J. K. Rowling

J. K. Rowling planned out her entire book series before she started

writing the first one - by hand. Twelve publishers are probably still

cursing because they rejected her first Harry Potter book, convinced it

was far too long for children and would never sell.

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She is worth more than a billion dollars, has been named one of the most influential
people in the world, and holds the record for the fastest-selling books in history. But
when J. K. Rowling first set out to write her books about a boy wizard named Harry
Potter, no one could possibly have guessed how successful she would be. In fact, Joanne
Rowling (her real name) was having a hard time, and had to fight against tremendous
odds to achieve her vision.
Rowling says she came up with the Harry Potter idea while riding on a train that was
delayed. By the time it got to the station, she had the whole series of books plotted out in
her mind!
She started writing right away, but then life threw her a series of curves. Following the
death of her mother after a long battle with multiple sclerosis, Rowling took a job
teaching in Portugal. She got married and had a baby there, but after a divorce she moved
back to Britain.
Three years later, she still had not finished her first Harry Potter book. She was a single,
unemployed mother, living on welfare. But J. K. Rowling still believed in her idea. She
would take her baby for long walks to put her to sleep, and then sit writing her book in
cafes. She finally finished the manuscript and typed it up on an old manual typewriter.