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McDonald's? Hah! That does sum it up rather nicely, doesn't it.

I'll admit I have only read an excerpt, but being given a rundown of the plot by several friends, it strikes me as the classic 70s Harlequin novel (of which I read many, because my mother had them), plus bondage. You know--the good, innocent virgin pursued by the powerful tycoon who just won't take no for an answer. (As an adult, I've re-read some of those 70s Harlequins and there's a lot of date rape going on.)

In fact, there are now pretty explict Harlequin novels, although I don't *think* (not being an expert) that they have ventured into S&M. Not sure why this one took off over all the other romance novels.

"People like McDonalds."

- a sentiment fit for needlepointing on a silk pillow.

Love it.

Oh, I agree that the fanfiction isn't what made it a sensation. There are tons of hugely popular novel-length fanfictions written by hugely popular fanficcers that never make a blip on the commercial side of things. (Cassie Claire being the only other case I can think of, and even her success isn't near what James has had.)

The "secret" of the sensation behind the novel is a perfect storm made of platform, timing, buzz, and probably a dozen other factors we'll never know the extent of. And that's the truth of ANY sort of sudden mega-hit, whether it's a book, the hot Christmas toy, or anything else.

People want what they want, and there's not always a definitive reason why they want it.

Succinct is good. "People like McDonalds." Perfect.

I think it's about the "buzz." When the women on the Upper East Side started talking about it, that's when it took off in the mainstream.

I knew about the book before it went mainstream, and I also know that it wasn't reviewed well or even respected in most romance circles, or BDSM erotica circles. There's this unspoken rule that fanfic should not be written for profit...which is basically what 50 Shades is: fanfic. But the moment word started to spread with the Upper East Side crowd, the book took off. And they don't know fanfic from fanbelts.

I've also read that even though the sales have been great, e-books have been tracked and most people who bought it and started it did not finish it. How they track these things I don't know. But they have ways.

I'm in the crowd that loves Lee Prewitt's observation about McDonalds.

The thing about smash hits of any sort is they appeal to the least common denominator. McDonalds and 50 Shades both fit that category.

I like that quote. Some readers just want to read what everyone else is reading. They troll the bestsellers lists.

50SofG certainly is front and center in bookstores, because the cover 'looks ok'. That cover to me screams chicklit or romance, not power and certainly not class.

NOT on my TBR list.

Two flights down has a very good analysis but is missing a point. The books are not about about a woman being overpowered but about her slowly turning the table on her oppressor. Hooking him with sex his way, to get him to do things her way. Still a loosing proposition in real life, but quite another scenario from what a cursory look would suggest.
Also, she peels the shell of a strong man to find the shivering little boy inside. She accomplishes that by tormenting him with his own desire for her, making her feel desired and powerful, and in the end she fixes what is wrong with him, emasculating him and remaking him in her image so he becomes a good father and husband and has sex her way.
That is the ultimate feminine fantasy, the reason why the book sells like hot cakes. And because controlling him is an iffy, twisted behavior, the author justifies everything by putting the guy in the wrong from the beginning: she is pure and altruistic, he is evil and kinky and sadistic, of course he deserved his fate. And evidently she is right and he is so much happier when he starts seeing things her way.
Now just add sex and dip it in chocolate.
Sorry, did I come across as twisted and cynic? Well, my husband says that when he does things my way he always ends up happier. So there.

People love McDonalds! :D haha You wouldn't believe how many times that company comes up in our college-level American History course during discussions on more noble themes from De Toqueville and Jefferson. ;D

It's a corporation that's become a nifty way to sum up American society! :D

" Okay, fair enough. I still maintain that using the words "Charlie Tango" outside of the singular and solely utilitarian purpose of communicating with air traffic control is grounds for laughter."

Ahaha! OK, I kind of agree, but my husband's a private pilot and works for a major airline, and this is legitimately how they refer to aircraft. Even outside of communicating with air traffic control, the airline/'Operation' (this is what they call they the day-to-day workings of the airline. "The Operation".) there's a lot of radio work. It's how baggage handlers talk with people co-ordination planes getting to gates, and how everyone in the airport talkes. They use the phonetic alphabet for the same reason we use punctuation in prose -- clarity. And... then I think it becomes habit. And sticks.

Husbandman refers to aircraft like they're people with STRANGE names, even outside of work ;D

People like McDonald's, yes. One would have to tie this reader to a chair and whip her to get her to eat a Big Mac, though. (:

Interesting how so many writers impugn the readers. It's McDonalds. It's the "lowest common denominator." Ergo, the readers have no taste.

Sounds like sour grapes. "I can't write a best-seller because I refuse to write trash for stupid readers."

I suspect the book has sold so well for some of the reasons listed, but also because it is full of inner drama, the inner struggle toward transformation and wholeness. One could argue that it's "fifty shades of character arc" when it comes to Mr. Grey.

There are only two reasons why the success of this book irritates me. The first is due to the fact that young girls who otherwise wouldn't pick this up have devoured it, and now want to find a Christian Grey of their own.

It's no secret that romances with domineering, bordering on abusive alpha males have been around for years. But these books are usually read by adults who know that it's fantasy.

When you're young, you don't realize yet that f**ked-up men don't change, they simply drag you down with them. So if these young, impressionable girls are believing and hoping for the fantasy that is FSoG, they are in for a load of heartache.

The second reason why this book irritates is that had I written it without a fan base already in place, I'd soon be able to wallpaper the entire inside of my house with rejection slips. It wasn't held to the same standards required from other writers, and that really stinks, in my opinion. As a writer, I try to avoid cliches, and repetitive phrases. I try to flesh out my characters, and have my plots make sense. The fact that FSoG does not succeed at this feels like the equivalent of me not getting the job just because I'm 50 pounds heavier than the less qualified, but slimmer woman who did.

I totally agree with Anon that both books are the female transforming the male figure. This seemingly gives the females of both novels power. However, my argument is that this sort of power is an illusion. In the end, they still succumb to the desires of the men, but it is justified because of this "transformation." The male still holds some sort of power over her. She wants to run--but she returns.

At the end of Pamela another servant of Mr. B apologizes to Pamela for having aided Mr. B in his attempt to rape her. Pamela quickly forgives her with a line that went something like, "You were following the will of the one, that I, now, must also follow." I don't remember how it went exactly, but it is something along those lines.

I know Fifty Shades isn't going to have such a direct quote as this, because, like I said earlier, it would be too "anti-woman" for today's society. I do think, however, that Anastasia also gives up power to be with Christian Grey. She molds him into the ideal man in which she can give her will to, but she is still giving him her will.

I like your analysis, though, of the woman actually be the manipulative one, and that it is validated by the fact she is a pure virgin and he was a messed up man. I'm intrigued by this notion, "he deserves it."

Given the woman is giving up her power to this dominate figure, and the dominate figure must transform into a match that is agreeable by the female's standards, both relationships from these two books would, in real life, be doomed.

Tiffany N. York--

I wonder sometimes about the last part of your comment. When starting from scratch, writers go to great lengths to develop their characters.

In fanfiction, most of the character development is done.

Stephanie Meyers seems okay with this, but what about authors that would be offended by someone stealing their characters and just renaming them? There have been fanfics pulled from popular fanfiction sites because the author of the original series requested that their characters be left alone. What if authors began pursuing this further because people are now making money from their characters--like taking it to court?

If I took a recorded sound from a song and put it into my own song, I would have to pay royalties, even though my song sounds nothing like the original. Could publishing one day go this way?

Perhaps this is a whole other topic, but I am curious.

My own opinion as to why 50 Shades is popular is because it's considered taboo. However, where were these people when Jackie Collins was writing smut? Harold Robbins?

Word of mouth is a great way to get a book to sell, but when you have playground mom's talking about a guy who wants to control every aspect of a woman and wants to use her for his own sexual deviances, to them it's exciting. After a few kids, the sex life becomes non-existent, so why not live vicariously through a book that tells you want a dominant male is like (although, Christian really isn't that dominant any real dom will tell you that.)

Women are bored with boy meets girl, boy gets girl, boy loses girl, then boy overcomes something silly and boy and girl get married.

They want characters to have sex and debase each other just because it's titillating.

Why did I read FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC in 1979? It wasn't because I knew that it was about flowers in an attic! ;p

I read all yesterday's comments with interest and think you picked the best to highlight here.

I'm with Karen. The book's controversial topics resulted in its notoriety--like a sex scandal--rather than a typical popularity.

Sadly, I still can't understand the appeal of needy, delusional women in either Twilight or 50 Shades.

Lee: "People like MacDonalds"
hahahahahaha!
I love it. There are geniuses among us.

Hi Nathan,

When I read your original post, I had the same thoughts as Josin. The fanbase was already there. Fanfiction has a ton of readers--especially when it's for something as big as Twilight--and they are a captive audience because of the very nature of fanfic. Most of the time new chapters are posted on a weekly basis, and the fics use characters who readers already love.

There's even a site that basically takes the most popular Twilight Fanfics and publishes them. The authors take their stories down from the Fanfic site where they were originally posted, and the followers feel like they've lost something. I mean, they've followed this story for months, possibly years. They're committed. Of course, they're upset when the stories are taken down. Then they tell the old followers, "Hey, you can now purchase the previously free book here for just $4.99," and people snatch it up. New character names (like 50 Shades), but the same character quirks and plot, and now the authors ARE making money off of their fanfic.

Nothing unethical about that…right?

Hope you have a great one,

The Only Woman in the World Who Hasn't Read 50 Shades of Grey

"People like McDonald's"--haha. Perfect summation, for me, of this whole 50 Shades thing. I read the sample on Amazon, couldn't get past Ch. 1. it's a free world, and everyone is free to read--and eat--whatever they think best nourishes either their health (intellect) or a guilty pleasure.

People watch the Jersey Shore too, that doesn't mean it's a brilliant show.

Someone up above said:

The thing about smash hits of any sort is they appeal to the least common denominator. McDonalds and 50 Shades both fit that category.

While that's technically true, I feel I should point out that sometimes the least common denominator does have good taste. What about Jurassic Park, for instance? Excellent book, excellent movie, every bit deserving of its reputation. Sure, Crichton played a little loose with facts for the sake of the plot, I don't really agree with the allegory, and I don't like Michael Crichton as a person. But the way he tells the story is so damn good that all that stuff doesn't matter. (Contrast with Dan Brown, whose liberties with reality are just painful.) I checked it out at the library as a kid and I pretty much devoured it in a day. A few years ago I checked it out again and I devoured it in a day again. Hell, I'm sure I've got more re-reads in the future, and that's not something I can say for very many books at all.

So while "least common denominator" is often used as a pejorative, I'm not sure it should be. Then again, maybe it's just a matter of a stopped clock being right twice a day.

(In case you're wondering: I have no opinion on 50 Shades. I haven't read it, and I'm not going to.)

Seems to have been a case of 'pushing the envelope' and reader curiosity. It also stirred a lot of controversy and debate, (like this one) which I suppose helped the runaway snowball effect. We should all be so lucky. ;-)

Anonymous said...
"Interesting how so many writers impugn the readers. It's McDonalds. It's the "lowest common denominator." Ergo, the readers have no taste.

Sounds like sour grapes. "I can't write a best-seller because I refuse to write trash for stupid readers." "

THANK YOU, one anon to another. Saved me some time. Now I can get back to writing for a living instead of slagging off other writers (and leave that to the hobbyists).

Ha, I just typed the captcha as the comment then proceeded to be really confused for a moment.

Loved this post, Nathan. I have no idea why 50 Shades is so popular. I think it's just "new." A lot of girls I know that love it don't read a lot and were seemingly unaware that erotica existed.

You pretty much nailed it Nathan. It's soft core porn that reaches way back to a paternalistic archetype I'm sorry anyone still thinks about.

Excellent analysis...and you're right this book is Pop.U.Lar. Thanks for sharing your insight!

People do love their pulp.

The "book" (notice i use quotes) is only popular because when it was posted on Fanfiction(dot)net it had over 50,000 reviews. The Writers coffee shop solicits popular fanfic writers to publish their fics, then use their readers to make the fanfics sell and end up on the new york times.

Haven't read it, but from what I understand, it's mostly a book about dirty (in the best possible sense of the word) sex.

My two cents: Women were taught for a million years to suppress their sexuality. Men weren't. Now, generations of young women are finally realizing it's okay to embrace sex. And, in our world today, (especially young women) wear their sexuality as a badge of honor.

I'm a college professor. Many students follow me on Twitter, so I follow them back. These women aren't readers, but almost all of them read 50 Shades, posted pictures of them reading it at the pool, tweeted how much they loved it, etc.

In my opinion, it's not about the book itself. It's what the book represents. Older women may have been hiding it on their e-readers, but younger women were flaunting it.

Trust me, these young women talk about sex on Twitter WAY MORE than any of my male students. (One former student recently posted that her favorite flavor of popsicle was [slang for male genitalia]. We're living through a cultural shift, and books that tap into that will be wildly popular.

Because EL James already had an audience, she went from fan fiction to her own site and built on that. Also, she filled that gap for Twilight readers who wanted something saucier and were just a little in love with the MCs from the movie version. Kudos to EL for getting MOTU published under Fifty Shades. She worked hard for it. Let's not think this was an overnight sensation.

"Maybe, at the end of the day, bestsellers are largely random."

Ironic that the book was purchased by RANDOM House.

I read 50 pages of 50 Shades and concluded that it was ... not for me.

People do need escapism and to each his own. I don't have a problem with it.

50 Shades did nothing for me. Nothing at all. But I know plenty of people for whom it has, and that's great for them.

My problem is that I can't walk through Target with my two young children without walking by a display for the trilogy, just a couple feet away from the coloring books.

I wonder if "random" bestsellers are made from books that people want to talk about. In order to talk about a book -- even if it's only to vent loudly with all your complaints about the absurdity -- you need other people to have read it, which means you need to convince your friends to read it. I haven't read Fifty Shades, but I know with both Twilight and Hunger Games, I read them because friends told me to and then I told friends to read them so we could talk about them. It wasn't that I loved Twilight -- I thought it was a horrible message for teenage girls, blah-blah-blah. But I still convinced at least two or three people to read it. And I did love Hunger Games, convinced at least that many people to read it, probably several more, so I could talk to them about what made Katniss a great heroine and why she was different and whether she was a new archetype in female characters, etc. Funny, thinking back, a friend sent me a UK book once that she'd picked up on a layover, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, and I talked up that book to everyone I knew because I wanted to discuss the layers and the descriptions and sense of humor. Obviously, that's not the case for all bestsellers, but it might explain some of the more unusual ones.

Someone asked my mother-in-law, a church going lady in her late 70's if she'd want to read this book, sneer, snicker...

I haven't read it, but I loved this post, because you let your hair* down more than you usually do.

*I was one of your "dig the hair" early queriers. I miss those days.

Vicarious thrills. 'Nuff said.

I don't think we should ignore the brilliance of the cover design, which has changed the covers of erotica books forever. That understated symbol of male power, the simple necktie--in subtle shades of gray instead of screaming pink flesh tones--made the book LOOK respectable. It also appealed to what really turns women on, which is power, not little Magic Mike outfits. This cover made it clear this was erotica for women that understood women's fantasies.

When you call something “not that bad” and, again, “I’ve read worse” with the same breath as noting that it made a commercial splash in publishing the likes of which all the National Book Awards Finalists together will not make in a hundred years, you have affirmed that the dichotomy between art and commerce is getting ever larger.

I venture a guess that this is a case of people purchasing the book because of the hype, but not necessarily finding it to be their cup of tea. Harry Potter has 5951 customer reviews on Amazon, with an overall rating of 4.7 out of 5, while Fifty Shades has 13,840 reviews with an overall rating of 3.2. My quick analysis of those statistics tell me that people are obviously snatching it up left and right, not necessarily enjoying it. I've talked to many people who have bought/read the book and I have yet to meet one who thought it was a decent story and many didn't get past the first few chapters. So - POPULAR? I'd say a better word is notorious. I believe people are buying the book to see what the fuss is about and why people like us keep talking about it.

I think it became popular for a couple reasons:

1) Its vast popularity made it "cool" to say you were reading it, whereas usual readers of erotica romance keep it to themselves — hence the widely popular genre for ebooks.

2) The books popularity attracted new readers to the genre who never knew they could read "porn" and like it. I had so many FB friends taking pictures of them reading the book by the pool or talking about reading it this past year. Then some would ask for similar books like it.

3) The book cover. The usual erotic romance novels have the embarrassing covers with the half naked man on the cover embracing a female.

Honestly, I hated the book. I couldn't get over the immaturity of the main character. I don’t what anything to do with an erotica book whose main character reads like a 16 year old.

Why is it popular?
1. People read between the lines. I’ve had discussions with a friend who liked the book and her interpretation and mine are totally different. She saw romance, I saw domestic violence, and I don’t mean the physicality of the book, but the emotional.

2. One of the themes in the book was that she was willing to do things she didn’t fully want to do in hopes she could change him. I’m not sure where this came from, but many girls/women suffer from the idea that men show true love by changing for the woman. The bad guy starts of exciting, and then we try to change all the things that we were excited about. And when they give those up, it must be true love.

3. Sex sells

4. Popularity leads to more popularity. Either from curiosity or the assumption that if everyone is reading it then it must be good.

It's been interesting to follow the secretive reading (only your best friends whisperingly admit they've read it in all-female company) to seeing women read it at my gym and on airplanes. A male friend was on a flight where his entire ROW was reading it (all strangers) and he when asked what the big deal about it is, a multi-row conversation began where all the readers urged him to read it. Very interesting!

It didn't come out of nowhere. It didn't come out of close to nowhere.

The original fanfictions were so popular and had so many fans that they organized their own fan event and flew her from the UK to the US to attend. When the books went on sale, that fanbase responded in droves. The sudden spike by someone who had never had a novel for sale before caught the attention of Amazon's algorithms. The original fans shared the book with their friends who snapped up every hard copy they could find and happily downloaded the e-version for clandestine reading. They got to feel like they were doing something "naughty" (oh, how I hate that word when applied to adults in a serious manner...)

ELJames has basically the same story as every other success with a built-in fanbase. She gave those who already knew her what they expected and wanted, and in turn those people supported the writer they enjoy. They spread the word to people who likely had never heard of fanfiction, or might have hated Twilight, but might enjoy 50SoG.

Though, hopefully, none of them confused it with Between Shades of Grey (or vice versa). That could make for some awkward reading.

I didn't manage to read past the first 2 chapters which were offered as a the free preview on my Kobo - I didn't want to waste my time and money after that, despite Kobo trying to sell it to me on every page of their website. Opening with her looking in the mirror was enough to put my hackels up. But as my father was a pilot, your mention of the helicopter name makes absolute sense to me. Charlie Tango is the radio call signal so the helicopter would be CT followed by a number. My father's plane was Charlie Whiskey Foxtrot. Unlike ships and boats, flying beasts don't often get called romantic names.

@Josin I read an article about Ruta Septys' Between Shades of Grey tour this year, and she did have people come expecting the author for 50 Shades.

I agree with @Karen that lots of people are buying this book based on hype but I haven't heard much posistive on my end. One of my good friends who mainly reads non-fiction and self-help said she got the books because they were "something to read." That's pitiful to me. You can read a cereal box, too. But she said she wanted to see what the hype was about and none of the mysogyny bothered her. It bothers me. And the bad writing does too. I read a chapter and couldn't take it. For me, I have so many books on my list to read, I'm not looking for just anything to read because it's popular. If the reviews were stellar, yes, I would give it a chance.

I really, really love this post!

I think it's popular because it is naughty. And because everyone is reading it (or at least every female it seems, including your grandma), it gives one permission to read it. So it becomes insanely popular. And because e-readers are perfect for naughty books.

And we want to see what all the fuss is about. That's why I read it. I wanted to know what I was missing.

Yet it's not really that naugthy, and at times the sex is downright awkward. I will admit the cover is awesome, and if this shabbily written book makes readers aware that erotica exists, I guess something positive comes out of its mere existence.

I think I had more fun reading this post than I would have reading the book.lol

Maybe I'm way off, but I am seeing a huge correlation between Samuel Richardson's Pamela or Virtue Rewarded and Fifty Shades of Gray . Pamela was written in 1740 and some credit it as being the first English novel. It started as a sort of sermon about young women becoming too bold and the importance of innocence. Richardson was looking for a unique way to reach young people, and thus Pamela is born.

Take a look at Richardson's title: Pamela or Virtue Rewarded . With the view, by some, that fiction was just lies, and therefore not a good read for intellectuals, the title serves to do two things: 1. There's a story, and 2. There's a lesson to be learned. The lesson gives the story its purpose.

Fifty Shades of Gray does this, as well. As others have pointed out (and so I won't go into more detail), the title and cover give the impression that there is something more behind these characters than dirty sex. There's a lesson to be learned here. It justifies us in indulging in "mommy porn," as some call it.

In Pamela, the heroine is an innocent young woman who follows the rules and faithfully fulfills her roles. She is a maidservant. Mr. B is the rich man with power who becomes taken by Pamela. As he learns more about her, he falls for her because of her innocence. However, she resists him because she represents all that is moral and good. Mr. B kidnaps her, tries to seduce her, tries to rape her, etc. In the end, her virtue wins out, they fall in love, and he marries her.

I know Fifty Shades doesn't follow this plot exactly, but there is a correlation here, I think, between what these plots are trying to tell us. The idea that a "pure" young lady can change the rich and powerful (not to mention, sex-hungry) man, seemingly gives the female power over the male. It gives young women a sense of control, and also unity when they discuss the book together.

Both books have scandalous scenes (though neither, the dirtiest of their time), but our indulgence in wild and violent sex is validated by the fact that there is a moral in the end. Because these women have avoided the advances of past men, they must somehow be above the "fallen" women. The men who star in these novels see them as different and desirable because they, themselves, don't want to be seen in that way.

I think it a good point to note, too, that Richardson changed Pamela's writings in later editions of the book, because her speech was too low-class. In order to make the union between her and Mr. B more acceptable to society, she had to appear more intelligent.

I think we see the same thing with Fifty Shades. In order to make it more compatible with current views on feminism, the woman can't simply conform to purity and innocence. She has to be independent, career-oriented, and intelligent.

So, we have some dirty, violent sex scenes in both books that would be viewed as extremely anti-woman, except that the ideal woman who is intelligent and doesn't succumb to pressures of society is the one engaging in these acts. Suddenly, the sex isn't so taboo. We can happily read these books by the pool because our desires to indulge in violent sex and be persuaded with mental abuse--our desire to be overpowered--is validated by a woman we can look up to with pride (one that is intelligent and thinks for herself).

The danger I see here, is that both stories are unrealistic. No way in 1740 would a man as powerful as Mr. B marry someone of Pamela's status--no matter how innocent she was. As others have pointed out, how likely is it that a deep and fulfilling relationship could develop out out someone trying to change the other person? How likely is it that a young woman, even with all her intelligence, could change a powerful, rich man of his ways?

I also think that both books present the problem of perpetuating the idea that woman want to be overpowered. Even the intelligent ones.

But the books don't have a tasteless cover so how would your kids even know what its about? Not a big deal!

I just realized that my comment rambled on way too long, so I deleted it. I tend to be in constant essay mode, so sorry about that long comment.

The heroine of Fifty Shades was portrayed as the intelligent virgin. She's career-oriented; a model we can look up to. There are more graphic sex novels out there, but we can feel validated in knowing that this isn't just sex--there's a moral to be learned.

The pure female character changes the rich, powerful man. In this way, it seems as though the female holds a special power over the male. We can feel united with this woman who is powerful and intelligent.

Her power is an illusion that the reader is happy to look right through because it validates our desire to indulge in a book where male dominates female--something that would usually be seen as anti-woman today.

I think this satisfaction one receives from watching an intelligent woman enjoy being dominated is where the intrigue of this book is rooted. We want the mental and physical dominance, and we want to justify it.

The danger in holding up such heroines as a role model, though, is that it perpetuates this idea that all women want to be dominated. They may resist at first, but deep down, they want it.

You really didn't think it was that badly written? Um, are you sure you read Fifty Shades of Grey? I read the first two (won't even bother with the third one) and wondered how something like that got could get published (and NOT re-edited!)As a woman who doesn't mind BDSM, that didn't bother me. The sentence structure and and poor editing bothered me. Tell me that you didn't find yourself editing it as you read it!

Two flights-

Ah man, I thought it was great and was going to feature it in a comment roundup tomorrow, is that okay?

I believe that Fifty Shades is popular because the author has written most things well (sex scenes, descriptive details, lush language...) but she also did one thing very, very well... she made the readers totally relate to the protagonist. Anastasia would dismiss one thing after another (while biting her lower lip) only to work herself around to the idea as the pages flipped by (rather quickly) and I was right there with her... even if I am 3 times older! As you say, it is not Shakespeare but it is a GOOD read.

I have not read this book. However as the wife of a private pilot I know where the helicopters name came from and it makes perfect sense. When we call a tower we give our planes call letters which consist of numbers followed by letters. C=Charley and T=Tango at every tower where planes fly. That IS the name.

I got suckered into reading it because everyone else I know read it. My sister read the trilogy then shipped her copies to me. Got them for free... Of course I'm going to read them... then loan them out to every friend of mine who hasn't read them and wants to. They really aren't so great I would want to pay to read them. EVER. I couldn't even be bothered to sign up on the wait list at my local library to read them.

No, they aren't the worst books I've ever read. Yes, they are erotica, but definitely not the best I've ever read. Maybe if I'm REALLY bored sometime I'll read them again. (If my friends return them.)

And I do NOT understand why they are so insanely popular. Sure, they are based on Twilight fanfiction, but doesn't that fact alone sort of make it terrible that they've become so popular? The characters are rip-offs of someone else's work!

I find it all rather mind-boggling.

Yes, it is true, no matter what some women may say, many women like & want to be dominated, but more importantly, they want a man who knows this without having to ask & possibly embarrass them by making them admit it. They want the man to just take over & do what he wants & still feel like they are strong women who had no choice, when actually they did. Some women feel guilty or sleazy to have these desires, so if a man can satisfy their fantasy without them acknowledging it even IS their fantasy, then that's the perfect scenario. And 50SoG feeds into & satisfies that in women who know they'll never get it. And maybe, if they're lucky, their men will want to know why they like the book so much & they can admit without feeling bad about themselves.

Nathan,

I'd be honored if you used my comment. Do I need to repost it?

Blushing,
TwoFlightsDown

I was blown away when I discovered that my super macho fireman lover was reading 50 Shades of Grey. (His sister-in-law gave it to him?) I was unwilling to pay for a book I'd heard so much negative criticism about, but when he gave me his copy (and pointed out some similarities between the characters' and our relationship), I couldn't help but devour the thing. It was mildly titillating, but annoying as heck, and I've resisted reading the sequels as a result (so many other books are, I believe more worthy of my precious time).

The point I'm trying to make in a rather round about way is that this book appealed to people you'd never guess would like it and it contained just enough "average female angst" with respect to relationship dynamics that I think many women could sympathize. The incorporation of email dialogue modernized the couple's interaction and was something I particularly connected with.

As far as the argument that this book is anti-feminist, well, yes, I suppose it is, but there has been so much dialogue surrounding its popularity that surely the less "enlightened" women reading it have had the concerns regarding that aspect of the work drummed into their tiny little heads so much so that the book has certainly served to open up dialogue that, as far as I know, hasn't been at the fore of social commentary for quite a long time. It got us talking. That's a good thing, right?

I was blown away when I discovered that my super macho fireman lover was reading 50 Shades of Grey. (His sister-in-law gave it to him?) I was unwilling to pay for a book I'd heard so much negative criticism about, but when he gave me his copy (and pointed out some similarities between the characters' and our relationship), I couldn't help but devour the thing. It was mildly titillating, but annoying as heck, and I've resisted reading the sequels as a result (so many other books are, I believe more worthy of my precious time).

The point I'm trying to make in a rather round about way is that this book appealed to people you'd never guess would like it and it contained just enough "average female angst" with respect to relationship dynamics that I think many women could sympathize. The incorporation of email dialogue modernized the couple's interaction and was something I particularly connected with.

As far as the argument that this book is anti-feminist, well, yes, I suppose it is, but there has been so much dialogue surrounding its popularity that surely the less "enlightened" women reading it have had the concerns regarding that aspect of the work drummed into their tiny little heads so much so that the book has certainly served to open up dialogue that, as far as I know, hasn't been at the fore of social commentary for quite a long time. It got us talking. That's a good thing, right?Nathan! I have been waiting and watching for this blog! I agree wholeheartedly with your insights and loved the method you used to hide the spoiler. Cool.

My own experience of 50 Shades began day when I discovered that my uber-macho, fireman lover was reading it. I was blown away and my curiosity was naturally piqued. I’d been unwilling to pay for a book I'd heard so much negative criticism about, but when he gave me his copy (and pointed out some similarities between the characters' and our relationship), I couldn't help but devour the thing. It was mildly titillating and admittedly great foreplay, but annoying as heck, and I've resisted reading the sequels as a result (so many books, so little time).

The point I'm trying to make is that this book appealed to people you'd never guess would like it and it contained more than enough “female angst" to make “average” women like myself sympathize with the protagonist. The incorporation of email dialogue contemporized the couple's interaction and the fact that Anastasia could express herself more fully in that medium than when faced with the knee-weakening Grey was something I related to in particular.

As far as the argument that this book is anti-feminist, well, yes, I suppose it is, but there has been so much dialogue surrounding its popularity that surely the less "enlightened" women reading it have had the concerns regarding that aspect of the work drummed into their tiny little heads so much so that the book has certainly served to reignite dialogue that, as far as I know, hasn't been at the fore of social commentary for quite some time. It got us talking. That's a good thing, right?

Two flights-

That's ok, I got it.

I think it was said already, but erotic romantic ebooks are a huge industry. I'm surprised that anyone is surprised by this. Many millions of dollars are made in the erotica genre. They used to call them bodice rippers, didn't they? This particular book is very accessible and, as you said, competently written. It isn't the best adult erotica I've ever read but it isn't at all the worst. It was also well publicized and the author knew how to put it together in a fairly polished manner.

I read it and did not like it.

First, it was such a blatant rip-off of Twilight that I was offended on Stephenie Meyer's behalf. If someone did that with my work, I'd want royalties. I felt that it should have matured past fan-fiction before selling a bazillion copies.

In the same vein, the characters were flat as a pancake. Flatter even than Stephenie Meyer's, which is impressive. Anastasia's constant shock at Christian Grey's appetites, despite the fact that they were pretty clear from the outset, was exhausting, as was the endless lip biting and obsessing about the way Mr. Grey's pants hung off of him. (Did he need a smaller size?)

Finally, I just found it a bit, well, unbelievable. Perhaps I'm a prude, but I couldn't help but think that there would be chafing issues after a while.

My answer is d) Bestsellers are largely random.

Everyone I know who has read it has done so because "everyone is reading it." None of my friends have admitted to liking it, but they all sought it out in the first place because of the peer pressure. There's a social component to bestsellerdom: once a book reaches the tipping point, everyone else reads it to see what the others are talking about. I saw this happen with The Da Vinci Code, too.

How does a book build to that tipping point in the first place? I'm not sure anyone really knows. Whatever 50 Shades has in terms of romantic and erotic elements, there are other books that have it too, but never sell as widely. Perhaps the fan base that others mentioned was critical in building the initial buzz.

I don't think it's anything new to publishing to have these huge sensations, to have a book that's The It Book. But because that can't be forced, and that kind of success can't be manufactured, writers and publishers just keep working at it, chasing the dream and hoping that the lightning strikes.

I haven't read it yet, but I love love love your write-up of it! Nicely done, my friend! xoJulia

The only problem with the comparison of the Byronic romance with the Magic Pixie Dream Girl -- and I think you might be on to something there -- is that while in the Byronic fantasy, the woman is young and naive and sacrifices her own pursuit of happiness for her man, in the MPDG fantasy, the woman is young and naive and sacrifices her own pursuit of happiness for her man.

Tara-

Ha - yeah, maybe. But in both cases I think they're about "unlocking" something inside of the woman/man. The heroine confronting the Byronic hero must give in to temptation, the man in the MPDG story must waken to the world anew.

In both archetypes the man is ostensibly giving something up too. The Byronic hero letting himself be tamed, the MPDG hero loses his powerful cynicism which allegedly weakens him -- one reason why he doesn't usually end up with the MPDG.

"Maybe, at the end of the day..." reading such an atrociously written pile of poo has you using clichés such as "at the end of the day", without even understanding what it's done to you.
Really Nathan...

I've never read it however, I can't help but feel a trifle irritated by the fact that everyone, from television to blogosphere, talks about this book endlessly. And didn't the book come out months ago? Enough, already. There are other well-deserving books out there that would like to be talked about too!
However, I have to say, kudos to E.L. James for doing an amazing job of selling her own book :-)
Yvette Carol

It was just announced last week that another popular Twilight fanfic called "The Office," just scored a two-book deal with Gallery Books. And let's not forget "Gabriel's Inferno & Gabriel's Rapture" (in the fanfic world known as "The University of Edward Masen") was recently published by Penguin's Berkeley imprint. Both of these had a huge fan base in the Twilight fandom. As an author who has been trying to get published, I'm thinking of changing my MC names to Edward and Bella...LOL!

It was just announced last week that another popular Twilight fanfic called "The Office," just scored a two-book deal with Gallery Books. And let's not forget "Gabriel's Inferno & Gabriel's Rapture" (in the fanfic world known as "The University of Edward Masen") was recently published by Penguin's Berkeley imprint. Both of these had a huge fan base in the Twilight fandom. As an author who has been trying to get published, I'm thinking of changing my MC names to Edward and Bella...LOL!

50 Shades of Sex, A short parody http://dailybrass.blogspot.com/2012/07/50-shades-of-sex-parody.html

I couldn't finish the series.

It's just, ughhh, such an abusive relationship. Having been in an emotionally abusive relationship, it triggered me really badly to read Christian's constant manipulation and Ana's constant self-doubt and weeping misery. It isn't romantic, it's a nightmare.

I was interested in reading it because it was supposedly a mainstream representation of BDSM. But the whole plot seemed to be that only damaged, abused people engage in BDSM, and the love of a good woman will cure them of their perversion. Yikes! Not to mention the fact that it wasn't even BDSM anyway-- BDSM is consensual, the Dom only does what the sub enjoys and nothing more. So Christian pressuring Ana to do things that make her cry all the time isn't him being dominant, it's him being a jerk.

@ Anne R. Allen - I agree that some women want to be dominated, but some studies have shown that an equal, or even greater, number of men want to be dominated, too. How's that for setting gender sterotypes on its ears. :)

So, great analysis, Nathan! Really interesting, thoughtful and perceptive. And funny.

So, she really wants him to really, really like her? While biting her lower lip? Really, really biting?

So, I agree with Jan Priddy, this seems like a paternalistic archtype.

It's the archtype of a girl who is abused/neglected and/or unloved by her father, earning his care, attention and love by having him finally see her 'goodness'.

The sexualization of a father/daughter relationship is, in part, about release of tension. When the abuse stops, it feels like a great relief. That gets sexualized.

I think specific books become popular for all the reasons that people are saying: word of mouth, the titillation, the water-cooler effect, etc.

But the archtype of an abused daughter finding paternal love, where her father figure transforms from a distant "monster" to a loving man, can be found all over and is extremely popular, starting, perhaps, with the Beauty and the Beast fairytale.

Twilight was definitely the same archtype. And you find it in tons of romance books, which are read by millions of women (and men).

There is a sad part to this, though. The intense popularity of this particular archtype speaks to how many people felt abused and/or neglected by their fathers. That's sad, and very real.

Byronic Hero? Really? No, it's a lot simpler than that.

Beauty and the Beast + sex.

Peace, Seeley

Why is it popular? Because it's entertaining! I read the whole series, and I have to say, I was entertained. Sure, the writing had some issues, but it was still a fun read.

By the way, I'm totally impressed that you read it!

Fifty Shades has not outsold the Harry Potter SERIES: it has outsold Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows *in the U.K.*

From the Daily Telegraph:

"Global sales of the trilogy are said to be over 40 million - still a long way from the 450 million achieved by JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/9459779/50-Shades-of-Grey-is-best-selling-book-of-all-time.html

I am wondering if you read the whole series or just the first book? Because if you have just read the first one then you are truly missing out ;)

I read the first book because I swear every girl in my office was reading it and telling me how great it was. Although, at first I did try to resist and be the conservative southern girl I was raised to be, but curiosity got the better of me and I gave in and read the first book. I read the second two because I had to know what happened and to be honest it was kind of fun to read something a little sexy.

It should not be shocking that I purchased them on my kindle, since I already admitted to being conservative. However, I think if there was no such thing as e-readers I would have still purchased the book. I just might have resisted for a little longer.

Needless to say I overlooked the perceptual lip biting, and enjoyed the books for what they were - Beauty and the Beast plus sex @Seeley.

@Two Flights Down - I am glad you are letting Nathan post your first comment. I read it earlier and really enjoyed your point-of-view. I also felt like I learned a lot from it. I was actually looking back to re-read it!

Haven't read it, although I tried to but couldn't get past the first page. I'm not sure why, perhaps it was because I knew something explicit and sexual was around the corner. Not a big fan of reading about it. I wonder if it is actually the dominant male women yearn for or is it the charming, understanding and fun-to-be-with, boyish male who has confidence in himself and isn't intimidated by the woman-as-goddess type of thing. Women love men who love and admire them and are, you know, interesting. But dominant, no, I think that would get wearing after awhile and result in tension, but not of the sexual kind. I think most women appreciate a male who is smarter than that.

Nathan, I work in an independent bookstore, and I've been looking forward to this post ever since you announced that you were reading "that book." As a bookseller, I witnessed firsthand how this book went from an e-book that a lot of women asked about to the most popular book of the spring and summer, with a record 98 copies sold the day before Mother's Day. Practically everyone from ages 20 on up were asking about the book. I was surprised at how many of our longtime customers in their sixties and seventies were reading it. Sales have slacked off for the time being, but we're still selling at least three copies a week.

I tried to read it, but I couldn't get past chapter two. It killed me to even devote that much time to the book as there were so many other books I wanted to read. But as a bookseller, I felt like I had to find out what all the hype was about. In the end, I went to the customers and they said that "Fifty Shades of Grey" was a compelling story with fun characters, but the writing was mediocre. They also said books two and three were better than one. Most of them said that at first the books were about the sex parts, but then those parts got old, and they sped through the sex parts to get to the action parts.

I know it would have made less money for Random, but I wish they had combined all three books and edited the crap out of them to make one well-written book.

Today, we received the book, "Fifty Shades of Chicken." It's a cookbook with a humorous story about an inexperienced chicken being dominated by a chef. I'm not joking. We've already sold three copies. And we've sold a lot of other Fifty Shades parodies, too. But the best writing based on Fifty Shades has to be the Amazon reviews of the books. Those are hilarious.
--Jen

@Mira--I did NOT say women want to be dominated. I said women are drawn to power. Look at that woman who got mixed up with David Petraeus. You think she'd have gone for it if he'd been a grocery clerk? Or that she fell for that cute receding hairline? She wasn't attracted to his power over HER--but his power in the world. She wanted that power to rub off on her. It's the primal appeal of the tribal chieftan.

Anne, I'm sorry! I got confused. The comment I was responding to was Nancy Thompson's. Sorry.

I agree with you, in that I think people are often attracted to someone who has what we don't have and want. I don't know about women in general being attracted to power, although, since they have been denied power for many centuries, that makes sense.

I have met men who are attracted to powerful women, though.

Interesting discussion.

The romance and sex. And sex, and sex. And more sex.

It's a fantasy. No one really wants to be dominated or hurt in real life but it is fun to read about it and imagine what you would do in the same situation, especially given that Christian, (and Edward) is so beautiful, dreamy, athletic, not to mention rich. Plus, he is vulnerable at heart so she can fix him. We all want to fix people.

I thoroughly enjoyed all three books and am prepared to forgo beautiful writing in favor of the occasional ripping yarn. I think excessive editing and tailoring a story to suit a publisher's idea of what's fun to read sometimes spoils the fun. Just saying . . .

I haven't read 50 yet, but I think it's about fantasy, like other posts have said. I think often fantasy is much better than the real thing.

I read 50 Shades because I enjoyed a few of the Twilight books, plus, as a writer, whenever hoards of people are reading a book and telling how great it is, I have to see what the fuss is.

I think it's popular for a number of reasons:
1. The author is building off of her Twilight Fan Fiction base (as a few people have already mentioned.)
2. Far as I can tell, she's bringing something out into the open, mainstream life, that people rarely talk about. To tell you the truth, I'd never heard of a Dominant until I'd read this book! Of course, I knew about BDSM, but...I think she's bringing a "somewhat secret" lifestyle out into the open, almost saying it's "okay" to do this.

The writing was horrific, but, I was compelled to finish the first story, and then I felt compelled to read the second story.

Things started going flat for me after about the third or fourth chapter of the second story. I felt the second book had a VERY SAGGING MIDDLE! I was bored with 2nd book, almost did not finish it.

The 3rd book was not as entertaining as the first, but, not as SLOW as the second one.

@Mira Oh, good. I didn't want people to think I was into that sub stuff. I have a recurring character in my books who's a dominatrix, though. :-)

The lure of power does work both ways. The scullery maid who ends up with the prince is one archetype (Those Regency romances are always about the girl who falls for Rakish Duke, not the Rakish Stable Boy With Great Abs.) But another archetype is La Belle Dame Sans Merci--the unattainable high-born Lady of the troubadour poets. Both archetypes live on in our fantasies.

50 Shades works because it has tapped into an archetypal fantasy. It's the fantasy, not the prose that people are attracted to.

I think Fifty Shades, aside from the 'billionaire guy' fantasy many women have, hit precisely because it was raw and 'flawed' on so many levels.

It was simple. Something the average person...alright in parts... can relate it. It didn't pretend to be intellectual, or a writing masterpiece. It was just a story about a girl. Believable or not in some places was irrelevant.

Think 'Gangnam Style' which if I'm not mistaken, has taken the slot for most viewed Youtube Video ever. What makes this song great? It doesn't follow convention or rules... it's just an odd dude, doing odd things and not giving a toot what anything thinks.

I think most of us are pretty basic creatures. And for reasons we can't fathom, we relate to basic things. Primal things.

I think Fifty Shades gave that to many people. That's why, even people who don't read... could relate to it. E.L just told her story exactly how she envisioned it.

Does this always work? Who knows. It did for her.

It's sexy. Point, blank and period. I read it and I was not impressed from a prose standpoint. But I have a slew of girlfriends who for months could not do anything but quote the book lines and wonder about who is going to play Christian in the movie. And I have to admit I will go see the movie. In the age of reality tv where someone named Snookie is rich and famous, are we really surprised that this book has been so popular?

This comment has been removed by the author.

@Anne, so it's more that you're into dom stuff, right? ;)

Just kidding. :)

I totally agree. The writing needs to be good enough so it doesn't distract the reader. But after that, it's the fantasy that will sell a book.

Absolutely HATED the whole twilight series but LOVE the fifty shades series! Weird, right lol

Here's what I find weird: I have never heard an actual plot mentioned in relation to this book. I mean, is there a journey? A pivotal moment? What's at stake for the main character? I keep hearing about sex, sex, sex, but nothing ever happens.

Logline: Girl meets hot businessman; they go on a sexual journey.

Okay, I guess I can buy that. But still, I'm feeling mental pain over this. *hits head with Fifty Shades*

Adding: Maybe I just don't like the idea of my mom reading this thing. If she does, I'm moving to Pluto.

When I read your comment that FSOG 'gave an urbane veneer to a romance genre that very often skews rural/suburban' I thought 'YES!'. For years now I've been a disenfranchised chicklit reader. From once being cool stories about smart, metropolis dwelling singletons meeting & falling in love, chicklit has descended into a twee genre about second time rounders, empty nesters & heroines knitting their own houses. They don't even focus on a relationship anymore - they're all to do with setting up a business, saving a shop or a building (insert as appropriate). Yawn.
It's why I dumped chicklit, serendipitously found fanfic & never looked back.
I'd hoped the publication of FSOG would give chicklit/romance the kick up the pants it needed, would make it flirtier, sexier, funnier and more relationship centred but alas, the sniffy, superior response of most chicklit authors suggest it'll be another twenty years of heroines baking cupcakes & knitting tea cosies.

No, you don't have to even write well to sell porn. Seen any porn flicks up for screenwriting at the Oscars lately?

Book opens with a mirror scene, terrible dialogue, an entriely unbelievable setup and then proceeds to write about bondage type relationships making it dreadfully plain not only the protagonsit is clueless, but the author didn't do a bit of research to lend any sort of believability to the scenario.

How is this "not bad?" Have literary standards REALLY sunk that low?

Porn, written by a woman, coattailing Twilight. If a man had written it, he'd be labeled a mysoginistic a$$hole, and it might still sell millions, cause it's porn.

I should point out, I don't have a problem with porn. I'll read/watch it like the next guy and get some thrills, but I won't sit back and try to rationalize it by saying it is well acted/written/directed. I'll openly admit I was looking to get stimulated by it, end of story. :)

What I read (no, I didn't finish) was AFTER the big publisher got a hold of it and presumably sent it to their editorial department. It was still atrocious.

Yes, it was poorly written.

The book was so entertaining for some. However, the dominant and submissive aspects were on and off and interchangeable between the two main characters.

A non-fiction book about this dynamic is "Leading and Supportive Love: The Truth About Dominant and Submissive Relationships".

Look at it from this angle: milk before meat. People who don't enjoy reading would seriously struggle with a literary masterpiece. Those same people may read and love a book like Twilight, or a poorly written Indie/traditionally published novel. They have to start somewhere. To me, I don't care when a book goes big that is "bad." It's getting people to read who wouldn't otherwise. And those people, like my sister, sometimes discover a love for reading, and end up searching out other books, gradually refining their taste and growing in their expectations until they're ready for true works of art.

I've been hearing about plans to add porn scenes to literary classics (Pride and Prejudice, Sherlock Holmes, Wuthering Heights) because it's thought doing so will get people to read them (as opposed to getting people to read the porn and ignore the rest which is more likely to happen).

In the education system standards have been set where kids practically can't be failed and held back no matter what, it might hurt their self-esteem. Tests and homework can't be to hard and reading lists have to include books like "Twilight" because a book like "Wuthering Heights" might be to hard. Then people stand back and wonder why America's education system is lagging so far behind the rest of the world.

It's because instead of setting a bar and expecting people to rise to meet it we've thrown out the bar and erased standards entirely.

So, no, I do not believe we should allow poorly written books to be published. People say, "I can't", or "I don't wanna", and instead of the response being "well, that's why you need to push yourself and try", the response is "oh, that's okay, we'll make it easier for you, and easier, and easier still". When do we finally stop making it easy and expect people to step up? When do we finally say, "there is a standard for this and you need to meet it"?

People like to complain that the younger generation is lazy, unmotivated and expect everything to be handed to them. How is that a surprise when all they have to do is complain to have things made easy, and watch others succeed with little to no effort? We've already sent the message that subpar is just fine, are we now going to start saying it's extraordinary?

I don't care how well a book does in the mainstream media, it should still be written well. The message should be "work hard and be good at what you do and you'll be rewarded", not "work hard and be good at what you do and watch people who put zero effort in to the same job be rewarded over you". We're teaching those who don't try that they'll be rewarded while simultaneously teaching those who do try that all of their hard work meant nothing.

I can only speak from my own experience, but the agents and editors I've submitted to (and been rejected by, ahem) seem to care much more about storytelling than writing. I'm often complimented on my writing, or prose, if you will, and yet still rejected for elements related to story.

I know that's not what you mean, not exactly, but I'm just trying to say that from my experience, story trumps prose. That can obviously be in both good and bad ways. Mostly good though, I think.

HERE! HERE! Agree 100%. Please appoint this commenter about the state of our current public education system the Secretary of Education. RIGHT NOW! PLEASE!!!!

Wow! Such a great post. Yes, this is happening as we sit here. Trad-pub is looking to self-pub and indie-pub saying, "Okay, show us what sells and then we'll print it and distribute it for you." I think readers of fiction, and genre fiction especially, want to feel alive, to feel their heart pound when they read a book--whether it's a romance or a thriller. Sometimes that happens with great prose, sometimes with a rollicking pace, sometimes with unique characters. Only very rarely do I find all three in the same book, nor do I expect to. I'm happy to find one or two of those components done really well to consider it a 'great read.' Also, what many readers consider "good" writing tends to be highly crafted (Ishiguro) and that level of high-polish doesn't necessarily lend itself to a fast pace (Lee Child). I don't necessarily want to feel the need to read a beautiful sentence ten times over when Reacher is about to throw someone off a helicopter or Christian is about to take his shirt off. Thanks so much for a thought-provoking post.

As always, Nathan, your posts (and questions) are spot on.But this business about a best seller being "badly written" is truly a recurrent gripe and not only on the American scene - it happens in France too (I follow the French literary scene too since French is my mother tongue).

Bottom line, the readers win. They want a good story, a hot sexy one? There you go, 50 Shades and who care how it's written? Certainly not the publishers who are making money from it!

Ah, aesthetics. The same argument that surrounds the works of Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock, or that befuddles listeners of Charles Ives and Stravinsky, also applies to literature as well. What is the value of art? Is it intrinsic or extrinsic? Who determines it?

Essentially, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Beyond that, we don't always seek beauty. Sometimes we seek a thrill, or a laugh, or and nightmare. Literature, like painting or music, is a medium that can be employed to mystify and have us marvel at the wonders man can create. Or it can be employed to distract us, or titillate us.

My personal view is that, whatever the intended purpose of the art is, if it accomplishes that purpose, it has value.

And, since publishers are purposed to print valuable writing, perhaps they need to be more open minded to the possibility that works can be less than excellent from the perspective of beauty, but be highly valuable in accomplishing its goals.

Like 50 Shades does in making us all blush.

When it comes to the fickle public one statement to cover everything is very had to come by. What one person looks for in a book will not match what others look for, therefore "good or bad" writing is a very subjective thing. The publishing industry has had a choke hold on what the public sees and reads for a very long time, and that is hard to give up and loosen to the new demands of a changing world and public.
These days many new writers are self publishing. Good or bad for the industry is irrelevant, it's here and happening and will not disappear anytime soon. With that you will see a whole lot of both, writers that think they can and this is the only way to get published; and writers that are pretty good.
As far as Fifty Shades goes, yes I have read the trilogy. The writing in the first book is sometimes hard to follow, however by the third book it is much better. I could list the things I didn't like about the writing but the fact is that I got past the flaws and enjoyed the story and the growth of the characters. The book is not just about the sex, but about two people who challenge each other to change and grow. It is this development that will keep the reader engaged until the end. After all, isn't that why we read books of this sort, to lose ourselves in the lives and world of others. To engage in a dream world that we don't exist in but one that makes us happy to think about. If what you read does this for you, and keeps you wanting to go back to that world, well then, in my opinion, the other has succeeded.

"I'm unconvinced the majority of the reading public cares about "good" writing. They care about stories and settings and characters. Prose? I'm not sure I buy it."

Here's the thing - stories and settings and characters are part of what comprises good writing. Prose style will determine whether a book is put in the 'literary' or 'commercial' sections but it is arguably subjective and readers often don't care if the story is good. Story structure, characterization, etc. these are things which can not only be objectively assessed, but can be taught and learned, which is why doing them badly (and not improving between projects) is the difference between a "real writer" and a dilettante - however the work is published.

I haven't read all the comments.
I ditched "that book" after 16 pages with a "bleargh" reaction -- because of the writing.
Do the publishers care too much? Some do.
Do the writers care too little?
Clearly, some do!
I think that's the bigger point. The writers who throw just about anything out there, unedited, and hope to make millions.
I believe if the subject matter of 50 Shades had been anything other than bondage -- it wouldn't have been anywhere near as popular.
(Romance novels as slammed as "bodice rippers" but apparently it is perfectly acceptable when the hero gets a kick out of inflicting pain on a woman, because he's rich and "hot". Really?)
Never mind that though. That's not the question here.
I think authors should have to uphold a certain degree of quality, or in years to come we'll end up with books riddled with errors -- and the next generation will be just a little dumber because of it.
Basically, I think readers should demand a better standard.
50 Shades would have been just as popular if it had been written better. Sex sells, after all.

A lot of people I know read the first book and didn't bother with the next -- even though they'd bought it.
Most of the time I hear "Wish I hadn't given in to the hype."

Yes, there is always a backlash of people saying "It's rubbish."
But in this case, the writing really is juvenile. I wondered if the author is 16 and lacking a decent education.

Of course I'd miss a crucial comma in a post about good writing!
Should read:
"readers often don't care, if the story is good."

As a general matter, I'd say no. There'a a huge market for commercial fiction with less than quality writing. Several prominent authors who may fit into that category have already been mentioned in the posts. And the large majority of those books are babies of the publishing industry.

The issue I've encountered is more of a barrier to entry. Like any profession, in publishing there seems to be a desire to keep a clear line between those that get it and those that don't, those that are in and those that are out. This often gets lost in translation. In my opinion, insisting that a writer is not up to par because he/she uses too many adverbs and dialogue tags or, my favorite, uses the word "that" too much (although usually gramatically correct), is simply another way of saying the writer doesn't yet know the rules of the game. It's a shame, because these issues can be easily fixed at the editing stage. Loosen the rules . . . the more people who play, the better the game for everyone.

I think the general public is more interested in a good story more than excellent writing. Bestseller lists prove that over and over again.

Sometimes, I think that's how it should be.

As an author, I pay attention to the writing and if it's bad, I have a hard time loving the book. How sad is that? There is nothing so wonderful as losing yourself in a fantastic story.

The real magic of books is where good writing and good story meet.

Really awful writing, however, is a different story.

So many times, I've heard my writer friends mourning a favorite book, revisited after they've begun their journey as writers. Books they adored, that changed their lives, that made them want to become writers.

Suddenly, they can't ignore the headhopping, flagrant abuse of -ly, or plot inconsistencies. The book they read until it fell apart is ruined. That's a shame.

You can be an excellent writer, and fall short as a storyteller. You can be a writer other writers tear apart, and still keep the reading public turning pages. We *headdesk* and bitch about how money trumps quality, while the public laps it up. It's the same disease that brings a knowing sneer when someone says "fiction novel," a club most readers care nothing about.

Storytelling wins.

I haven't read 50 Shades yet, but I did read all the comments above, which are fascinating. :)

One thing that might be useful, though, is to step back and actually define "bad writing". 1) Is it a mechanical thing - poor grammar, spelling mistakes, continuity errors? 2) Is it a structural thing - insufficient characterization, lame plot, no action? 3) Is it a matter of somehow crafting sentences that are not just functional, but beautiful - turning them into literature instead of just mainstream? 4) Or is it a matter of message or thematic content - the book isn't about anything, is about something stupid, or sends a bad message to/sets a bad example for readers? I'm seeing each definition used in the above comments to argue different things about different books.

Take the Twilight series, for example. Whatever her faults, Meyer knows her spelling and grammar, so she's not a bad writer by my first definition. I think you could argue my 2nd definition both ways in her case. But she fails according to the 3rd, and especially the 4th definitions: the Twilight books are not literature and, as Stephen King has famously said, are merely about how important it is to have a boyfriend.

I think the "quality of writing" is judged differently by different people because each of us cares more or less about different things that all get subsumed under this label. I don't give a crap about #3, for example. If a story is mechanically sound and has an interesting plot happening to characters I care about, and the story/theme makes me want to live in that world, at least for a while, then it works for me. In fact, I find lofty, artsy writing really distracting.

But #1 is a total dealbreaker for me - if your story is riddled with grammatical errors, I can't finish it no matter how intriguing the premise.

Last point: maybe no one is complaining about Harry Potter because it nails 1, 2, and 4, and does a perfectly serviceable job with 3?

So far I don't think it's anywhere near as bad as I had heard people complain

Really? I had to stop reading it because my face hurt from laughing so hard.

Natan-

It's hokey, but on a sentence-by-sentence level it's far from the worst thing I've read.

I read 50 Shades and liked it for what it was. I know a little bit about D/s culture, but I'm not an expert in BDSM lifestyle and I wasn't expecting a literary classic.

I also think the general public fails to realize how much work goes into releasing a book like 50 Shades...or any other book for that matter. It's a long involved process that isn't taken lightly.

I hope the money I've spent on editing is appreciated. But this generation of tweets and texting -- language is changing, most can't remember the correct spelling. Which is good for those of us who struggle with grammar. However, I don't want what I write to be judged poorly written because I over used a word or forgot a comma, therefore it will always be important to me. The irritation with the Shades series is that she was an unknown and made it big, real big. But which one of us doesn't want that?

Another great post, Nathan. Have you read (or read about) Lisa Cron's new book: WIRED FOR STORY? It addresses the neuroscience of stories and why they matter to us at a biological level and how they are evolutionarily essential. She also talks about what techniques authors use that compel readers to dive into their stories at that biological/neurological place. It's a very interesting read. And her take is that good writing matters, but not as much as story to a general reading public.

Having finished the first installment of FSoG, I theorize that it was the relationship more than the bondage that attracts people to the story. (Okay, the bondage part is always in the background because there really wasn't that much of it going on in book one.) If readers care about the characters, they over look the questionable writing; e.g., 21 instances of use of the word "hitching" in relation to breath. I believe that the industry should maintain good writing standards so that the writing doesn't detract from the story, if at all possible. There are other bigger problems; i.e., how they determine what's marketable and what's not.

I learned to write from reading. I read everything, good, bad, indifferent. And eventually I taught myself what was beautiful (to me) and what was dreck, what resonated and what fell flat. I learned by example. If the day comes when the only examples out there are dreck, and there's no one to say "This is bad and this is why", then expect more of the same. There's lots of self published "good stuff", but when crap rises to the top, as with 50SOG (shuddering!) it's hard to locate the good stuff. It's not just the writing that's bad with that book--it's the unwholesome message sent to ypung women that a creepy stalker abuser is a "good deal" and that "love can make him stop hitting me".

Natan--Remember, Nathan Bransford used to read slush. I'm pretty sure the worst writing he's ever read far, far outstrips anything the rest of us have...

The "public," on the whole, can't tell "good" writing from "bad." Actually, many of them may have a difficult time with "good" writing, because they don't read at that level. Readers do, but, statistically 50% of people (in the US) will never read another book in their entire life once they are out of school. 50% of the ones that do continue to read will not read more than 1 book in an entire year. Those people don't read "well-written" books so much, because the language is too complex. They want stuff more around the level of "see spot run." Okay, yeah, I'm exaggerating a little but I don't think by as much as I wish I was.

Slightly different topic:

I think there's a huge double standard on "good writing." People will complain a lot more about the so-called writing when they didn't enjoy the content or story. Example: Twilight. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Meyer's prose is on par for YA readers.

Meanwhile, I hardly hear complaints about Suzanne Collins' writing. However, her prose is boringly simplistic and she provides the minimum in imagery and sensory detail. Her language is not rich at all. Her main strength, IMO, is her mastery in tight pacing. But mainly, I think people respect her "writing" more because Hunger Games lacks the obvious derisive qualities of glittering vampires.

I didn't think the publishing industry cared enough about writing quality, but I was thinking of books like 50 Shades of Gray. So maybe I'm wrong.

Screw off to all the people who deride 50 Shades when most of them haven't read it and the others were nauseated and quit after "only sixteen pages."

It's not exactly a tough read. People should at least be able to finish the first book before they make their judgement. People can watch reality shows until their brain is rotted but they are too highbrow to read fifty or a hundred or two hundred pages of 50 Shades. These are the same people who probably read one book a month, maybe.


The thing is, a book gets super popular and then it's hip to revile it.

I think the quality of writing in books that were Self-Publishing Success Stories, and then become traditionally-published bestsellers, tends to be exceptionally bad.

Haven't read 50 Shades of Grey and don't intend to, but am thinking of several other examples, each of which I started but couldn't finish.

As for caring about the writing too much, I think it's like popular music. I assume the stuff I like to listen to on the radio offends the ears of those folks who can distinguish a quartertone when they hear it.

Readers care about great storytelling. They want to be transported by the stories they read.

But isn't it our job as writers (and the publishing industry as a whole) to supply great storytelling that is also well written? Why does it have to be either/or?

I read the 50 Shades trilogy. It's really very awful writing, but clearly it's got a story that people want to read about. But wouldn't it have just hit it out of the park if it could have also been written really well with a plotline that doesn't wander aimlessly?

I think that the publishing industry has a rich history of setting the bar of what is considered posh and what is considered subpar. I also think there is something to be said for writing that qualifies as high quality (tight prose, language, requires something from readers, thought provoking, cerebral) and something that is low quality (uses tropes and not for satire, follows a paint-by-numbers structure, reuses character-types from pop culture or Mary Sue archetypes, poor prose, abundance of dead metaphors, plot heavy). One affects you long after you put it down. The other is easy. So, I actually think that the publishing industry is an excellent buffer against most subpar writing. With mass media, internet, and indie publishing, there is a large amount of mediocre to poor writers out there. The market is oversaturated. But this doesn’t reflect the industry, per se, it reflects our society. In America, in particular, we ask very little from our literature, television or film. Instead we want to be entertained in a non-thought provoking way. This is a symptom of our times and the stress of recession. Art generally falls by the wayside in terms making us thoughtful consumers. We want escapism and safety when we have to worry about unemployment and food. It’s why we’ll read the same type of romance or sci-fi story over and over, knowing exactly how it will end, the only difference being character names and slight alterations in plot. Our reading standards decrease, because, hey we’ve done this before…I know how it ends…and that is one less thing to worry about.
I haven’t read Shades of Gray but I do remember when Twilight came out. I couldn’t simply dismiss it so I had to do research. So after reading the series I asked my students what appealed to them. It turns out it was a romance they’d heard before, written in the same type of wish-fulfillment fantasy that Hollywood makes large profits on. They were never really concerned with the outcome. Instead, the story gathered all the filmmaking and gothic romance tropes together in one place. It was icing. The sweet part without the cake.
I think the publishing industry should keep their standards and perhaps make them even more rigorous. I know that is disappointing to hear but take it with a grain of salt because it’s all relative. Having said that, I think that indie publishing is the place for fanfiction to grow. Everyone wants to be a writer. I’ve seen an explosion in the amount of students queued for my classes. It’s good for the market as a whole as it brings in new readers. I also think that big publishing should be hesitant to jump into that pool completely. For one, it will delegitimize the industry, something that will only be realized in 20 years when they look back at the current trend and say, “Oh right. How could we have thought The Bachelor could win us an Emmy?” But don’t shun it either. Hold writing contests with submission fees and award small publishing prizes for amateur fan fiction writers. Recognize the group and make a profit too. But at the same time, publishers have to realize it’s a temporary niche market. Very few people will quote Shades of Gray in twenty years. Remember to leave room for the other writers who we will be talking about. When our society no longer just wants to sit down and let a low quality book just wash over them, I can only hope we don’t ignore the next Fitzgerald simply because he/she didn’t sell an extraordinary amount of books on Amazon. We just can’t let that dictate greatness. Sorry for the long post.
-AT

Count me in the camp that says good story telling trumps good writing. To me, the single most important thing that makes a book "good" is that the reader cares what happens to the characters. That said, there is a basic level of competence that I feel a story should have and if it doesn't, it makes me flinch to read it.

The difference between literary fiction and commercial fiction is something that I have thought about off and on for several years. I blogged about my realizations last October. To put that in a nutshell: People who prefer reading literary fiction focus on how the story is told eg the prose. People who prefer reading commercial fiction get pulled into the story and don't notice those things that drive the literary peeps crazy. Those are two different ways of reading a book. Neither way is right or wrong. Neither way is better than the other. They are just different.

People who prefer reading literary fiction don't seem to get that same visceral feel that readers of commercial fiction do. When I am reading Harry Potter, I am right there with Harry seeing Diagon Alley for the first time, battling a troll, confronting Voldemort and so on. I do not notice how Rowling is telling me this, because that gets in the way of me experiencing the story. To notice the overuse of adverbs and the words was and were, I have to turn off the reading for enjoyment part of my brain and turn on the analytical part of my brain.

I think this is true for all bestselling novels. They are bestsellers because they pull people into the stories and don't let them go until they get to the end. If you're not one to viscerally enjoy reading a book, then it will be hard to understand why Twilight, The Da Vinci Code, Fifty Shades of Grey, etc. are so popular.

It is not easy and requires a lot of skill to write compelling prose that will pull people in and give them the a great ride.

I think it's all about what sells, and not much else. Those subpar books that have become bestsellers all have one thing in common: they took a daring, and at times out-there idea, and wrote a story around it. There's a big difference between good writing and writing something that will sell.

I'm unconvinced the majority of the reading public cares about "good" writing. They care about stories and settings and characters. Prose? I'm not sure I buy it.

I totally agree. Reading really good prose can be tiring and requires undivided attention due to wide vocabulary and subtleties hidden among the words. Today, however, people read while cooking dinner or waiting for the kids to finish soccer practice or standing on the train. Popular fiction gets read at these times because it's easier to consume. Or rather, prose that's easier to consume is more likely to be read at these times. Probably a better way to say it.

Everything in the writing world is pretty much subjective. I think a story has to both be well-written and have good development to it. But different elements are more important to some than others. 50 Shades, (Love that you're reading this by the way...can't wait to hear your thoughts)from this writer's point of view, does develop into a great story. Is the writing the best,it's up to the reader to decide now that its published. Judging from the amount of buzz it gets, I would say readers at least are willing to give stories with an interesting plot a chance if it can grab interest and give them a great story. The industry should focus on making the readers happy.

Silly Nathan. :) If the industry is publishing clunkily written bestsellers, they don't care all that much about writing quality, do they?

Paula B.-

Trust me that there is way, way clunkier writing out there that isn't making it through the publisher filter.

If publishing houses don't continue to put out book that are almost without exception of a better quality -by ANY measure - than self-published or small press books, then there will be absolutely no reason to pay the high prices they set for the books they sell.
If I pay 99 cents (or download for free) a self-pubbed book, I'm much more willing to ignore some typos, grammar issues, etc. (SOME, but not if they are so distracting that I can't read the dang book). But if I pay $20, $25 even $30 for a book, and it is not of an overall quality CONSIDERABLY better than the book I bought for 99 cents, I will absolutely stop spending so much for a book. Period.
I read many self-pubbed & small press books, and never pay more than $2.00 for them. Yet I continue to purchase hard covers by authors I really love or upon recommendation from a trusted friend. But if publishing houses stop producing excellent quality, I will stop buying, no matter who the author is. There are just too many fun, decently written books out there now to pay a high price without big return for that price.
My two cents in answer to your question ;-)

Nathan, I guess it all depends upon what you call "good" writing. Who are the judges? I'll be the first to agree that books should be free of errors (typos and misused words) but beyond that, isn't it up to the consumers to decide? Who are authors writing for, if not the consumers? And by the looks of it, the consumers (or at least a large number of them) want books like the ones in question. I haven't read these, so I can't comment on the quality, but it doesn't matter what I think any more than it does what the publishing industry thinks. That would be like Mercedes Benz telling us that Fords and Hyundais stink.

The traditional publishing industry has never been good at judging what regular people want, except when they "lower" their standards to print a gazillion celebrity books. Their successes have been as much luck and percentages than great insight.

They are holding on for now, but watch out when the independents start to figure out how to get noticed. I believe it will force even more changes on an industry already in a state of flux.

I am reading "The Picture of Dorian Gray". It is filled with run on sentences, head hopping,hard to follow sometimes. But at Chapter 8 it gets interesting.

There's no such thing as caring too much about writing quality. I recently came across an author's facebook page (ok, ok, I was tempted over by a particularly delicious photo of a hero-type-guy) and she had over 4000 "Likes". Excellent marketing, think I. So I go to Amazon, check out her book ... and it's AWFUL. The same words repeated every other sentence, the scenes and characters as cardboard as a box ... and yet the readers are all "Oh! I can't wait for more!"

I'm confused, disappointed ... I don't even know.

All I know is that if you want to read good books, they need to be well written. PLEASE PUBLISHERS! Get pickier!!!!!

Great post! But the truth is, it's not just the publishing industry, it's what writers are encouraged to strive for. Writers are taught to learn to "write well" as if what hooks readers is the prose. It's not. Words are the handmaiden of story, not the other way around. When we read, what captivates us isn't the lyrical language, it's the story beneath that gives the prose its real power. Literally, as it turns out. That great feeling you get when you're lost in a good story? It's biological. It's a rush of the neural transmitter dopamine, spurred by your curiosity to know what happens next. Sure, great writing makes a good story even better. No question. But without a story, great writing is about as engaging as a bowl of wax fruit. Which is probably why Fifty Shades of Grey has sold over 20 million copies, and many a literary novel sells well under 5000.

A good writer pulls you in and you forget that you are reading a story. True masterpieces are easy to follow and almost perfectly written. Clean writing is hard to achieve. And the best writers don't need much help with their editing, plus their story is exciting and you love their characters, or love to hate them. Read something good from three hundred years ago, it never changes and never will. The best writers remember that no matter how good the story, repeated editing is the most important last step.

"Does the publishing industry care too much about writing quality?"

I say, no, except when it is an unknown author who lacks a big vision book. The publishing industry has been selling mass market fiction in a variety of genres since "dime novels."

However, the publishing industry prefers to promote their high-writing-quality books even when they make most of their money one dime at a time.

Agents and editors want quality writing because they will spend more time with the text, which is why they are now requesting "up-market-fiction" instead of genre mass market quality. But the publishers and marketing department want a book that sells.

When an author or book sells itself, the publishing industry doesn't care about the quality of the writing and editors are happy not to struggle with the prose when it's already a done deal like 50SoG. It went virtually unedited by the publishers from a fanfick-draft, into the hands of readers.

I don't think these are either/or questions.

We've long had both kinds of books on the market: plot-driven books that sell big even if they're unpolished, and books that pay more attention to language and technique. The former often sell big in their day, then fade away. The latter sometimes become classics.

50SoG strikes me as the kind of book that nobody will be reading 20 years from now. Copies will litter the yard sales of tomorrow, just the way yesterday's bestsellers do now. Is anyone still reading Jacqueline Susann? We've seen these kinds of books before: the titillating book that catches on like wildfire.

Readers aren't a monolithic group. People who read voraciously tend to care more about the quality of the prose, because the more you read, the more you see what can be done with words--and what is overdone. Editors read a LOT, which is one reason they're so choosy; they see how the same ideas, the same characters, the same plots, the same cliched phrases, come up over and over. When the slushpile moves directly onto people's e-readers, readers may develop more of a jaded palate, and they may have less tolerance for work that isn't as polished.

I think the future of books will look exactly like the past. A few books will hit it big in their day. Some books will have staying power and last a long time. Most books will sell in smaller quantities to a wide variety of readers. Most writers will struggle to find their audiences.

Well, this is weird. I normally disagree with everything Bransford writes, but he is dead-on with this post. At one level, the industry's obsession with a certain type of "quality" is easy to explain. When your print runs are numbered in the tens, if not hundreds, of thousands, you can't afford the typo or easily spotted goof. On the other hand, the fact that the number good storytellers used to so outnumber the available publishing slots meant that publishers had to come up some criteria for choosing one good story over another. Focusing on the technical skills of the writer was probably the best choice to make.

The world has changed and all you nitpickers need to get over yourselves. We have infinite shelves in the ebookstore and nobody is forcing you to read "50 Shades" or anything else. People will still be repackaging Cinderella and the hero's journey long after you dead. And they probably be violating your personal grammar shibboleths, too.

Like you mentioned in your blog post, I think that people get somewhat fussy over prose when it's literary fiction, but commercial fiction is another story. I've had friends tell me that when reading commercial fiction, they'll see a lot of "clunky writing," which I guess isn't a good thing when it gets to the point that the prose distracts from the overall story.

I've never picked up a book where the prose annoyed me to the point that I completely stopped reading. If I do put a book down, it's because of the lack of great story telling.

Bravo!

I think the book buying public very much DOES care about quality writing. They just disagree as to what constitutes "quality." I am one of those that loved the Fifty Shades Trilogy -- but I also think it desperately needed a better editor. But then again, some of the quirks that I saw in "Fifty Shades," I've also recently seen in other best sellers by authors higher up on the literary food chain that supposedly know better. Greedy witch that I am -- as a writer AND a reader -- I see no reason why I can't have both, great story AND great writing. There are plenty of other indie writers out there doing it, so I know it can be done. I don't think it's too much to ask.

I think that historically those who were drawn into the publishing industry were people who had an interest in and love for books and stories. In the world as it is now, I think there is more variation in that and as some have said the balance between an interest in good writing versus in a 'hot commodity' may vary agent to agent and publisher to publisher.
Additionally, there can be an effete snobbery by some of the publishing elite, especially in the area of literary fiction, that repels many readers who run to the ordinary language of a world driven by texts, tweets and shorthand Englsih.

Maybe an appreciation for fine literature, the well turned phrase, the witty aphorism, like an appreciation for fine wine or great cuisine, must be cultivated. As someone who taught high school (twenty years ago) and now teaches at a community college, I find we have dumbed down that cultivation, and watered down our insistence on good writing and grammar skills. It should not be a surprise therefore that many don't write well...and readers don't hold them to that standard.

I admit to disappointment in some self-published and poorly edited fiction, as well as in many of the widely "popular" bestsellers. I find fewer books that take my breath away with the quality of their prose, or keep me up reading until 2 or 3 am on a work night because I simply can't put them down.

I'd like to ditto what A.R. Williams said at the top of the comment pyramid.

As for, Shades, my biggest issue came with the lack of research. I live in the town the book begins in, Vancouver WA and not once have I headed South to Portland to drive North to Seattle (around the fourth page).

I also don't think an elite/rich Seattle family would send their daughter to WSU-Vancouver Campus. She'd go Ivy league and if they wanted her to stay in the NW, she'd go somewhere like Linfield or Lewis and Clark in Oregon.

Catching those gaffes immediately made me a skeptic.

I think publishers care about writing quality as well as commercial appeal, but the latter more than the former. After all, they are running a business, and businesses have to make money. And quality, of course, is subjective. There are people who think Lord of the Rings and/or Harry Potter are badly written, just like there are people who think Twilight and 50 Shades of Grey are amazing. It's difficult to predict what will resonate with audiences, but for a book to be as big as, say, Twilight or Harry Potter, it has have some "wow" factor and connect with people in a way that other books don't. And you don't have to write like Tolstoy in order to connect with an audience. It does help if you have quality writing -- and I think quality is something every writer who wants to be published should strive for -- but again, quality is subjective.

Doesn't matter.

The average person reading today is looking to be entertained. As long as the writing isn't too bad, it's good enough for the majority of people.

And this is one of the reasons why I think the publishing business is slowing going to implode. It's not selfish enough.

I haven't read Fifty Shades of Grey, so after reading Nathan's blog I dropped into the Amazon site and read the front pages. And if that's bad writing then yes, all I care about is story, setting and characters. While the writing didn't sing for me off the page, it wasn't a complete turn-off either. The sentences were put together well enough, there were no major typos or grammatical errors and the POV character had a voice. I didn't get to any of the 'cajoling through gritted teeth' or other weird imagery mentioned in Massie's article, nor did I get to too many of the repetitions (one smirk out of 24, a few red faces) that the Amazon reviewers comment on.

I didn't stop reading the preview because the writing was bad. I stopped because the story didn't interest me and the characters didn't appeal to me.

Reading the comments on Amazon, what most people seemed to dislike about the story were the lack of plot, one-dimensional characters, unrealistic situations, the content matter, the repetition and the poor choice of words. The first four come under 'story, settings and characters' while it's only the last two that come under 'good prose'.
Even so, I think the public does care about good writing. There is a limit to how much story, setting and character can offset bad writing.

Since the onset of eBooks and easy self-publishing I have read, and purchased, a lot of self-published books. I buy them for the story, or the setting, or the characters, seldom for the writing. Some of these stories are brilliant, some are okay and a lot of them are terrible. So much so that nowadays, if I suspect a book has been self-published I am unlikely to buy it. And despite some bestsellers being clunkily written, their quality of writing is still generally better than the majority of self-published books out there.

I think a few Fifty Shades of Grey-type bestsellers will sneak through, but they'll be exceptions, rather than the norm. All the badly written books will do is turn people off reading altogether.

We need publishers to maintain their standards so we have something to read.

I think the publishing industry should definitely care about quality, otherwise they were just content churners.

If they wouldn't filter, and good, bad and horrible writing would be treated equally, no one will benefit. On the contrary. The vast majority of readers are educated by what they read, they learn new words when they read books, learn about the human mind when they read deep POVs and learn about different perspectives on life. Do we want the average reader to have lower expectations? Do we want them to choose books based on price, instead of more meaningful criteria?

Without higher quality writing, there will be no progress of literature. And I personally don't think that's any advantage to anyone.

It depends on what part of the publishing industry we're talking about. If it is purely commercial, 'writing' becomes secondary, and plot reigns supreme-- no one can pretend that Dan Brown and Meyer don't exist, or that their books are well- plotted but badly written.

But we need to take care of quality because without a high standard to look up to, all writing would deteriorate.
We need populist fiction to maintain our interest in reading and entertain, and we need great writing to inspire and engage. Very few can do what Shakespeare did-- engage our intellect and emotions and yet entertain, but such writers exist: George Martin, Hilary Mantel, Arthur C. Clarke and so on-- the publishing industry needs to strike a balance between rooting for quality and popularity.

I was just thinking of this yesterday. I'm reading a YA book by an establish author who has several NYT bestsellers. I'm not impressed with the writing at all. I cringe almost every paragraph.
My 11 year old son, on the other hand, loved it. Part of the reason I'm making myself finish the book is because my son loved it so much i wanted to see what the book was like. He doesn't care about the writing. He cares about the story. What an eye opener for me!

To me, the way the story is told is part of what makes it a good story. But in the words of almost every "pass" letter, "this is a highly subjective business."

I know what I like to read, and I know what I like to write, and that's the best way I have of navigating issues like this. Thankfully there are a lot of different books out there for a lot of different tastes. But in answer to your question: "Does the publishing industry care too much about writing quality?" I really don't think so. There's a huge range of quality in trade-published books. Something for everyone. Plenty of books that I have a hard time reading but that other people love. And that goes for books that are critically raved about as well as ones that are panned.

I am so pleased to hear you say this! :)

It's exactly what I've been saying for a few weeks now, but no one seems to agree with me :(

Xd

My guess would be that most people who buy non-literary fiction are looking for a story. At that point the writing boils down to that quote about proper language skills: if the idea was conveyed, purpose of language is achieved.

Good writing can be awesome, and it can carry a book. But for the most part, I would be surprised if anyone not passionately interested in writing itself cared too much beyond "did the writing interfere with the storytelling?" If the writing doesn't get in the way of the story, than most people won't care. The problem comes when the writing gets in the way. That is when you have a problem.

Unfortunately (fortunately?) the publishing industry is filled with people who are passionate about writing and thus care a great deal about the level of the prose in addition to the level of the storytelling. Sometimes books squeak by and they show the shine a well told story can have even with sub-par writing.

I'm all for a really good story. However, I must admit if I find grammatical errors throughout a book I'm usually left disappointed, no matter how engaging the characters, plot, etc. are. I consider myself an avid reader and as such I expect a book to written to a certain level. Otherwise its a waste of time.

Kudos to you for reading it. I did, too...twice ;) I feel like we need to know why commercial fiction like this is popular from an anthropological perspective. I agree in your assessment of prose vs. commercial, and I also think you've hit the nail on the head when it comes to the general reading public caring more about characters and story. While 50 Shades isn't neck deep in story, at least the characters do manage some form of development. Ultimately, I think the bigger question is why is this book, with it's edgy sexual content, popular right now. I think that says more about us as a culture than the writing. What has been missing from women's lives or what have we suppressed or what will this mean for women and relationships in the future. Those are the more interesting topics of convo when it comes to 50 Shades. I'm sick of industry insiders, and this goes far beyond publishing, being sort of elitist about their industry. If someone has a book or characters or story inside them, move the fuck over and let them write it. What difference is it to you?

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I read the first two novels of 50 Shades not out of interest, but out of curiosity to see what the fuss was about. What bothered me the most was the striking similarity to Twilight- the author had to take out most of the Twilight references, but there was just too much resemblance left. What I search in books is the author's creativity. I love to explore in the worlds of imagination. This, however, was built on a story that already existed, mixed in with research from Google. What was left was a bland story much 'colors' or 'depth'.
However there is some originality. Ok, Ana might have the personality of a very naive teen, but her struggle to understand the different world that is presented to her is comprehensible. Once in a while she has a healthy reaction, like at the end of book one.
I think the series could have ended there. Or at least the follow-up should have been completely different and refreshing.
As part of the public (not yet in the publishing business), I agree that we're looking for a good story. It doesn't matter if it's badly written or not. But as a writer, I tend to look into every flaw and detail. The repetition of words drive me crazy and I wouldn't recommend for it to get published. But that doesn't mean that it shouldn't be published- like said before, there are many people that simply enjoy the story, and the publishing industry should take that into account.

"The industry"? No. I don't think so. "The industry" is and has for some time now been more interested in sales and profit than anything else.

Agents, publishers? Same thing. Critics? They make their living claiming to know the difference between Fitzgerald and Fitzsimmons.

Have you read "The Other Side of Paradise"? It is an excellent example of narcissistic self-discovery, written by a young man not of the "me" generation but its distant predecessor, the "jazz babies."

Maxwell Perkins, it seems, was great at not only knowning what great writing (i.e., "literature") was, but also what might appeal to readers of the time--people of the same basic age writing about themselves and others.

Have you read "Dark Laughter"? You'll see why Hemingway parodied it--in a pretty saucy move at breaking his contract with Sherwood Anderson's publisher, and being free to be wooed by Perkins at Scribner's.

Have you read "Torrents of Spring," Hemingway's parody of "Dark Laughter"? One wonders if it was the only thing he offered Scribner's (instead of also The Sun Also Rises), would he ever be published?

I have not read "Fifty Shades." In fact, my sister-in-law is and loves it.

Have you read any of Patience Worth's stuff? It raised Pearl Curran to literary heights. And it was supposedly written by a dead spirit channeled by Curran. And published.

I think some people are more interested in being seen, or known, for being at the "cutting edge" of "the industry," than good writing. And by good writing, do we mean esoteric literature (as opposed to erotic), which requires a dictionary and a college education to be able to fathom?

Self-publishing eliminates the middle-man aspect of writers getting their writing out to readers. Readers, always, are the unknown factor. And one could argue whatever they read, to them, at least, if not the critics, it must be good, no?

:)

I think that its the wrong question. Its not about good writing or bad writing when you talk about most books that sell vs those that don't. Its about appealing books/stories versus those that aren't. appealing. Fifty Shades is appealing regardless of the quality of the writing. That last years Man Booker - The Sense of an Ending didn't take off the same way speaks more about its appeal than its quality. I've found since I've been applying the appeal to books its easier to understand what sells and what doesn't and why books bought by publishers that are so well written don't preform the way everyone wishes.

As the former owner of a bookstore, I find that bestsellers are not driven by people who read a lot, they're driven by people who read very little.

I had a lot of customers like this:

"I love James Patterson! He's the best writer in the world. I read every book of his as soon as it comes out."

"Oh, that's great. Who else do you read?"

"Um... James Patterson?"


I find most casual readers have one or two favorite writers, and if they step outside those it's to try something that everyone is talking about (e.g., Fifty Shades, Harry Potter, Twilight).

And it's perfectly fine that a reader loves James Patterson's stories and only reads him. This is the sort of reader who fuels the careers of the really big names. But it also means that they have no real capability to judge and compare writing quality, as they simply have no experience of other writers.

And bestsellers are driven by the occasional reader who follows the few big names or the books with the huge buzz. The dedicated readers are searching out a variety of great books, and doing so to their heart's content. That hasn't changed, and likely won't. What has changed is that there is a new way for stories to reach readers and achieve buzz. And perhaps it's a way that makes it easier (and cheaper) for the occasional reader to try buzz books. I think it's likely that more and more stories will break out this way, with the digital spread of buzz. And the ones that do this will be successful because they appeal to the occasional reader (and will likely have varying levels of prose quality -- some will appeal to readers who are widely read and care about prose style, and some will not... much like traditional bestsellers now).

It's sad, but not difficult, to understand why the Fifty Shades series is so popular. And having accepted the fact that the big publishing houses are now placing money above quality, it's not difficult to understand why Random House made the Fifty Shades author an offer after her book succeeded as self-published fan fiction.

We're living in an era in which women's rights and scientific education are being seriously questioned. The news is filled with discussions of what even constitutes "legitimate rape," with the suggestion that pregnancy rarely occurs if a rape is a real rape. So, no one blinks an eye when a book series about sado-masochism directed at a female virginal main character by an abusive older man becomes a bestseller. It's just part of the times in which we live. And, of course, readers are being told that this book is a real, legitimate book with literary merit, which is like saying porn flicks are on the same level of quality as the best movies made today because they do, after all, make a lot of money and attract a wide audience. Ummmm, really? I may be a lone voice, but I'd like to point out that the Emperor isn't wearing any clothes. Anyone else notice that?

Have you seen the email with a paragraph in which all the words have only the first and last letters correct and the middle letters in random order? Almost everyone finds that they can read it. It takes a little extra effort at first, but it becomes surprisingly easy.

I think something similar is in play when people read books. If the story is compelling, they will manage to read through poor writing to find the meaning. This can apply even to "great" writers. I don't completely believe anyone who claims not to have skimmed or skipped the long sections on whaling esoterica in "Moby Dick" in order to get back to the gripping story of Ahab vs. the White Whale.

Elegant writing, on the other hand, can disguise the lack of any story at all. For examples, see most "New Yorker" fiction: beautiful writing, but if you try to describe what it was about two days later, you may find you don't really remember anything about it -- except that it was really good!

I agree with Diana above about the difference between literary vs. commercial. They really are different writing forms.

Commercial writing is immersive, where literary writing is the exact opposite; the reader is watching, and admiring, the writing. An observing mind is necessary to read literary, while the point of reading commercial is to lose the observing mind and escape into the experience.

I don't know if it's been studied, but I wonder if reading commercial vs. literary uses a different part of the brain.

The reason this is important is the question tends to connect the two types of writing, as if they were on a continuum, but I believe literary and commercial fiction are very different art forms, designed to acheive different aims.

Someone above mentioned that reading literary is something that is cultivated, and I agree. People are taught to observe the writing and evaluate it, in just the same way that people are taught art or music appreciation. One place people are taught this appreciation is in higher tier University English departments. Graduates from these departments then go on to be hired as interns and rise up the ranks of the agent and editor professions.

So those hired in the industry most likely have a natural love for literary, and they have training to recognize high quality literary works. When you add to that the Pulitzer and Nobel prizes, and other rewards for literary writing, the industry naturally has a slant toward appreciating and promoting literary works.

Commercial, on the other hand, requires no training to enjoy, and so it's naturally much more popular, since anyone can enjoy an immersive experience.

And, since it's more popular, commercial is where the money is.

So sorry for the long comment, but this is interesting. :)

To answer your last question, Nathan: "Should the industry still try to maintain the same level of quality of writing even if the public doesn't care"?, I say yes!

Although I think it's smart for publishers to publish commercial, too, purely for financial health, there are alot of reasons why publishers would be smart to have a sub-division, or specialization (or for smaller publishers, a focus on) for literary.

Some of the reasons are:

a. As publishing democratizes with self-publishing, Publishers need to develop cachet more than ever.

b. They will not be competing for as much market space, the literary market is not in competition with the commercial market, it is a different thing altogether (although some people may like both).

c. Marketing, promotion and networking will be easier in the literary world for the industry, those channels are already in place.

So, some broad generalizations here, but these are my thoughts about an interesting topic.

I am the kind of reader who completely loses herself in a book and tunes out everything else. And when that happens I am not paying attention to grammar or fancy-schmancy prose. I am invested in the story, the characters, and what they are seeing, feeling, and experiencing. So for me "bad writing" is when a story fails to draw me in. I've started some books that had potentially great plots but I was never pulled into the story. It wasn't because there were too many adverbs or too many commas. I care about the story being told well. Having great literary prose is important but for me personally (and I think that is the key- so much of this is personal taste) the story trumps all.

And one more thing on the side, I get bothered when people say things like the author of "Poorly-written-best-seller-lucky-break book" didn't work hard or earn their success. I am by no means the best writer. I'm pretty sure if I ever made it big my books would be some of the ones getting ripped apart. But I WORK at it. I invest in my characters and the world I'm creating. I spend hours reading, researching, studying, practicing, etc. and someday I will take a chance and try to get a book published. Will it? Who knows. Will it have success? Who knows. These authors who have made it, like Stefanie Meyer, could never have predicted their success. They had no idea what was going to happen with this story they poured their heart into. Why are we begrudging them something they had very little control over? They tried something and lo' and behold it took off. Good for them I say.

Glad you are being open minded. I have not read the book - not sure I even want to, but if the people want it, oh well. It reminds me of what happened after Whethering Heights was published. People were outraged, yet they read it!

Nathan, do any of your coworkers have analysis software that could analyze the comments on this post versus comments when you were an agent in the biz? Or do you remember a similar discussion from that time?

There seem to be a ton of comments saying that flashy or flowery prose really doesn't matter much, yet I seem to remember a little different slant in the comments when the post referenced Atonement instead of 50 Shades. It would be interesting to see if there is a difference.

First of all the bottom line on any thing that an agent takes is MONEY.

If they do not think it will make money for them (and of course the publisher) they are going to reject it even if it is a rather good, well-written book. I've had a lot of rejections, and I know that they are looking for that '"block buster".

Prose doesn't matter a whole lot. And I've seen a lot of 'rules' broken. You know the ones "they" say you shouldn't do and every book I've ever read has broken them. I didn't have a clue until I came across some article on why agents reject you.

Rowling is the biggest example of someone being rejected by every publisher in England, and look where she went with all ther -ly rule breaking.(and she is not a bad example!)

So, for someone (whoever is saying this book is badly written), to say it's written poorly, they should take a look at what is out there... and the fact that readers really don't care that much if someone is breaking the writing rules, or can't write prose.

If so many traditionally published bestsellers have clunky or poor prose, and they all come from the publishing industry, then how can the publishing industry be too preoccupied with quality writing?

Late to the party... I want both. I read a LOT, and even without being trained to write, the more you read the more you can see the difference. Awful writing will ruin an otherwise good premise for me. And on the flip side, literary writing has to be OUT OF THIS WORLD to make up for a lack of story. I mostly read genre fiction, but I still want solid sentences and pacing. And bad dialogue makes me cringe like no other. I can't identify with characters who sound like idiots because they keep repeating each other or baldly stating plot points.

The mere fact of you asking the question frightens and depresses me.

While I encourage those with a passion for the written word to find whatever vehicle they can to expose their work to the world, I do believe that there has to be some standards. There has to be a lofty goal to which we can all work toward with pride. If the publishing industry and its inner workings is the barometer, than so be it. But as a traditionally published author that also reviews for a service, I cringe with what is being served to the masses (just because it's highly ranked in the FREE category, does not make it good, it just makes it free and easy), I fear greatly that the dumbing down of America is reaching new heights.

"I'm unconvinced the majority of the reading public cares about "good" writing."

I couldn't agree more.

I actually wrote a post on this exact subject.

Let me know what you think.

I don't think they are too wrapped up in quality. I think they are too focused on the wrong things. I've heard people complain because a self-published novel had a few grammar or spelling mistakes. Seriously, who cares? If all you could find were a few grammar and spelling mistakes and everything else was great about the novel, then that's an EXCELLENT novel.

As a reader, I find that good stories/settings/characters are unbelievably rare. So I will happily take them even when the writing/prose is bad.
Most characters are not as vivid and the stories not as interesting as the ones in the big sellers.
The world is full of books with bad writing and bad stories. And full of books with good or great writing but flat stories and characters that are missing something very important.

Sometimes good writing may even
hinder sales within the industry. Publishers want sales, which is proper. Economic pressure has drained a lot of courage from the industry's decisions. It takes fewer risks, hews to proven formulas and seldom takes the leap of faith needed to encourage original writing. Much of the best new work drains off into the indie business, which is generally a quagmire of futility. At least the industry provided filters, guaranteed a certain level of readability. Nuff said!

I will never not almost piss myself laughing at Buttermilk. Definitely the best of the recent viral crop.

"Remove a comma and then print out another copy..." Hah! Perfect.

Most likely, those who would read Harry Potter are not be the same audience as those who are reading Fifty Shades.

Bikinis and books, sheesh, what next?

Forums: please leave the classics alone. Be original.

sorry, but after reading his dated sounding post, to characterize Mike Shatzkin as an "industry sage" seems overly generous.

holy moly... amazon uk, you break my heart. :(

BOYCOTT AMERICAN WOMEN
Why American men should boycott American women

http://boycottamericanwomen.blogspot.com/

I am an American man, and I have decided to boycott American women. In a nutshell, American women are the most likely to cheat on you, to divorce you, to get fat, to steal half of your money in the divorce courts, don't know how to cook or clean, don't want to have children, etc. Therefore, what intelligent man would want to get involved with American women?

American women are generally immature, selfish, extremely arrogant and self-centered, mentally unstable, irresponsible, and highly unchaste. The behavior of most American women is utterly disgusting, to say the least.

This blog is my attempt to explain why I feel American women are inferior to foreign women (non-American women), and why American men should boycott American women, and date/marry only foreign (non-American) women.

Tens of millions of American men have had their lives completely destroyed by American women through the following crimes:

1. False rape accusations (it has been proven that up to 80 percent of rape accusations are FALSE)

2. False domestic violence (DV) charges (same as above)

3. Financial destruction of men in divorce courts through alimony and support payments (women get up to 95 percent of their ex-husband's income and savings, as well as the house, car, etc)

4. Emotional destruction of men by ex-wives who have stolen their children from them and forbidden the fathers from having custody or contact with their own children

5. Divorced dads who commit suicide as a result

Not one single American woman has EVER condemned their fellow American women for committing these crimes against men. Silence means consent. Therefore, American women support and enjoy destroying men's lives and causing men to commit suicide. Apparently, American women think it is okay to be a criminal, just as long as you are a woman. Therefore, is it any surprise that a huge percent of American men no longer want anything to do with American women, other than using them for easy sex and then throwing them away?

A few more reasons to stay away from American women?

-25 percent of American women take psychiatric drugs for mental illnesses.
-25 percent of women under the age of 30 have at least one STD.
-85 percent of divorces in America are INITIATED by women, thus women are responsible for the vast majority of divorces.
-70 percent of criminals in America were raised by single mothers, thus feminism is responsible for most crime in America.
-The majority of child molestation, child abuse, and child murder in America is done by WOMEN.

Over 50 percent of American women are single, without a boyfriend or husband; so the fact is most American men no longer want to marry American women. Let these worthless American women grow old living alone with their 10 cats.

BOYCOTT AMERICAN WOMEN!

This Buttermilk the Goat just made my day. I will save the video for the days when I can't smile and laugh. :D

Good ol' Colson. And I'm totally looking forward to Zone One.

Also, the Four Million Shades of Grey thing vaguely depressed me.

If only I could find an editor that would look at my work and say with a meaningful wink, "Repeat the above, but with fish."

Cool links, Nathan. :)

I thought the Colson Whitehead article was hilarious. I liked the one about the land shark best. Funny.

So, I have a theory about why 50 Shades is selling so well. I think it's because you can read it on an e-book, and NO ONE WILL KNOW. Pair that with the current state of semi-legitimacy that its found, and you have a winner.

I think that widget from Ted Weinstein is awesome!

I liked that Shaskin addressed the question of value added by the publisher - I like that he is taking up author concerns!

I didn't like the book cover/bikini matching because there were no men in bikinis. Where are the bikini men? That's a link I would 'like'.

I thought the thread on the forums about how publishers are planning to re-write some classics (Pride and Prejudice, etc.) with an erotic slant was fascinating. So many interesting issues there.

So, I do have a link I want to share. I thought this was cool. It's book art, for example a castle made of books. You can't see it in the pictures, but they carefully selected the title and placement of the books to match the theme. Wouldn't it be cool to walk in the tower and read the titles?

Here's the link:

http://www.epublishabook.com/2012/06/24/book-art-building-books/#axzz1yfD0it1v