Joanne Rowling CH OBE FRSL, best known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author and philanthropist. She wrote Harry Potter, a seven-volume children’s fantasy series published from 1997 to 2007.
Listed below are 10 things women should know about this remarkable and resilient author…
1. At her lowest ebb, she was unemployed, a single mother and in a depression so severe that at times she contemplated suicide. Coupled with her dire financial situation, Rowling had to rely on welfare benefits to survive.
2. J.K. Rowling first had the idea for Harry Potter while delayed on a train travelling from Manchester to London King’s Cross in 1990. Over the next five years, she began to plan out the seven books of the series. She wrote mostly in longhand and amassed a mountain of notes, many of which were on scraps of paper.
3. On 11 January 2007 the author stepped out of Edinburgh’s Balmoral hotel having completed the last novel in the Harry Potter series — the culmination of 17 years of writing. But that wasn’t all J.K. Rowling wrote while she was there.
4. Rowling identifies as a Christian. Although she grew up next door to her church, accounts of the family’s church attendance differ. She began attending a Church of Scotland congregation, where Jessica was christened, around the time she was writing Harry Potter.
5. The New York Times stated that Rowling sold the rights for the first four Harry Potter movies for $2 billion as well as receiving a portion of the net profits whenever a movie ticket or DVD was sold.
6. J.K. Rowling’s estimated net worth is $1 billion dollars but the author has insisted that she isn’t a billionaire. That may be true if she has donated a lot of it. Rowling has made most of her money from the Harry Potter franchise which includes book sales, movies, theme parks, and merchandise.
7. J.K. Rowling. British author Joanne Rowling, also known as J.K. Rowling, is the richest author in the world with a net worth of $1 billion. Rowling is the author of the hit children’s fantasy series “Harry Potter.” The seven-volume series sold over 600 million copies and has been translated into 84 languages.
8. Rowling’s true genius lies not in prose, but in story structure, which is perhaps why the books have translated so well into film form. Even when you take away Rowling’s signature wit, the story itself can stand on its own in any medium. This is what makes her writing so good.
9. Rowling lost her billionaire status due to both her charitable giving and higher tax rates in Britain. In 2013 she donated all the money made from the Harry Potter spin-off short story book The Tales of Beedle the Bard, around £19 million to her charity Lumos.
10. Rowling has been married to Dr Neil Murray since 2001. They live in Edinburgh with their son, David (born 2003) and daughter, Mackenzie (born 2005).
