J.K. Rowling Shares Her Rejection Letters And…Wow


J.K. Rowling obviously has had major success with the Harry Potter books and films. Some publishers missed out on an amazing opportunity to publish these books.

Rowling replied to a rebuffed author, Dianne Brubaker, encouraging her to keep up her craft. The “Harry Potter” author said she has her first rejection letter on her refrigerator.

She tweeted and shared some of the letters with Brubaker. Rowling received these for her Cormoran Strike mystery novels under the pen name Robert Galbraith. These were her rejections. The signatures are edited out:

When asked how she maintained morale in the face of the rejections, Rowling said:

“I wasn’t going to give up until every single publisher turned me down, but I often feared that would happen.”

She was homeless when she was trying to get the first Harry Potter published. Those of us who love her work are glad that she kept trying until she got it published. About the rejection, she said she “had nothing to lose and sometimes that makes you brave enough to try.”

The publishers she first sent Harry Potter to had some nasty comments about it. She was told they could not be commercially successful. Rowling was also told to go to a local bookstore and ask what kind of book would represent them, and she was even told to go to a writer’s workshop. The publisher also said that she needs to write an “alluring” 200-word blurb to sell the book.

I bet those publisher are kicking themselves. “Harry Potter” turned into a 7-book series, eight movies, and a HUGE commercial empire with TONS of merchandise. Now, there is another movie coming out called Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them. It is based on one of the textbook Harry Potter and crew uses at Hogwarts. It’s kind of a history of the wizarding world. Nerds, rejoice!

Featured image by Daniel Ogren, available under a Creative Commons 2.0 license.

Hi, I'm from Huntsville, AL. I'm a Liberal living in the Bible Belt, which can be quite challenging at times. I'm passionate about many issues including mental health, women's rights, gay rights, and many others. Check out my blog weneedtotalkaboutmentalhealth.com