethird book in the series was released,
sending out rejection slips.'Harry Potter andthe Prisoner of Azkaban'.
In the summer of 1990, on a delayed train fromBy the time her fourth book appeared in 2000 -
Manchesterto London, she came up with the idea of'Harry
a boy who discovershe is a wizard. But it would be 7Potter and The Goblet of Fire' - the series had
years before the ideabecame a book.become aninternational phenomenon: the initial print
In that same year her mother died of Multiplerun for her 4thbook was 1.5 million copies in the UK
Sclerosis andshe left for Portugal to teach English,and 3.8 million inthe US.
hoping to find away to deal with her grief.By 2000, JK Rowland had become the highest-earning
In October 1992 she married a Portuguesewoman in
televisionjournalist, Jorge Arantes. But the marriageBritain, with an income of more than £20.5 million
lasted justeleven months.($29.3m)in the previous year.
In 1993 she left her husband and returned to England,In 2001 her annual earnings were estimated at over
withthe one legacy of her failed marriage - an infant£24m,
daughternamed Jessica.($34.3m) placing her between Madonna and Paul
Her life suddenly took a nose-dive. Fighting povertyMcCartney inthe ranks of high-earning celebrities.
anddepression, she lived in a mice-infested flat inIn October 1998 Warner Brothers bought the rights
Edinburghand struggled to raise her baby daughter onto 'Harry
a welfare checkof 70 pounds ($100) a week.Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone' and its sequel
Unable to heat her flat, she sat in cafés nursing('Harry
anespresso for 2 hours at a time and workedPotter and the Chamber Of Secrets'), for the tidy
feverishly on themanuscript of 'Harry Potter and thesum of
Philosopher's Stone'while her baby daughter slept in a$700,000.
pram.With the release of the first Harry Potter film, J.K.
The manuscript is said to have been rejected byRowling's total earnings are estimated to have
threeexceeded
British publishers - Penguin, Transworld and$100 million.
HarperCollins.In March 2001 she was awarded an OBE (Order of
But Bloomsbury Children's Books did sign her up,the British
reportedlypaying £10,000 ($14,300) for theEmpire) by the Queen, for services to
rights to 'Harry Potterand The Philosopher's Stone'.children'sliterature.