Most people are familiar with the name Harry Potter, but behind the character is the author who created it, Joanne Rowling, better known as J.K. Rowling.

Rowling was born in Yate, Gloucestershire, England on July 31, 1965. She is a British author, and has expanded her resume to include the roles of philanthropist, film producer, television producer, and screenwriter.

She is best known for writing the Harry Potter series, but she also writes crime fiction under the pen name Robert Galbraith.

She wasn’t always an author, though. Rowling was working as a researcher and bilingual secretary for Amnesty International in 1990 when, sitting on a train from Manchester to London, she thought up the idea for the Harry Potter series. Her manuscript for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, which was typed on an old manual typewriter, was completed in 1995.

According to Wikipedia, upon the enthusiastic response of Bryony Evens, a reader who had been asked to review the book’s first three chapters, the Fulham-based Christopher Little Literary Agency agreed to represent Rowling in her quest for a publisher. The book was submitted to twelve publishing houses, all of which rejected the manuscript.

A year later, Rowling was finally given approval (and a £1,500 advance) by editor Barry Cunningham from Bloomsbury, a publishing house in London.

“The decision to publish Rowling’s book owes much to Alice Newton, the eight-year-old daughter of Bloomsbury’s chairman, who was given the first chapter to review by her father and immediately demanded the next. Although Bloomsbury agreed to publish the book, Cunningham says that he advised Rowling to get a day job, since she had little chance of making money in children’s books” (NoCloo.com).

With an £8,000 grant from the Scottish Arts Council in 1997, Rowling was able to devote her time to writing, becoming the first billionaire, based on American dollars, from writing books.

According to Borgen Magazine, she donated a lot to charity. The BBC identifies her as one of the most powerful women in the UK.

Wikipedia says that, in July 2011, “Rowling parted company with her agent, Christopher Little, moving to a new agency founded by one of his staff, Neil Blair.” By the following February, the Blair Partnership, announced that Rowling was going to release a book for adults. “In a press release, Rowling said that her new book would be quite different from Harry Potter. In April 2012, Little, Brown and Company announced that the book was titled The Casual Vacancy and would be released on 27 September 2012,” said Wikipedia.

J.K. Rowling has accomplished several achievements in her life and she will always be remembered in the hearts of readers.