Author J.K Rowling has lived a life from rags-to-riches. She lived for years with government as a single mother, and overcame a dozen rejections from publishers to become one of the most successful and widely read author in the history. After a couple of decades of “Harry Potter” , Rowling has turned the boy wizard into an entertainment franchise including books, movies, a play, a theme park and many more. When Rowling was 15, her mother was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She died a decade later, before Rowling became a published author. The author studied French at the university of Exeter, graduating in 1986. Her classics knowledge was later used when she came up with the names for spells in the Harry Potter series. After graduating, Rowling worked at the research desk for Amnesty International, doing translation work.She said it didn’t suit her. On a delayed train from Manchester to London’s King’s Cross Station, Rowling came up with the idea for Harry Potter.Over the next five years she outlined the plots for seven books in the series, writing in longhand and amassing scraps of notes written on different papers. Without a job, Rowling visited different Edinburgh to write her very first novel on a typewriter. During that period, Rowling lived off government welfare. In a 2008 interview with the Sunday Times, Rowling said she was severely depressed and sought professional help. In 1995, Rowling finished the first the first Harry Potter book and sent it to publishers which was roundly straight. Her book was accepted by Christopher Little , an Obscure London literary agent. After a year, Little made a deal to print 500 copies of “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” with Bloomsbury. The book appeared in print in 1997.

By March of 1999, over 300,000 copies were sold in the UK itself. “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” , the second book in the series was sold in the UK in July of 1998 also to huge acclaim and sales. In 2004, Forbes reported Rowling was the first person to become a millionaire by writing books. Later she dropped off the list because she gave so much money to charity. In 2007, Rowling finishes the series with “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” , which became the fastest selling book of all time and have sold more than 450 million copies worldwide and have been translated into 67 languages.