J.K.Rowling | The Inspirational success story of British Author

J.K Rowling is a British author, philanthropist, film producer, and screenwriter. She is popular for the Harry Potter series. With selling more than 500 million copies, Harry Potter became the best selling book series in history. Everything about J.K Rowling is extraordinary and inspirational. A lot of people don’t know the hurdles she faced before she reached stardom. From almost facing poverty to being named the world’s first billionaire author by Forbes, her story is very inspiring. Here’s her incredible success story.

About J.K. Rowling

JK Rowling was born on 31st July ( a very important date for the Potterheads ) , 1965 at the Cottage Hospital in Yate and is 56 years of age as on today. She was from a very ordinary middle class family and also had a sister named Dianne, who was 2 years younger to her. Soon, Joanne started her schooling. Coming from a middle class family, she always had that pressure and was a sincere student. She wanted to become a writer from the very beginning, but was still forced to choose French Classics for her higher studies at the University of Exeter. She had worked as a Bilingual Secretary, also worked at the Chamber of Commerce in Manchester.  

Career and struggles of J.K Rowling

Real success comes after a string of failures. The same thing happened with Rowling too. She wrote her first book “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” whilst suffering from relative poverty and dealing with other multiple issues. Her professional life wasn’t so good as she was facing new challenges every day in her life. The idea of the characters came to her mind while waiting for a delayed train in 1990. And it took seven years for her to implement her ideas into a story and get them published. The first part of the series was published in 1997.

The great author dealt with several issues during this period which ultimately led to the delay of the story. In 1992, she moved to Portugal to teach English where she met Jorge Arantes and married him. The couple had a daughter but soon she filed for a divorce with him. The couple separated which ultimately left her in a bad condition. Rowling, at this time, was jobless, divorced, and a single mother. It was the most devastating period of her life. She contemplated suicide and was diagnosed with clinical depression. But, she always found a way to create light in a dark tunnel. So she continued to write Harry Potter.

Rejections before success

In 1995, Rowling finish the manuscript for her first book but she had no money to publish the book independently. So, she approached around 12 major publications, but all rejected the Harry Potter script. But she didn’t give up and kept approaching other publications. Finally, a small publication accepted to publish 1000 copies of Harry Potter, her effort bore fruit. The book is a seven-volume series, published from 1997 to 2007. Finally, the book won many awards such as the British Book Award and Nestle Smarties Book Prize for children’s Book of the Year.

As of 2013, 500 Million copies of Harry potter were sold worldwide and translated into 73 languages. And finally, the book was adapted to a movie series and do a billion-dollar business. In addition, she has consistently been ranked among the highest-earning authors in the world.

Other Works of J.K.Rowling

J.k Rowling published her first book for adults titled “The Casual Vacancy” in 2012. Besides, she is also the author of the ongoing crime fiction series, Cormoran Strike. The series is published under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. Five novels in the series have now been published. The sixth novel titled ‘The Ink Black Heart‘ is scheduled to be released this year.

Lessons For All of us :

The biggest lesson that comes from J.K Rowling’s life is to keep believing, trying, and working on your dreams. And one day you will get it no matter, whether it’s to become publish a book or a successful entrepreneur. You just need to keep believing in your dreams and work hard every day. There is no shortcut to success. Hard work is the only key to achieving it. It teaches us discipline, dedication and determination.

Achievements

Awards and Honors

JK Rowling has won a lot of awards for her famous Harry Potter series. It has earned multiple British Book Awards, including Children’s Book of the Year for the first 2 volumes, Philosopher’s stone and the Chamber of Secrets. Prisoner of Azkaban was nominated for the Whitbread Book of the Year. Rowling has also won the World Science Fiction Convention’s Hugo Award for the book Goblet of fire and for the 6th Book which is Half Blood Prince, she won the Book of the Year award.

She has also received honorary degrees from various Universities which also includes her Alma Mater University of Exeter.

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