I suppose a lot of women did pick up the book because they were curious. It was titillating, but it was so poorly written, I’d never consider reading the other two books in the series.” She responded, “I read it.” When I asked her why, she said, “Curiosity. Why do women read this book? I mentioned to a friend that I was writing a blog on Fifty Shades and wished I could find someone who had read it. It has a 3.5-star rating, with readers giving it one star or five stars–and very few ranking it in the middle. I didn’t find any insights from the positive reviews. The readers who liked it only said they loved it and couldn’t put it down. Even the erotic portions of the book received complaints (although not as many as the other aspects of the book). These generally are long, in-depth complaints about the plot and writing.

After all, this book is seriously popular, right? Here’s what I found: 28,000+ Amazon reviews, most of which panned the book as being beyond banal. Then I clicked over to Amazon to read the reviews. Critical reception of the book has been mixed, with the quality of its prose being generally seen as poor….” The series has sold over 100 million copies worldwide, with book rights having been sold in 52 countries, and set the record as the fastest-selling paperback of all time. Fifty Shades of Grey has topped best-seller lists around the world, including the United Kingdom and the United States. “The second and third volumes, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed, were published in 2012. It is notable for its explicitly erotic scenes featuring elements of sexual practices involving bondage/discipline, dominance/submission, and sadism/masochism ( BDSM). It is the first installment in the Fifty Shades trilogy that traces the deepening relationship between a college graduate, Anastasia Steele, and a young business magnate, Christian Grey. “Fifty Shades of Grey is a 2011 erotic romance novel by British author E. Why does the series sell like iced drinks on a sweltering day? What does that mean for publishing in general and for you in particular?įirst, I went to Wikipedia to pick up a primer on the book. After all, any series that can sell more than 70 million copies really isn’t to be ignored. But this past week, I startled myself into taking note of the book. I’ve politely ignored Fifty Shades of Grey, dismissing it as erotica, which I neither read nor represent.

Now, with the upcoming release of the film, and therefore, more readers rushing out to buy the book, it’s worth taking a second look at what all the fuss is about and what it means for the publishing industry. In 2013, I wrote the blog below about how the book Fifty Shades of GreyĪffected publishing and reading habits.

New books like 50 shades of grey