J.K. Rowling

Rowling's first book, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone", was published in 1997 and was an instant success. By 2000 she had become the highest-earning woman in Britain, with an income of more than 18.3m pounds. In 2001, her annual earnings were estimated at over 21.4m pounds, placing her between Madonna and Paul McCartney in the ranks of high-earning celebrities. With the release of the first movie based on her books, her total earnings are estinated to have exceeded 62.4m pounds. (That's more than USD 100 million!!)

When Rowling wrote her first book she was a single mother living on a welfare check in a mouse-infested flat in Edinburgh. She was so poor she couldn't afford to heat her flat in the winter, so by day she went and sat in a local coffee shop with her baby daughter, nursing an expresso for hours as she worked on her manuscript. Rowling achieved hugh success despite all these obstacles, and there is no reason why YOU could not be just as successful as she is.

英國史上最暢銷作家 J.K羅琳

單親媽媽的神話

《哈利波特》的作者J.K羅琳（Joanne Kathleen Rowling）一寫成名的故事，被視為現代灰姑娘傳奇。《哈 利波特》第一集甫出版，羅琳就獲得英國國家圖書獎兒童小說獎，以及斯馬蒂圖書金獎章。目前六集《哈利波特》已翻譯成六十三種語言，全球銷量超過2.5億 本，前四集還拍成電影上映，亞馬遜網路書店稱她為史上最暢銷作家。她每個小時就有100萬英鎊入帳，英國《經濟學人》（The Economist）報導，她擁有價值5億英鎊的個人財產。

羅琳從小就喜歡寫作和講故事，尤其熱愛英國文學。立志成為作家的羅琳曾擔任過 秘書與教師，然而卻不斷地轉換工作，在她29歲時，遭逢了人生的最低潮。她離婚又失業，還得獨自撫養女兒。當時她棲身在租來的沒有暖氣的小公寓，靠著微薄 的失業救濟金生活，每次在咖啡館裡只點一杯卡布其諾，一字一句地寫下《哈利波特》。

書稿完成後，在出版界默默無聞又沒有人脈的羅琳，到圖書館翻查出版經理人的資料，寄出許多封自我推薦信，終於獲得其中一人的回應。羅琳第一次和出版商共進午餐時，對方還告訴她：「寫兒童小說，你別想賺大錢。」

堅持夢想的羅琳不只讓作品成為出版社的印鈔機，也在全世界掀起被譽為「文學界的披頭四狂熱」的閱讀風潮，更在30歲出頭時，改變了自己的一生。（文/林婉蓉）

2006-01-25 Sina