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ALMOST 460,000 BOOKS from the Fifty Shades of Grey series have been sold in Ireland over the past four years.
New figures released by Nielsen Book Research show that the Irish public has bought a total of 459,082 copies of the books (including box sets), making about €5 million for author EL James.
The sales include 199,502 copies of Fifty Shades of Grey, the first instalment, since 2012. Irish readers have purchased a further 125,899 and 116,229 copies of sequels Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed respectively.
The latest book in the series, Grey, has sold 8,164 copies in its first week, outselling the next most-purchased book by four to one.
Maria Dickenson, Managing Director of Dubray Books, noted that this is “by far the biggest first week impact of the EL James books”, telling us: “Each of the others sold less than 500 in the first week of sales and built up from there.”
It makes Grey the fifth biggest selling fiction book of the year so far (after Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, Time for Friends by Patricia Scanlan, Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey and The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton), and the 8th bestselling book overall.
The Guardian reports that EL James’ company, Fifty Shades Ltd, made a profit of about €13.8 million in 2014.
Fifty Shades of Grey was the biggest success of the trilogy, reaching 24,500 in its highest (16th) week of sales in Ireland. Fifty Shades Darker reached just over 12,000 in its highest (16th) week of sales, and Freed reached 10,700 at its peak (13th week).
The series has sold over 125 million copies worldwide and been translated into more than 50 languages. The film version of the first novel was widely panned by critics, but grossed about €800 million worldwide.
Dickenson said people in Ireland were ordering Grey in advance, something that “doesn’t happen much with adult books”.
“There’s still quite an appetite for it,” she added.
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50 shades of sh*te.
You call reading that tripe ‘reading’, it’s an insult to those of us who read ‘real ‘ books. I wouldn’t be seen dead with that pathetic excuse for a book in my hand.
Hasn’t got me all mad for reading. Now the Game of Thrones series has got me reading fiction again…
That one who wrote this crap is laughing all the way to the bank . Very glad I didn’t put money in her pocket
It’s a dirty version of mama Mia I’m guessing.
The people who read this trash are hardly book worms in fairness. I’d be surprised if any of the saps who like this crap are regular readers. And if they are it’s probably just heat magazine or the latest chick-lit fluff.
The journals biased approach to almost everything political is getting people ‘mad’ (some authors are sound)
I bought the trilogy and am just after finishing grey loved every minute of the books and brought me back up to speed with reading again alighted my passion for reading again
was grey any use or is it just like a repeat of the trilogy ?
You could probably move on to real books now that have long words and everything.
No need to be bitchy apologises for you not having imagination!!
Hiya grey is sort of a waste of time! It’s the same as the first book just in his eyes every thing is repeated ie: the emails the sex scene but if u want to recap on the first book it’s good
@Marian
If you read fifty shades of grey, then it’s you, who has no imagination, this book is just pornography and on top of it got everything about BDSM totally wrong, the things Grey does are just abusive and in no way erotic or imaginative, just plain basic cruelties of a petty mind, and the so called author of this sorry effort of a book is just laughing al the way to the bank and lining her pockets with your money.
I thought it might be like that , that’s why I didn’t bother this time . as for the rest of you’s, chill out ! it’s just a book !
Sorry I don’t feed trolls!!! Each to there own I enjoyed the book and film simples, even if her writing is dire well then are we all fools either way it’s all abt escaping into a good book! And that’s exactly what I done,
I just don’t consider the fifty shades series good book, sorry, it’s just Twilight for adults
And Red Shoe Diaries are back on TV……shocking I say. Shocking!
Errrrrrrrr……on Pick TV……should you wish to ensure you avoid it
porn for middle class women.as a man we get ours free in the internet lol
I’d rather read the back of a box of zip.
well the film was terrible, it was like twilight without the DG fashion vampires, 9 and half weeks which was made nearly 30 years ago blows it out of the water.
Check out #AskELJames on twitter. A far better read than any of the ráméis she’s published.
That is funny when people read this book its pornographic but ok for themselves to do it but if someone else did the same thing then that is wrong??? They are as dirty themselves for reading it as anyone else for watching it etc.
Also if a man wrote it then that be sexist but when a woman writes it then this filth is fun as well as other harmless using words. If people judged themselves by the same standards as they judge everyone else by then they would be shocked… It is a book that is as good as saying that it shackles women to the bedpost instead of the oven???
Reading and eating have something in common, in both cases what you swallow can be good or bad for you. I wouldn’t bother with this auld $***€ as I’m sure it would be indigestible.
I don’t object to filth, per se, if it’s well written – but this isn’t. A cynical money-making venture, that’s all and good luck to the “author” and the fifty shades of eejits that are daft enough to buy it.
have your say