Lesser-known facts about JK Rowling, the author who created the magical world of Harry Potter  

With magic, wizards, goblins and witches, JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series has gone down in history as one of the most famous and well-loved book franchises in history. Of course, the wizarding world that she created through her writing does not need much of an introduction. With over 400 million copies sold worldwide in more than 60 languages, her stories have been welcomed by people of all ages. What makes her work even more special is her rags to riches story of commitment, dedication, artistry and imagination. Read on to learn some lesser-known trivia about JK Rowling, one of the most popular British writers in history. 

JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter manuscript was rejected a dozen times 
That’s true, JK Rowling’s manuscript of the very first Harry Potter book, ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ was rejected not once, twice, but 12 times! She lived in Edinburgh with her daughter while writing it, and survived off governmental benefits. The very first publishing house that she sent it to rejected her work, nor did they return the binding folder to her. After scraping some money together, she managed to get new copies of it and send it out to a few other houses that rejected her as well. Finally, Bloomsbury recognised the potential of the book and agreed to publish it. 

Her mental illness was reflected in the books as ‘dementors’ 
JK Rowling suffered through clinical depression which she attributes as a result of a failed marriage. Her divorce left her to raise her daughter all by herself in meagre living conditions, highly dependent on government aid. Rowling once expressed that she found it hard to articulate her mental illness through her books. Eventually, she did so by introducing the ‘dementors’ in the Harry Potter series. They were black, cloaked creatures who fed off the happiness of people. 

Rowling did not really excel at school 
Although she finished her schooling and then went on to study at college, Rowling was never considered to be a remarkable student by her professors. Little did they know that she would go on to change the course of literary history. She was known to meet the bare minimum of her school’s academic expectations. Instead, she preferred to bury her head in books written by Charlies Dickens, J. R. R. Tolkien, etc. 

She clinched the title of the world’s first billionaire novelist 
It is no secret that the Harry Potter series is one of the most successful one in history. In 2011, Forbes named her as the world’s first billionaire novelist when she officially became a billionaire. However, Rowling, who is also a philanthropist, immediately relinquished this status (by technicality) by donating GBP 100 million to charity.