As I write this article The Bookseller has compiled a list of the top 50 most valuable authors; many of which will be household names to us ranging from Jamie Oliver, J K Rowling, Dan Brown, Danielle Steel, Stephen King, Marian Keyes, Alan Titchmarsh to Katie Price but nestled in place at number 26 is EL James a name that up to a year ago you will not have even heard of but now she has £39.4 million in book sales to her name. Her place in this chart is due to her trilogy of erotic novels that have sold more than 8.9 million copies in a year – Fifty Shades of Grey (the first instalment) has sold 3.9 million copies and is currently seventh in the bestsellers list narrowly ahead of Fifty Shades Darker (ranked 13 th) and Fifty Shades Freed (ranked 14 th).
So just who is EL James (real name – Erika Leonard) and why has her trilogy of books been such a runaway success?
Well according to EL James website her books are erotic, amusing, and deeply moving,” the Fifty Shades Trilogy is a tale that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever.” The Fifty Shades trilogy actually stemmed from Erika’s love of the Twilight saga that was written by Stephanie Meyer tracking the relationship between an American high school student and a vampire. Erika read the series of books in 2008 and began writing her own stories and uploading them on to a Twilight fan site dedicated to the novels. After a while rather than writing about Bella and Edward (the two main characters from the Twilight series) she started to write tales based on her own creations – featuring the relationship between a literature student Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey a manipulative entrepreneur. These new stories were distributed on an Australian-based social sharing site that also doubled as a publisher called the Writers Coffee Shop and the rest as they say is history…
The series of books has been widely panned by critics and authors alike for being easy to read but poorly written and yet you cannot underestimate its success. The rights to the books have been sold around the world and will be published in Chinese, Vietnamese, Albanian, Serbian and Russian to name a few. Sales of ‘chick lit’ books have slumped recently by as much as 10%. And now ‘Mummy Porn’ as these types of books have been labelled are picking up the slack. Part of the unexpected hit has been placed with digital media; the fact that readers can download the stories on to book readers like Amazon’s Kindle, iPhone, iPad’s and more – meaning the content is much more widely available and people can read what they like where they like anonymously. Fifty Shades of Grey the first novel in the franchise was in fact the fasting selling novel of all time both digitally and in print, unbelievingly outstripping Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code and JK Rowlings Harry Potter books.
Publishers have been quick to pick up on this phenomenon and Mills & Boon have now launched an erotic short story range with dozens of titles for £1.99. Elsewhere the revival of Shirley Conran’s Lace book fifteen years after it went out of print shows the volume of demand in this area.
Interestingly the books are not just appealing to women of a certain age; Calibre Audio Library (providing audiobooks for those with poor eyesight) has received hundreds of calls insisting extra copies of the three books be made available to keep up with demand from the women primarily aged 70 and over who use their service and electronic data also suggests that about 10% of the readers of the books are men.
EL James lives in West London with her husband and two sons, she was a television executive and has been taken aback by the incredible success her books have had that started as just a bit of fun. During September she has been touring American book stores and then her attention will turn to the film production. Five film companies bid for the rights to the trilogy with Universal Pictures and Focus Features finally winning out, with Erika retaining some creative control. She also hand-picked Mike De Luca and Dana Brunetti (The Social Network) to produce. Who will write the screen play and who will be cast in the starring roles remains to be seen! In the meantime an album of songs selected by Erika will be released by EMI classics under the title Fifty Shades of Grey: The Classical Album.
Here’s a synopsis of each book:
Fifty Shades of Grey:
When literature student Anastasia Steele goes to interview young entrepreneur Christian Grey, she encounters a man who is beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating. The unworldly, innocent Ana is startled to realise she wants this man and, despite his enigmatic reserve, finds she is desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her, too—but on his own terms. Shocked yet thrilled by Grey’s singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success—his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving family—Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a daring, passionately physical affair, Ana discovers Christian Grey’s secrets and explores her own dark desires.
Fifty Shades Darker:
Daunted by the singular tastes and dark secrets of the beautiful, tormented young entrepreneur Christian Grey, Anastasia Steele has broken off their relationship to start a new career with a Seattle publishing house. But desire for Christian still dominates her every waking thought, and when he proposes a new arrangement, Anastasia cannot resist. They rekindle their searing sensual affair, and Anastasia learns more about the harrowing past of her damaged, driven and demanding Fifty Shades. While Christian wrestles with his inner demons, Anastasia must confront the anger and envy of the women who came before her, and make the most important decision of her life.
Fifty Shades Freed:
When unworldly student Anastasia Steele first encountered the driven and dazzling young entrepreneur Christian Grey it sparked a sensual affair that changed both of their lives irrevocably. Shocked, intrigued, and, ultimately, repelled by Christian’s singular erotic tastes, Ana demands a deeper commitment. Determined to keep her, Christian agrees. Now, Ana and Christian have it all—love, passion, intimacy, wealth, and a world of possibilities for their future. But Ana knows that loving her Fifty Shades will not be easy, and that being together will pose challenges that neither of them would anticipate. Ana must somehow learn to share Christian’s opulent lifestyle without sacrificing her own identity. And Christian must overcome his compulsion to control as he wrestles with the demons of a tormented past. Just when it seems that their strength together will eclipse any obstacle, misfortune, malice, and fate conspire to make Ana’s deepest fears turn to reality.
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