The erotica genre has never been more exciting or more crowded. On today’s Morning Media Menu, author Jamie Brenner shared advice for writers looking to explore this new world.

Brenner wrote Miss Chatterley as Logan Belle, creating an erotic and modern update of D.H. Lawrence‘s Lady Chatterley’s Lover. Press play below to listen to the complete interview on SoundCloud. We’ve included some excerpts below…

It’s really important to be aware of what is out there and to know where your work fits. I think a lot of people (and believe me, I don’t have all the answers, by any stretch) who read a lot of romance and erotica like what they like. They’re not necessarily looking for someone to come in and reinvent the wheel. If you are writing something you should have an idea: “Readers who like X, Y and Z will also like my stuff. I fit into this circle of books or readers.” You have to at least know that going in. Once you know where you belong, then you can stretch the boundaries within that genre, niche or milieu. It is really important to know what is working and not to try and write in a vacuum.

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The professional novelist who writes under the pen name Melinda DuChamp self-published Fifty Shades of Alice in Wonderland on Amazon, making some serious money by chasing the erotica trend. In an interview at Joe Konrath‘s blog, she shared her sales statistics:

Alice has sold 3560 copies in the UK, and 2540 in the US (plus 1275 loans in the Kindle Owner’s Lending Library) priced at $2.99. Assuming the loans are $2 each, Alice has made close to $15,000 in the last 20 days. That’s more than many of my advances … Alice peaked at #194 in the US, and #56 in the UK. It is currently #643 and #208. At its peak, it was earning over $1,000 a day. Things have slowed down, but it is still outselling all of my other novels on Amazon.

This publishing success story prompted Konrath to add: “if you think you can write erotica, now seems to be the time to give it a shot.” Have you ever considered changing to a more lucrative genre? (Via Karen Woodward)

Doubleday will release E L James Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy in $26.95 hardcover editions on January 29. The first combined print run will be 200,000 copies.

Ever since Vintage published the formerly self-published series last spring, the trilogy has sold more than 35 million copies in the United States and 65 million copies worldwide (counting both paperback and digital sales).

Here’s more from the publisher: “The hardcovers will include the full text of each novel, enhanced by these features: Embossed book jackets (adapted from the iconic paperback design). Themed endpapers (ties, masks, handcuffs). Rough front pages. E L James-signature-stamped book cover. Red silk ribbon markers. These editions will be sold both as individual titles, and as a shrink-wrapped set of the three books.”

E.L. James became the first author to be named Publishers Weekly‘s Person of the Year.

Many members of the publishing community, such as Washinton Post fiction editor Ron Charles, have shared their opinions about this announcement. Celebrities have also weighed in on the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy.

As rumors continue to circulate about a film adaptation, we’ve rounded-up four videos featuring celebrities reading the book.

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Today E L James became the first author ever named Publishers Weekly‘s Person of the Year, an annual award given to publishing leaders “shaping and, sometimes, transforming, the publishing industry.”

As part of the award, James will get a cover story and interview in the magazine. She joins a list of winners that includes David Shanks, Larry Kirshbaum, Jeff Bezos and Len Riggio.

Co-editorial director Jim Milliot explained the choice: “From boosting sales of print books through bookstores to putting a spotlight on a genre that had received little publicity, E.L. James’ impact on various parts of the book business cannot be overstated … She is well deserving of our Person of the Year award.”

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The French publisher Lattes has sent “warning letters” to publishers it feels are infringing on the copyright of Fifty Shades of Grey.

The Telegraph had this quote from editorial director Laurent Laffont: ”Some of these titles, which pick up on elements of the book, are clearly parasitical … We would like those planning new releases next year to know that we are watching very closely to ensure they are not parasitical.”

Online authors should never forget that readers can travel backwards in Internet time and explore their earlier work. Author E L James scored a seven-figure book deal to publish the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy and a movie deal quickly followed.

This erotica bestseller began as a work of Twilight fan fiction called Master of the Universe, earning a massive fan fiction following years before the book deal. Most traces of this fan fiction history have been removed from the Internet. Using the Wayback Machine, we were able to take snapshots from James’ old work–getting a peek into the book’s previous incarnation as an X-rated version of the Twilight story.

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The Piccadilly branch of the UK bookseller Waterstones spoofed E. L. James and Fifty Shades of Grey, creating an eye-catching display of titles from Persephone Books–the sleek covers all decorated with the same “One Shade of Grey.”

We’ve embedded a photograph of the display above, it reads: “Oh the bliss of Persephone Books! Beautiful editions of titles by neglected female writers.” Persephone Books is a UK publisher that releases both fiction and nonfiction. You can explore their catalog at this link.

Here’s more from the publisher: “Waterstones in Piccadilly has become our new favourite shop ever – totally without telling us they have done this fantastic display – very many thanks to cathyreadsbooks for taking the photograph. For weeks we have resisted making comments about really good grey books as opposed to really not good – ‘One Shade of Grey’ is a far wittier way of doing it.” (Via.)

On November 5th, UK-based anti-domestic violence group Wearside Women in Need plans to burn copies of E.L. James‘ Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy.

According to Mail Online, director Clare Phillipson championed the bonfire after reading two-thirds of the novel. She explained: “we have libraries wasting and grossly misusing public money to buy a book which says: ‘domestic violence is sexy.’”

The New York Daily News reported that Ohio-based DJs Chad Zumock and Alan Cox also hosted a Fifty Shades burning back in July 2012. Cox argued that their event did not advocate censorship because all the participants joined in voluntarily.

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Record label EMI is capitalizing on the Fifty Shades of Grey erotica sensation by releasing a new soundtrack to go along with the book.

Fifty Shades of Grey – The Classical Album is meant to be listened to while reading the three book series. It has 15 tracks on the album, including music that is mentioned in the book such as The Tallis Scholars’ performance of Spem in Alium, Flower Duet from Lakmé, Pachelbel’s Canon in D, and the aria from Bach’s Goldberg Variations.

If you want to sample ALL the music in the book, try Meg Latimore‘s massive Fifty Shades soundtrack mix (Spotify link). It includes 212 songs and 15 hours of music…

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British television writer Niall Leonard has landed a book deal with the UK division of Random House Children’s Publishing. Leonard is also the husband of Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy author E.L. James.

Crusher began during National Novel Writing Month and is the first installment of a YA trilogy. According to The Bookseller, fiction editor Annie Eaton negotiated the deal with literary agent Valerie Hoskins of Valerie Hoskins Associates.

Here’s more from the article: “Crusher, a ‘gritty’ London-set thriller about a 17-year-old school dropout who finds his stepfather murdered and becomes prime suspect for the crime, will be published by the Doubleday young adult imprint in September.”

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