<P> The book , which was Rowling 's debut novel , was written between approximately June 1990 and some time in 1995 . In 1990 Jo Rowling , as she preferred to be known , wanted to move with her boyfriend to a flat in Manchester and in her words , `` One weekend after flat hunting , I took the train back to London on my own and the idea for Harry Potter fell into my head ... A scrawny , little , black - haired , bespectacled boy became more and more of a wizard to me ... I began to write Philosopher 's Stone that very evening . Although , the first couple of pages look nothing like the finished product . '' Then Rowling 's mother died and , to cope with her pain , Rowling transferred her own anguish to the orphan Harry . Rowling spent six years working on Harry Potter and the Philosopher 's Stone , and after it was accepted by Bloomsbury , she obtained a grant of £ 8,000 from the Scottish Arts Council , which enabled her to plan the sequels . She sent the book to an agent and a publisher , and then the second agent she approached spent a year trying to sell the book to publishers , most of whom thought it was too long at about 90,000 words . Barry Cunningham , who was building a portfolio of distinctive fantasies by new authors for Bloomsbury Children 's Books , recommended accepting the book , and the eight - year - old daughter of Bloomsbury 's chief executive said it was `` so much better than anything else '' . </P>
<P> The book , which was Rowling 's debut novel , was written between approximately June 1990 and some time in 1995 . In 1990 Jo Rowling , as she preferred to be known , wanted to move with her boyfriend to a flat in Manchester and in her words , `` One weekend after flat hunting , I took the train back to London on my own and the idea for Harry Potter fell into my head ... A scrawny , little , black - haired , bespectacled boy became more and more of a wizard to me ... I began to write Philosopher 's Stone that very evening . Although , the first couple of pages look nothing like the finished product . '' Then Rowling 's mother died and , to cope with her pain , Rowling transferred her own anguish to the orphan Harry . Rowling spent six years working on Harry Potter and the Philosopher 's Stone , and after it was accepted by Bloomsbury , she obtained a grant of £ 8,000 from the Scottish Arts Council , which enabled her to plan the sequels . She sent the book to an agent and a publisher , and then the second agent she approached spent a year trying to sell the book to publishers , most of whom thought it was too long at about 90,000 words . Barry Cunningham , who was building a portfolio of distinctive fantasies by new authors for Bloomsbury Children 's Books , recommended accepting the book , and the eight - year - old daughter of Bloomsbury 's chief executive said it was `` so much better than anything else '' . </P>
number of words in harry potter and the philosopher 's stone
number of words in harry potter and the philosopher 's stone
about 90,000 words
about 90,000 words