It was 1990. J.K. Rowling was working as a bilingual secretary for Amnesty International in London. She used her off time at work to write her own stories. Though she was not a published author as of yet, she longed to be.
When Rowling turned 26 years old, she decided she had had enough of her life as a secretary. She left Amnesty International and moved to Portugal to teach English. Again, this was a far cry from her dream job, but the free time it gave her allowed Rowling to begin writing a new story, one that she believed was her best story yet.
It was a story about a young boy who is sent off to wizard school. With each passing day she spent in Portugal, Rowling took more and more notes on her story, adding bits and pieces to her lead character, Harry Potter.
After marrying, having a daughter, and getting divorced all in Portugal, Rowling decided it was time to move back home. She returned to Edinburgh as a single mother and struggled to find work. Finally, she found a job as a French teacher, but still Rowling could only focus on only one thing: she wanted to finish her latest story before her teaching job began.
With her newborn in tow, Rowling spent most of her daughter’s nap times working relentlessly in coffee houses trying to piece together her book. “I knew how difficult it would be just to get a book published,” she recalls. “I was a completely unknown writer.”
Rowling had met her goal; she had finished her manuscript before beginning her new teaching job and sent it off to two different publishers. But her initial fears proved themselves warranted. Rowling’s manuscript was rejected by both publishing houses. She remained determined to see her story in print, so continued to send her manuscript off to different publishers.
In the end, a total of twelve publishers had rejected Rowling’s story. But number thirteen proved to be the lucky one. Within a few months, Rowling’s Harry Potter character had come to life between the pages of a book in England. A few months after that, the American rights to the novel were bought for a hefty sum. With that, Rowling finally quit her teaching job and decided to focus full-time on writing.
Today, the stories Rowling first wrote in coffee shops have become famous the world over as not only books, but also movies, computer games, music, and more. She is the world’s first billion-dollar author, the highest earning novelist in history, and one of only five self-made female billionaires. As of 2007, Rowling’s first six books in the seven book series have sold over 325 million copies. The final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, was the fastest-selling book of all time.
It might have been a rocky road, but Rowling’s dream of supporting herself and her child by writing stories did indeed become a reality.
The Start of a Reading Revolution: Harry Potter Comes To Life
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 |
Related Articles |
|
 Part Wizard, Part Nerd, and one Heck of a Great Brand
|
| |
When most people talk branding, they usually point to well-known consumables: restaurants (McDonalds), beverages (Starbucks Coffee), foods (M&Ms), home products (Bounty), cars (BMW) and the like. What many don’t re...
|
|
Lesson #5: Do Not Lose the Core Essence of Your Product
|
| |
 Harry Potter is no longer just a character who comes to life in Rowling’s seven-book series. Instead, it has become a merchandising and marketing machine all on its own, pushing ahead at full throttle. And while Row...
|
|
Lesson #3: Every Spare Second Counts For Success
|
| |
“Where the idea for Harry Potter actually came from, I really couldn’t tell you,” says Rowling. “I was traveling on a train between Manchester and London and it just popped into my head. I spent four hours thinking ...
|
|
The Billion-Dollar Author: Harry Potter’s J. K. Rowling Is Born
|
| |
“I was very low and I had to achieve something,” recalls Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling. “Without the challenge, I would have gone stark raving mad.”
|
|
Smart Women Are Like Harry Potter
|
| |
This article is about women in small to mid-size businesses and how they should reflect on their products and services periodically. When we begin our journey as entrepreneurs, we may start our business with just a...
|
|
|
 **
|
J.K. Rowling Newsletter
Get our free newsletter to learn more about J.K. Rowling and other famous entrepreneurs!
|
|
|
![[Get Copyright Permissions]](http://license.icopyright.net/images/icopy-w.gif){kind=small}
