For children as a gift: J.K. Rowling posted her new book online for free

Blogger Maya Huseynova announces the release of a new book by J.K. Rowling, which the most popular writer of our time wrote during the pandemic:

“At the end of June, J.K. Rowling received the very prestigious Nibbies Literature Prize, her book Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was voted the best British book written in the last 30 years!

An absolutely deserved reward, in my opinion. The Harry Potter series is a unique phenomenon in world literature. It's a rare case when a book written for children has caused such delight and excitement in the world of adult literature. When a masterpiece recognized by literary critics received such massive and instantaneous recognition of the widest public. When his literary debut made his author the richest man in the industry - richer than the Queen of England. And, finally, when all of the above was done not by a man-writer, but by a woman.

Oddly enough, but Nibbies became the first and so far the only serious literary prize, which was awarded to "Harry Potter".

Rowling recorded a video in which she thanked the organizers of the award and readers, and remembered how in the late 90s she sent her first novel about Potter to publishers and received 14 rejections.

The publishers did not want to publish a book about a wizard boy, written by a woman.

“I was told that if I want to see my book printed, I can pay for the mini-edition myself and give it to all my friends and relatives. Such a book will not be able to interest anyone else”, - Rowling recalled.

Finally, a small publisher believed in her, who at the first meeting with Joan encouraged her with cautious optimism: “You know, I think this book can find its readers, maybe it even has a chance to become popular”. And he printed Potter in 3,000 copies.

At the moment, more than half a billion books about Harry Potter have already been sold and now, 20 years later, of the top 10 books in the "fiction" section on Amazon, up to 7 positions are occupied by J.K. Rowling's books about the little wizard (statistics for May-June 2020)...

What Rowling didn't remember in her acceptance speech was the beginning of her journey to success.

At the age of 26, after the death of her mother, Joan moved to Portugal to work as an English teacher and began writing Harry Potter. There she met a young Portuguese journalist who spoke excellent English and loved literature. The young people quickly got along and got married. In the first year of marriage, Joan gave birth to a daughter. But this marriage ended in failure. Rowling's husband turned out to be an abuser. He subjected her to physical and emotional abuse, and once, having beaten, he threw her out into the street in the middle of the night with a two-month-old baby in his arms.

The next morning Rowling left Portugal for good and settled in Scotland. And in subsequent years, she struggled with the most severe depression and poverty, alone with a child in her arms. Most of Harry Potter was written in a cafe, where Rowling huddled with a sleeping child to warm herself - she did not have enough money to fully heat the apartment in which she lived.

In the pandemic, Rowling gave the world a new children's book. Literally presented. She posts it in parts for free on her website. On the very first day she published the opening chapters of the book, the site was visited by over 5 million readers.

The book is called Ikabog, and it looks like another masterpiece by Rowling. She began publishing the story on June 16, and the book already has millions of fans around the world.

In addition, Rowling has announced a competition for children's illustrations for Ikabog for children aged 7 to 12. On August 7, 2020, 34 children's drawings will be selected, which will be included in the printed version of the book "Ikabog" (drawings of Russian children will be published in the Russian translation of the book). The winners of the competition will receive all sorts of gifts and prizes.

Children are already participating with enthusiasm in this competition and their drawings with the appropriate hashtag have flooded social networks.

The book itself will be published at the end of 2020. And all the proceeds from the sale of the book, J.K. Rowling will send to charities that fight domestic violence, and to people affected by Covid-19.

The book will be available for public for some time, and then it will be closed and at the end of the year it will be published for a fee in paper and with children's illustrations..."