sql persistance configuration is not working

gistfile1.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<configuration>
  <configSections>
    <section name="akka" type="Akka.Configuration.Hocon.AkkaConfigurationSection, Akka" />
  </configSections>

  <akka>
    <hocon>
      <![CDATA[
    akka {
      stdout - loglevel = DEBUG
      loglevel = DEBUG
      log - config - on - start = on
      actor {
          debug {
              receive = on
              autoreceive = on
              lifecycle = on
              event - stream = on
              unhandled = on
          }
      }

akka.persistence {
                        publish-plugin-commands = on
                        journal {
                            plugin = "akka.persistence.journal.sql-server"
                            sql-server {
                                class = "Akka.Persistence.SqlServer.Journal.SqlServerJournal, Akka.Persistence.SqlServer"
                                plugin-dispatcher = "akka.actor.default-dispatcher"
                                table-name = EventJournal
                                schema-name = dbo
                                auto-initialize = on
                                connection-string = "Data Source=localhost\\SQLEXPRESS;Database=akka_persistence_tests;User Id=akkadotnet;Password=akkadotnet;"
                            }
                        }
                    }

 
      ]]>
    </hocon>
  </akka>
</configuration>