Let's get one thing out of the way first: "Fifty Shades of Grey" is terrible writing.
But who's reading it for the writing?
For most of us, "Fifty Shades" - and its two sequels detailing (and I do mean detailing) a couple's steamy relationship - emerged from nowhere this spring. The same Friday my friend asked me if I had heard of it, I came home to see the series featured on the cover of Entertainment Weekly. By Monday, it was clogging my Facebook feeds.
Now E.L. James' little bondage tale is everywhere, with a movie deal, too. On Amazon.com, "Fifty Shades" is the No. 1 bestseller for Kindle books, the No. 1 bestseller in "Literature and Fiction" (literature?! ) and the most popular gifted and most wished-for book in that category. The trilogy's official Facebook page has almost 73,000 "likes." James' page has 23,000 and an fan-created page has surpassed 42,000.
Topsy'a real-time searches logged almost 63,000 tweets mentioning "Fifty Shades" for the past month. A raunchy but funny Tumblr commentary tracks the many ridiculous moments of the books, and parody viral videos from Saturday Night Live and Ellen Degeneres have made the rounds online.
What's most surprising is not that the books are successful but that we are all talking about it. Since when do we feel the need to broadcast how we read hundreds of pages of sex scenes linked by the thinnest of plots?
You can thank - or blame - social media.
Here are four factors that helped Christian Grey and his "twitchy palm" become a social media darling.
- "Fifty Shades" had a devoted online following before it went mainstream. It started as "Twilight" fan fiction and then became an e-book before a tiny Australian publisher picked it up. Which set up a nice fan base and bidding war that Vintage books won in March for a broader release.
- Technology gives you anonymity and social connections. The e-book continues to be successful even now that print copies are readily available. Maybe because it's not obvious what you're reading? But it's also fun to discuss online, even under your real name. No one can see you blushing on the Internet.
- James gets social networking. She's everywhere. You can ask @E_L_James questions on Twitter, share your picks for the Movie Christian on her Facebook, pin to your Pinterest boards a dress that Ana may have worn out and even listen to a YouTube playlist as a soundtrack.
- The audience is well defined. Sure, some men read the series. But the discussion is dominated (no pun intended) by women. Publishers like women, because their book club activity can be great for sales. They also like social media for its word of mouth. "Fifty Shades" delivered both.
The result is a vibrant public book club, based at literary social networking site Goodreads. Follow the popularity of "Fifty Shades" from its first comment last June to now, when there are almost 102,000 ratings. If your own book club is too conservative to give Grey a chance, you can find plenty of other people who want to debate whether the story promotes violence against women or women taking charge of their sex lives. James even jumps in occasionally with comments.
"Fifty Shades" may get dismissed as "Mommy Porn" but it's social media gold. Future authors should pay attention to what James has done to cultivate her following and the fun ways she has marketed her book. Because it's working. I have complained and rolled my eyes (a Grey no-no) over it and guess what? I just downloaded the third book.
It's awful. It has no redeeming value. I have award-winning books untouched. And I can't stop reading it.