9) JK Rowling wrote 7 Harry Potter books – and 8 movies were also made
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Once of the most iconic rags-to-riches story saw JK Rowling become a multi-millionaire thanks to her books on a teenage boy wizard who discovered an entirely new world he didn’t know existed. Harry Potter is now one of the biggest literary figures of all time and it saw a generation of young fans take up reading.
It was a hit with youngsters and adults alike when the first book The Philosopher's Stone was published in 1997 after Rowling was given a small advance. Over the next decade, she would publish six more sequels – culminating in The Deathly Hallows in 2007. Rowling is now worth £600m and the series is the best-selling series of all time.
In 1998, she sold the movie rights to Warner Brothers and the first movie came out in 2001 starring Daniel Radcliffe as Potter himself. The last book was split into two parts and the eighth and final instalment was released in 2011. The film series has made approximately $8.5 billion worldwide. 13 different Harry Potter games have also been made by Electronic Arts.
