Showing posts with label 50 shades of grey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 50 shades of grey. Show all posts

Friday, April 19

50 Shades Of Grey: The Most Profitable Books Of All Time?

50 Shades Of Grey: The Most Profitable Books Of All Time? Love it or hate it, E.L. Jame's 50 Shades of Grey series is a huge economic success.

I knew that. We all knew that.

What I didn't know was how profitable.

In The Incredible Economics of Fifty Shades of Grey Kevin Rose writes:
It's no secret that E.L. James's Fifty Shades trilogy is the kind of monster publishing success that comes along only once or twice a decade. ....
. . . .
But we didn't know the full extent of the Fifty Shades financial bonanza until yesterday, when Random House's parent company--the giant German media conglomerate Bertelsmann AG--released its preliminary annual report. What the report revealed is that Fifty Shades's success has propped up not just Random House, but the entire corporate structure above it. [Emphasis mine]
Wow.

The Wall Street Journal has this to say:
At a time when other publishers are struggling to generate sales growth, Random House's world-wide revenue rose 23% to €2.1 billion ($2.7 billion). Operating earnings before interest and taxes rose nearly 76% to €325 million.

Fifty Shades vs Harry Potter


For all its success, E.L. James's series has yet to outsell J.K. Rowling's Potter series. Yes, Fifty Shades has outsold Harry Potter on Amazon, but according to The Wall Street Journal its worldwide sales are still lower.

Let me try to put that in perspective.
E.L. James's "Fifty Shades" erotic trilogy sold more than 70 million copies in print, audio and e-book editions in English, German and Spanish from March through December, according to Bertelsmann ... The first of the books was published in the U.S. in March.
. . . .
For a sense of scale, Random House's second biggest selling North American title last year—Gillian Flynn's thriller "Gone Girl," which has been a national best-seller for 41 weeks—sold more than two million copies in the U.S. and Canada in all formats, between June and December. (The Wall Street Journal)
50 Shades sold 70 million copies while the second most popular book in the same period sold 2 million.

I'm staggered.

70 million in just a year. Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code sold, as of 2009, 80 million copies, but that was over a period of six years (the book was published in 2003).

By the way, The Da Vinci Code was published by Doubleday in the US and, at that time, Doubleday was owned by Bertelsmann.

That company has been lucky!

To answer the question I posed in the title: Is 50 Shades of Grey the most profitable series of all time? No, it's not.

Not yet.

Do you think E.L. James' 50 Shades series will go on to outsell Rowling's Potter series?

Other articles you might like:

- When Is A Story Ready To Publish?
- Owen Egerton's 30 Writing Tips, Inspiration For Your Muse
- 3 Ways To Create An Antihero Your Readers Identify With

Photo link: "Money" by AMagill under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0.

Friday, August 10

The Richest Woman Writers: Suzanne Collins, E.L. James & J.K. Rowling


James Patterson and Stephen King move over! Okay, maybe not quite yet, but we're getting closer.
Men still top the list of the world’s highest-earning authors, but this year it’s the women on the list who’ve been making the boldest moves, led by a trio of genre phenoms: Suzanne Collins, E.L. James and J.K. Rowling.

With $20 million in earnings, almost all of it from sales of her “Hunger Games” books, Collins didn’t quite make the most recent edition of the FORBES Celebrity 100. But that was only because she had yet to see her full portion of the proceeds from the first “Hunger Games” film.
. . . .

At the height of “Fifty Shades” mania, the erotic novels were estimated to be generating as much as $1.3 million per week for their author, E.L. James. And that’s not counting the $5 million she received from Universal Pictures and Focus Films for the theatrical rights. Add it all up and James is assured of a place near the top of next year’s top authors list.
. . . .

In September, Little, Brown will publish “The Casual Vacancy,” Rowling’s first novel for adults. The reported $8 million advance Rowling received for the book was enough to vault her back onto the Celebrity 100, with $17 million in estimated earnings.
Read more here: Forbes: Women On The Rise Among The World's Top-Earning Authors.

Further reading:
- Fifty Shades of Grey - Oh My!
- 50 Shades Of Alice In Wonderland: Another Indie Success Story
- J.K. Rowling's Next Book, The Casual Vacancy, On Sale Sept 27, 2012

Photo credit: photo by tobym on Flickr

Saturday, August 4

50 Shades Trilogy Has Outsold Harry Potter on Amazon UK


Wow! That's when you know you're popular. Apparently in only 4 months EL James has become Amazon UK's biggest selling author OF ALL TIME. Again, wow.

And to think that E.L. James started out as a self published author. Yep, I'm smiling.
E L James Fifty Shades trilogy has out-sold J K Rowling’s seven-book Harry Potter series on Amazon in the UK, the online retailer has announced.

Although James’ erotica books have only been on sale since March 2012, they have sold over four million copies in print and digital, making James the bestselling author ever on Amazon in the UK.

Rowling’s final book in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, is being outsold by the first book in the James trilogy, Fifty Shades of Grey, by more than two to one.
To read the entire article click here: James 'has outsold Potter' on Amazon UK.

Related articles:
- Fifty Shades of Grey - Oh My!
- 50 Shades Of Alice In Wonderland: Another Indie Success Story
- 19 Ways To Grow Your Twitter Following


Photo credit: theilr

Saturday, July 28

50 Shades Of Alice In Wonderland: Another Indie Success Story


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Melinda DuChamp is following in E.L. James' footsteps--or at least riding her coattails--with her novel 50 Shades Of Alice In Wonderland, free till Monday (July 30th). In a way, this is fan fiction as well since it is based on the characters in Lewis Carroll's novel, although this version is definitely for adults only.

Joe Konrath interviewed Melinda on his blog, here is an excerpt:
Joe: Why did you start self-publishing?
Melinda: I've had shelf novels that never sold for various reasons, and it seemed like an obvious way to supplement my income. Now they have become my main source of income.
Joe: Would you go back to legacy publishing?
Melinda: I go where the money is. When my agent gets an offer, I listen. But the offer has to be serious to make me consider it.
Joe: So why call it Fifty Shades of Alice in Wonderland?

Melinda: I'm not above riding on coattails, and I don't believe Ms. James will mind, considering the inspiration for her trilogy.
This is something for writers to consider if they don't have a large backlist and want to increase sales, and by 'this' I do not mean writing erotica. Writing erotic novels isn't easier than writing in any other genre, in fact isn't likely more difficult.

What I'm talking about is associating yourself or your book with something already popular. In Melinda's case she is doing this with both Lewis Carroll and E.L. James. So far her strategy seems to be working. Joe writes:
Also worth noting is this ebook was only released a few days ago, and is already on the Top 100 free list in the UK, and close to the Top 100 in the US. It got there without any name recognition, publicity, promotion, marketing, or advertising. I tweeted about it earlier today, and got in touch with Melinda to request this interview after I'd read the book (my cover artist showed me the cover last week) but it was already at its current rankings before I did so.
It's something to consider! Hmm, I could write, "50 Shades of  Bourne Identity In Wonderland," ... or maybe not.

If you're a first time author, or just using a pen name for the first time, I hope you find something that works for you. Remember, whatever happens, keep writing! Cheers.

Related reading:
- Fifty Shades of Grey - Oh My!
- How To Increase Your Sales: 6 Tips From A Successful Indie Author
- 8 Ways To Become A Better Writer
- Marketing Strategies For Writers