The Sun - 19th June 2012
A BOOK described as “mummy porn” has beaten the likes of Harry Potter in the UK book sales chart.
Author and mum-of-two EL James – real name Erika Mitchell - has beaten JK Rowling and Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown to the UK record with the first instalment of her X-rated trilogy.
The novel sold more than 100,000 paperback copies last week alone – a success most of the Harry Potter books and all of the Twilight novels failed to match.
At first, most sales of The Fifty Shades series were of the more discreet ebook version.
But as the trilogy’s popularity soared, so have the book sales – Fifty Shades of Grey has been Britain’s best-selling book for the past nine weeks.
Meanwhile the three books in the series have held the top three spots on the UK paperback book chart for the past six weeks.
Boffins put the success of the sexy books – deemed “mummy porn” –down to frustrated middle-aged mums.
A spokesman for Nielsen Book-Scan who complies the official chart figures said: “The success has not been driven by people who regularly buy books, but by people who buy maybe three or four books a year.
“The books have crossed into the mass market. Clearly, people aren’t embarrassed by it anymore.”
Erika, 49, is now said to be worth £4million after signing book deals and a Hollywood movie contract.
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