The following year, Stephen began what was to be a long and arduous journey to his destiny of being the greatest horror author of all time. In January, David and Stephen published Dave’s Rag, chartered as a local newspaper. It came out as mimeograph copies, for five cents each.

In 1962, Stephen went to Lisbon High School (in Lisbon, of course). The following year, he and his best friend (Chris Chesley), published a collection of 18 short stories: People, Places, and Things—Volume I. The next year, Triad and Gaslight Books (Stephen King’s amateur press) The Star Invaders—a two-part book. Still, King could not get published unless he did it himself—until 1965. That’s when Comics Review Magazine ran his 6,000-word story I Was a Teenage Grave Robber. Keep in mind, King was still in high school during this time. He graduated in 1966 and went to the University of Maine on a scholarship. King considered himself an average student, and his grades reflected this.

In the summer of 1966, King began to write Getting It On. In this novel, highschoolers take over a classroom—but eventually lose to the National Guard. Still in his first year of college, King abandoned that project to complete his first full length novel

The Long Walk. King submitted this to Random House, who promptly rejected it. The rejection didn’t go over well with King. However, King did manage to sell

The Glass Floor. For $35.

King graduated in 1970 with a Bachelor of Science in English and a certificate to teach high school. The poet Robert Browning inspired King’s Gunslinger/Dark Tower series with his poem Child Roland to the Dark Tower Came. The work proved to be too much, given his financial circumstances, so he shelved it in favor of a gas station job that paid $1.25/hr. Still, King persisted in writing. He did smaller projects—things he could sell. Men’s magazines picked up his short stories and this kept him writing.

Six months after his graduation, he married Tabitha Jane Spruce (January 2, 1971). That fall, the Kings moved to Hermon (west of Bangor), where he accepted a teaching job at Hampden Academy. That job brought his income to $6,400/year.

It’s a good thing Stephen had Tabitha in his life. After starting a story about a teenager named Carietta White, Stephen got disgusted with it. He wadded up the pages and threw them in the trash. Tabitha pulled those pages out of the trash, read them, and then convinced Stephen to complete the story—which became Carrie. Doubleday bought the book in March of 1973. They sold the paperback rights to New American Library for $400,000. The book contract awarded Stephen $200,000 of that take. Shortly after that, he quit his teaching job to pursue writing full time. The Kings live in Bangor, ME, where Stephen writes at home. The Kings’ generosity to Bangor is legendary, as is their humble demeanor.