Home
>
Writing
>
Writing Made Them Rich #1: JK Rowling

Writing Made Them Rich #1: JK Rowling

Joanne Kathleen Rowling was born in Chipping Sodbury,England in 1965. She began writing at the age of 6 with astory called 'Rabbit', which she never finished.

In high school her favorite subject was English. From HighSchool, Rowling went to Exeter University where she earneda degree in French.

After graduating, she spent a year studying in Paris andthen went back to London where she worked in a number ofjobs, including a year with Amnesty International and ashort time as secretary for a publishing company, where shewas responsible for sending out rejection slips.

In the summer of 1990, on a delayed train from Manchesterto London, she came up with the idea of a boy who discovershe is a wizard. But it would be 7 years before the ideabecame a book.

In that same year her mother died of Multiple Sclerosis andshe left for Portugal to teach English, hoping to find away to deal with her grief.

In October 1992 she married a Portuguese televisionjournalist, Jorge Arantes. But the marriage lasted justeleven months.

In 1993 she left her husband and returned to England, withthe one legacy of her failed marriage - an infant daughternamed Jessica.

Her life suddenly took a nose-dive. Fighting poverty anddepression, she lived in a mice-infested flat in Edinburghand struggled to raise her baby daughter on a welfare checkof 70 pounds ($100) a week.

Unable to heat her flat, she sat in caf?s nursing anespresso for 2 hours at a time and worked feverishly on themanuscript of 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'while her baby daughter slept in a pram.

The manuscript is said to have been rejected by threeBritish publishers - Penguin, Transworld and HarperCollins.

But Bloomsbury Children's Books did sign her up, reportedlypaying ?10,000 ($14,300) for the rights to 'Harry Potterand The Philosopher's Stone'.

The Philosopher's Stone was published on 30 June, 1997 andwas an instant success.

The book was published under her initials because herpublisher feared that boys would be less likely to read thebook if they knew it was written by a woman.

At a book fair in Italy later that year, Scholastic Booksbought the American rights for $105,000, an unheard offigure for a children's writer with only one book to hername.

It was published in the States in 1998 with the title'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone'.

The sequel - 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets' -was published in June of 1999 and later that same year, thethird book in the series was released, 'Harry Potter andthe Prisoner of Azkaban'.

By the time her fourth book appeared in 2000 - 'HarryPotter and The Goblet of Fire' - the series had become aninternational phenomenon: the initial print run for her 4thbook was 1.5 million copies in the UK and 3.8 million inthe US.

By 2000, JK Rowland had become the highest-earning woman inBritain, with an income of more than ?20.5 million ($29.3m)in the previous year.

In 2001 her annual earnings were estimated at over ?24m,($34.3m) placing her between Madonna and Paul McCartney inthe ranks of high-earning celebrities.

In October 1998 Warner Brothers bought the rights to 'HarryPotter and the Sorcerer's Stone' and its sequel ('HarryPotter and the Chamber Of Secrets'), for the tidy sum of$700,000.

With the release of the first Harry Potter film, J.K.Rowling's total earnings are estimated to have exceeded$100 million.

In March 2001 she was awarded an OBE (Order of the BritishEmpire) by the Queen, for services to children'sliterature.

------------------------------------------------------------
Michael Southon has been writing for the Internet for over 3
years. He has shown hundreds of webmasters how to use this
simple technique to build a successful online business. Click
here to find out more: http://ezine-writer.com/
------------------------------------------------------------

disinfecting cleaning services Arlington Heights ..

In The News:

Android rolls out Emergency Live Video for 911 calls, letting dispatchers see real-time scenes during emergencies. Great for holiday travel safety.

Malicious Chrome and Edge extensions collected browsing history, keystrokes and personal data from millions of users before Google and Microsoft removed them.

Google's new Call Reason feature lets Android users mark calls as urgent before dialing, displaying an urgent label to recipients using Phone by Google app.

Medical history made as surgeons successfully restore sight to legally blind patient using world's first 3D printed corneal implant grown from human cells.

Data brokers aggressively collect your holiday shopping data to fuel scams and targeted ads. Learn how to delete your digital profile before 2025 starts.

Scammers are sending fake MetaMask wallet verification emails using official branding to steal crypto information through phishing links and fraudulent domains.

Learn what background permissions, push notifications, security updates, auto-join networks and app refresh mean to better manage your phone's privacy settings.

Criminals test stolen data by applying for deposit accounts in victims' names to prepare bigger attacks. Learn why banks won't share fraud details.

New study of 10,500+ kids reveals early smartphone ownership linked to depression, obesity, and poor sleep by age 12. Earlier phones mean higher risks.

A phone phishing attack compromised Harvard's alumni and donor database, marking the second security incident at the university in recent months.

AutoFlight's zero-carbon floating vertiport uses solar power to charge eVTOL aircraft while supporting emergency response, tourism, and marine energy maintenance.

A new phone return scam targets recent buyers with fake carrier calls. Learn how criminals steal devices and steps to protect yourself from this fraud.

New Anthropic research reveals how AI reward hacking leads to dangerous behaviors, including models giving harmful advice like drinking bleach to users seeking help.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Holiday email scams, including non-delivery fraud and gift card schemes, spike in November and December, costing victims hundreds of millions, the FBI says.

Holiday visits offer the perfect opportunity to help older parents with technology updates, scam protection and basic troubleshooting skills for safer digital experiences.

Swiss scientists create grain-sized robot that surgeons control with magnets to deliver medicine precisely through blood vessels in medical breakthrough.

Researchers exploited WhatsApp's API vulnerability to scrape 3.5 billion phone numbers. Learn how this massive data breach happened and protect yourself.

Travel companies share passenger data with third parties during holidays, but travelers can protect themselves by removing data from broker sites and using aliases.

Xpeng's humanoid robot moves so realistically that crowds believed it was fake, marking a major advancement in robotics technology ahead of 2026 commercial launch.

Researchers discover phishing scam using invisible characters to evade email security, with protection tips including password managers and two-factor authentication.

iPhone and Android users can reduce battery drain and data usage by restricting Background App Refresh to Wi-Fi connections instead of mobile networks.

Scammers nearly stole an Apple account by exploiting the support system with authentic-looking tickets and phone calls, users can protect themselves with safety steps.

FoloToy restored sales of its AI teddy bear Kumma after a weeklong suspension following safety group findings of risky and inappropriate responses to children.

Threat intelligence firm Synthient uncovers one of the largest password exposures ever, prompting immediate security recommendations.