13 Successful First Novels by Female Writers

British novelist Joanne Rowling, better known by her pen name J.K. Rowling, was rejected by 12 publishing houses in 1995 before someone was willing to publish her first novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, known in the US as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, in 1997. J.K Rowling had suffered domestic abuse and depression and was a single mom on welfare before her Harry Potter series would go on to become an extremely popular film series and the bestselling book series in history with global sales upwards of $450 million. Forbes estimated her worth at $1 billion.