I began to write Philosopher's Stone that very evening. Although, the first couple of pages look nothing like the finished product."[8] Then Rowling's mother died and, to cope with her pain, Rowling transferred her own anguish to the orphan Harry.[8] 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.[14] 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,[15] and the eight-year-old daughter of Bloomsbury's chief executive said it was "so much better than anything else".[16]