The idea of Harry Potter

In 1990, J. K. Rowling was on a crowded train from Manchester to London when the idea for Harry simply "popped" into her head. Rowling gives an account of the experience on her website saying:

"I had been writing almost continuously since the age of six but I had never been so excited about an idea before. [...] I simply sat and thought, for four (delayed train) hours, and all the details bubbled up in my brain, and this scrawny, black-haired, bespectacled boy who didn't know he was a wizard became more and more real to me."

After this she worked hard on the plots and other characters of the story.In 1996, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was completed and the manuscript was sent off to prospective agents. Many publishers rejected it as they thought it was too childish.The second agent she tried, Christopher Little, offered to represent her and sent the manuscript to Bloomsbury. After eight other publishers had rejected Philosopher's Stone, Bloomsbury offered Rowling a £3,000 advance for the publication of Philosopher's Stone.