What happened in 1997?
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was published in the UK on July 1, 1997, by Bloomsbury Press; very soon afterwards, the news broke of her $100,000 advance from Scholastic for the American publishing rights (it came out in the U.S. on Sept. 1, 1998).

During 1997, Rowling finished writing Book 2, and a U.K. publication date was announced for July 1998. By this time, she had spent about 5 years simply plotting out the whole series, so even this early on she knew what would be happening in Books 6 and 7.

Rating	1997	Title & highlights*	Links	Type
1995: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone completed; Rowling contracts with agent Christopher Little October 1996: Bloomsbury Press agrees to publish the book February 1997: Scottish Arts Council awards Rowling £8,000 ( $13,000); Rowling buys a computer in order to finish the second book April 1997: Arthur Levine of Scholastic Books bids $105,000 for American rights
***	June 24	Happy Ending, and That's for Beginners The Herald [Glasgow] JKR: "The idea that we could have a child who escapes from the confines of the adult world and goes somewhere where he has power, both literally and metaphorically, really appealed to me." Hogwarts is in Scotland.	text	interview
26 June 1997: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone published in the UK
*	June 28	Volumes of choice for the holidays The Scotsman [Edinburgh]	text	review
***	June 29	Tales from a Single Mother The Sunday Times [UK]	text	interview
**	July 7	$100,000 Success Story for Penniless Mother The Telegraph [London]	text	contains interview
**	July 8	Debut author and single mother sells children's book for $100,000 The Guardian	text	contains interview
**	July 8	First Attempt at Fantasy becomes a $100,000 reality The Scotsman [Edinburgh]	text	contains interview
**	July 8	Book Written in Edinburgh Cafe Sells for $100,000 The Herald [Glasgow]	text	contains interview
*	July 8	£60,000 for novel written in cafe Western Morning News [Devon, Cornwall, West Somerset and West Dorset]	text	brief report w/ quotes
***	August 2	From the Dole to Hollywood Telegraph.co.uk [London]	text	interview
November 1997: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone wins the Smarties Prize
*	November 19	Children Pick Winner of £2,500 Literary Prize The Herald [Glasgow]	text	brief report w/ quotes
***	November 20	Coffee in One Hand, Baby in Another - A Recipe for Success The Scotsman [Edinburgh]	text	interview
***	November 21	Joanne Rowling's Secret is Out The Independent [London]	text	interview
???	December 17	Blue Peter TV Show appearance Note: This date confirmed by BBC (thanks Melissa!)	???	???
Rating	1997	Title & highlights*	Links	Type

*Article highlights created by Deborah Skinner (aka 'Madam Scoop')

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Original page date 21 September 2006; last updated 6 January, 2008