--- description: “I wasn’t going to give up until every single publisher turned me down," she said title: J.K. Rowling Shares Her Publishing Rejection Letters image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Books](/tag/books/) ## Books Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # J.K. Rowling Shares Her Publishing Rejection Letters by [Jessica Goodman/EW](/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Jessica Goodman/EW Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 25, 2016 12:59 PM CUT by [Jessica Goodman/EW](/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Jessica Goodman/EW Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 25, 2016 12:59 PM CUT J.K. Rowling has proved that even when an author strikes Galleons, not everyone will want to publish their work. Early Friday, the celebrated _Harry Potter_ author posted a few of the rejection letters she received when pitching books under her [pseudonym, Robert Galbraith](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/11/02/jk-rowling-pseudonym-robert-galbraith-explanation "undefined"). “I wasn’t going to give up until every single publisher turned me down, but I often feared that would happen,” [she tweeted](https://twitter.com/jk%5Frowling/status/713292055284424704 "undefined") before sharing two of the letters addressed to Galbraith. > [](https://twitter.com/jk%5Frowling/status/713298761288708096) The discussion began when Rowling addressed a fan who had been rejected by a publisher. [She wrote](https://twitter.com/jk%5Frowling/status/713287517911560192 "undefined"), “I pinned my 1st rejection letter to my kitchen wall because it gave me something in common with all my fave writers!” Then she asked if fans wanted to see the ones for Galbraith: “The Potter ones are now in a box in my attic, but I could show you @RGalbraith’s?” > [](https://twitter.com/jk%5Frowling/status/713287517911560192) > [](https://twitter.com/jk%5Frowling/status/713289761209843712) Rowling also noted that one of the publishers who rejected a Galbraith book also rejected _Harry Potter_. > [](https://twitter.com/jk%5Frowling/status/713300161884254208) > [](https://twitter.com/jk%5Frowling/status/713301256811507712) Last year, [Rowling explained her pseudonym](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/11/02/jk-rowling-pseudonym-robert-galbraith-explanation "undefined") in an interview with NPR and said that after _Harry Potter_ “there was a phenomenal amount of pressure that went with being the writer of _Harry Potter_, and that aspect of publishing those books I do not particularly miss. So you can probably understand the appeal of going away and creating something very different, and just letting it stand or fall on its own merits.” _This_ [_article_ ](http://www.ew.com/article/2016/03/25/jk-rowling-rejection-letters "undefined")_originally appeared on_ [_EW.com_ ](http://www.ew.com "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4271911/jk-rowling-publishing-rejection-letters/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4271911/jk-rowling-publishing-rejection-letters/"},"headline":"J.K. Rowling Shares Her Publishing Rejection Letters","datePublished":"2016-03-25T12:59:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:13:13.843Z","description":"“I wasn’t going to give up until every single publisher turned me down\"","url":"https://time.com/4271911/jk-rowling-publishing-rejection-letters/","keywords":["Books"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jessica Goodman/EW"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4271911/jk-rowling-publishing-rejection-letters/","name":"J.K. Rowling Shares Her Publishing Rejection Letters"}}]}] ```