Wednesday 14 October 2009

J. K. Rowling


 J. K. Rowling is a well-known British author. She was born on 31st July 1965. She was not famous before she wrote her first book which she called Harry Potter. It was about a young boy whose parents died when he was very young. This boy found out that he was a wizard. She said that the idea came to her mind during a 4-hour train delay. Her book became in instant success among children overnight and later on she wrote more books in the same series. She sold more than 400 million copies of the books in nearly 70 languages but many millions of illegal copies were sold too.

Her books were made into movies that added to the popularity of her work. J. K. Rowling is the first author in history to become a billionaire. She never reveals how much she really owns but it is clear to everyone that she makes a lot of money every time she releases a new book. One of her books sold 11 million copies on the first day when it was released.


 When J. K. Rowling started writing her first Harry Potter book she was going through a hard time in her life. After being married for some years she got a divorce and was battling depression. She used to go to a cafe and write in her notebook. When she finished her book, she took it to 11 different publishers but they all rejected it. In 1996 she finally took her book to a publisher called Bloomsbury that was not very well known. The chairman of the publishing company gave the copy to his daughter to read and she was thrilled by the story. He still advised J. K. Rowling to try to find a job in order to be able to support herself.

J. K. Rowling's first book sold millions of copies and the publisher made millions of dollars in profit. Children were excited when they read the story of Harry Potter and the school he was in.

J. K. Rowling is a charitable person. This means that she donates a lot of money to help poor people. She also spends a lot of money to encourage children to read. In 2001 she married for the second time and had two children.