(Post a new comment)

	keri 2012-07-02 01:02 am UTC (link)
	Well. I guess she sure proved us wrong. (?) (Reply to this)(Thread)

	chienne 2012-07-02 01:18 am UTC (link)
	I think it proves that there's no telling what some people will buy. :| (Reply to this)(Parent)

keri 2012-07-02 01:08 am UTC (link)

Seriously, though, everything I've heard from discerning readers is that 50 Shades is awful and terribly derivative and everything we said about fanfic with serial numbers filed off, and I can't quite figure out what happened between March of last year and March of this year to make it explode like that. It's gotta be something similar to Clare and her highly derivative novels. (Reply to this)(Thread)

hallidae 2012-07-02 01:17 am UTC (link)

It's crap on every level. Judging from the crowd buying it at work, 90% of the purchases seem to be either teenaged girls or middle aged women who've never touched a Harlequin book or the internet in their lives and want to read something that's considered ~*scandalous*~ yet totally mainstream. It's all I can do not to go on a rant about how they can get much better written smut for free. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

(no subject) - keri, 2012-07-02 01:35 am UTC

(no subject) - hallidae, 2012-07-02 01:42 am UTC

(no subject) - keri, 2012-07-02 01:49 am UTC

(no subject) - rosehiptea, 2012-07-02 07:25 am UTC

(no subject) - keri, 2012-07-02 02:31 pm UTC

(no subject) - rosehiptea, 2012-07-02 04:44 pm UTC

(no subject) - keri, 2012-07-02 05:14 pm UTC

(no subject) - rosehiptea, 2012-07-02 05:25 pm UTC

(no subject) - sepiamagpie, 2012-07-03 07:38 am UTC

(no subject) - rosehiptea, 2012-07-03 02:14 pm UTC

(no subject) - full_metal_ox, 2012-07-02 11:39 pm UTC

(no subject) - b_jellybean, 2012-07-03 03:32 pm UTC

(no subject) - b_jellybean, 2012-07-03 03:31 pm UTC

(no subject) - lil_miss_stfu, 2012-07-02 07:38 am UTC

(no subject) - full_metal_ox, 2012-07-03 12:13 am UTC

(no subject) - sepiamagpie, 2012-07-03 07:39 am UTC

(no subject) - ekaterinv, 2012-07-03 08:06 pm UTC

(no subject) - full_metal_ox, 2012-07-03 08:13 pm UTC

(no subject) - rosehiptea, 2012-07-04 03:41 am UTC

(no subject) - esclaramonde, 2012-07-08 03:25 am UTC

(no subject) - notjo, 2012-07-06 04:49 am UTC

(no subject) - iamnotyourmuse, 2012-07-04 02:03 am UTC

	chienne 2012-07-02 01:11 am UTC (link)
	WHY DID I FAIL TO MAKE THIS CONNECTION? (Reply to this)(Thread)

mindset 2012-07-02 01:49 am UTC (link)

I only figured it out when I saw a post on tumblr about how E.L. James was very mad about some plagiarizer on ff.net -- who changed the names to Draco and Hermione and posted it otherwise unchanged, as a "fanfiction". And the post mentioned her ff.net username, and I thought "Snowqueenicedragon... SQID... holy shit, there was a wank about the story before it was famous." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

(no subject) - annathepiper, 2012-07-02 01:54 am UTC

(no subject) - cmdr_zoom, 2012-07-02 04:51 pm UTC

(no subject) - sneer, 2012-07-02 06:11 pm UTC

(no subject) - full_metal_ox, 2012-07-02 11:40 pm UTC

(no subject) - ahiru, 2012-07-03 12:14 am UTC

(no subject) - full_metal_ox, 2012-07-03 12:17 am UTC

(no subject) - romana03, 2012-07-02 06:56 am UTC

	feenix 2012-07-02 01:18 am UTC (link)
	oh god i forgot about the tampon thing Also, has anyone else been traumatizing their non-fandom friends by explaining from whence Fitty came? I swear, that's the only good thing that's come out of the entire MotU thing. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	chash 2012-07-02 01:45 am UTC (link)
	My mom was reading it so she could have something to talk about with a work colleague she didn't have much in common with. She was so happy when I gave her that little bit of trivia to share XD (Reply to this)(Parent)

	schrodingerscat 2012-07-02 03:34 am UTC (link)
	Oh, for sure. A friend recommended it to me, and I told her that a)I could get better porn on the internet, and b)it started out as Twilight fic. Unfortunately, this doesn't work with people who are actually Twilight fans, although you'd think it would be obvious. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

(no subject) - feenix, 2012-07-03 02:11 am UTC

	reposted for word choice harrylovesron 2012-07-02 05:34 pm UTC (link)
	I work at a library, so we see copies of the 50 Shades trilogy a lot. I told one of my co-workers of its origins, and her face broke out into what I can only describe as a trollface-esque grin. Once the fervor dies down, we are planning on checking out a copy and having a grand old time reading it aloud to each other. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

Re: reposted for word choice - full_metal_ox, 2012-07-02 11:45 pm UTC

Re: reposted for word choice - feenix, 2012-07-03 02:07 am UTC

Re: reposted for word choice - harrylovesron, 2012-07-06 05:19 pm UTC

Re: reposted for word choice - iamnotyourmuse, 2012-07-04 02:04 am UTC

Re: reposted for word choice - harrylovesron, 2012-07-06 05:20 pm UTC

	sepiamagpie 2012-07-02 01:29 am UTC (link)
	"Kids, can you tell me what the moral of the story is?" (Reply to this)(Thread)

	cygnia 2012-07-02 01:38 am UTC (link)
	"CRAP SELLS!" (Reply to this)(Parent)

	mindset 2012-07-02 01:44 am UTC (link)
	"Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public." (Reply to this)(Parent)

	the__ivorytower 2012-07-02 02:05 am UTC (link)
	That someone was writing a chapter-by-chapter review, and I only got about eight chapters in because even with the reviewer skipping stuff I was getting trickered from the squick factor? (Reply to this)(Parent)

(no subject) - ekaterinv, 2012-07-02 02:34 am UTC

(no subject) - full_metal_ox, 2012-07-02 11:48 pm UTC

(no subject) - iczer6, 2012-07-03 03:00 am UTC

(no subject) - yattara, 2012-07-03 11:38 am UTC

	puipui 2012-07-02 02:18 am UTC (link)
	Wait, wait, wait... that squid chick got published? *awestruck* (Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - sgaana, 2012-07-02 04:30 am UTC

(no subject) - feenix, 2012-07-04 04:36 am UTC

	spawn_of_kong 2012-07-02 02:48 am UTC (link)
	For some reason, I thought Fifty Shades of Grey was related tangentially to the publishing house Full Fathom Five. I'm not sure whether or not the truth is better than what I had imagined. (Reply to this)

	tehrin 2012-07-02 05:09 am UTC (link)
	My plucky girl reporter/blogger friend, the fabulous Brittany Hanson over on "International House of Geek," has been braving the entire series and ripping on it. My favorite entry of her's is on The Butt Drawer and the mundane of sex in Shades. (Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - poisonyoulove, 2012-07-02 08:22 pm UTC

	kannaophelia 2012-07-02 05:40 am UTC (link)
	WOW. This made my day. I humbly admit I was wrong. Who would have thought that, winding on the clock, they'd be selling Snow Queen's fic at my work? (Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - romana03, 2012-07-02 06:57 am UTC

quantumreality 2012-07-02 06:07 am UTC (link)

“E.L. James is not a nice person. At all… She exploited the Twilight fandom to make boatloads of cash and screwed pretty much everyone who helped her along the way. Nasty piece of work. Not only is what she did unethical (google for ‘Master of the Universe’ AND Twilight and you’ll find it for download almost unchanged except for character names), but she also trampled the entire fandom in her greed. She is definitely not well liked in fic circles.” Woooooooow, I got flashbacks to Cassandra Claire, hardcore. (Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - romana03, 2012-07-02 07:05 am UTC

(no subject) - phosfate, 2012-07-02 02:09 pm UTC

(no subject) - puipui, 2012-07-02 07:54 pm UTC

(no subject) - feenix, 2012-07-03 02:14 am UTC

(no subject) - quantumreality, 2012-07-06 06:23 am UTC

phosfate 2012-07-02 02:19 pm UTC (link)

Fifty Shades isn't the first piece of fanfic to be published with the serial numbers filed off, and it surely won't be the last. (We won't even go into the actual fanfic that's been quietly republished as official tie-ins.) EL James isn't Lady Sybilla, except perhaps in terms of quality. I'm not quite sure what people are so pissed off about, other than the fact that she's made a fuckload of money from astoundingly dopey books. (Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - rosehiptea, 2012-07-02 04:51 pm UTC

(no subject) - cmdr_zoom, 2012-07-02 04:56 pm UTC

(no subject) - white_serpent, 2012-07-02 06:23 pm UTC

(no subject) - mindset, 2012-07-02 06:56 pm UTC

(no subject) - puipui, 2012-07-02 08:01 pm UTC

(no subject) - tofuknight, 2012-07-12 08:36 pm UTC

(no subject) - rosehiptea, 2012-07-02 09:31 pm UTC

(no subject) - ekaterinv, 2012-07-02 08:18 pm UTC

(no subject) - rosehiptea, 2012-07-02 09:35 pm UTC

(no subject) - ekaterinv, 2012-07-03 01:55 am UTC

(no subject) - rosehiptea, 2012-07-03 02:14 am UTC

(no subject) - ekaterinv, 2012-07-03 04:00 am UTC

(no subject) - rosehiptea, 2012-07-03 04:07 am UTC

(no subject) - sepiamagpie, 2012-07-03 07:30 am UTC

(no subject) - rosehiptea, 2012-07-03 02:21 pm UTC

(no subject) - ekaterinv, 2012-07-03 07:58 pm UTC

(no subject) - blue_penguin, 2012-07-06 02:50 am UTC

(no subject) - rosehiptea, 2012-07-06 03:28 am UTC

(no subject) - blue_penguin, 2012-07-06 03:39 am UTC

(no subject) - rosehiptea, 2012-07-06 03:57 am UTC

(no subject) - esorlehcar, 2012-07-03 01:27 am UTC

(no subject) - ekaterinv, 2012-07-03 01:58 am UTC

(no subject) - puipui, 2012-07-03 01:54 am UTC

(no subject) - tinmiss, 2012-07-22 10:28 pm UTC

(no subject) - sepiamagpie, 2012-07-03 12:05 am UTC

(no subject) - notjo, 2012-07-06 04:54 am UTC

(no subject) - tinmiss, 2012-07-22 10:30 pm UTC

(no subject) - sandglass, 2012-07-03 03:06 am UTC

(Deleted post)

(no subject) - sandglass, 2012-07-03 08:58 pm UTC

(no subject) - spawn_of_kong, 2012-07-03 11:49 pm UTC

(no subject) - spawn_of_kong, 2012-07-03 10:07 am UTC

(no subject) - grapefruitzzz, 2012-07-04 09:03 pm UTC

(no subject) - eevee, 2012-07-03 02:42 pm UTC

eevee 2012-07-02 04:41 pm UTC (link)

She was friends with the unicorn lady?! Note: as of this post, my local bookstore here in Italy has an entire window stacked with translated copies of this book. I don't want to live on this planet anymore. I mean, we got Cassie Claire's books, but they went largely unnoticed the way YA literature (sadly) does here unless it's backed by a movie release or something. This... I don't know what to make of this. (Reply to this)

	sneer 2012-07-02 06:23 pm UTC (link)
	Waitwaitwaitwait--I heard a couple comparisons of 50 Shades of Gross to Twilight here and there (i.e. the whole glorification of abusive relationships thing which was enough to make me run screaming in the opposite direction) but am I to understand that it actually ~*IS*~ Twilight fanfic wearing a Rubies "Original Fic" costume? brb booking flight to Mars. (Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - white_serpent, 2012-07-02 06:48 pm UTC

	paladin 2012-07-02 09:52 pm UTC (link)
	So when you said that it was based on a fanfic I started wondering if Shades of Grey's title was wonderfully meta. But the comments from people who've read it make me wonder if the author's self-aware enough to have done it on purpose. (Reply to this)

	floriatosca 2012-07-03 01:04 am UTC (link)
	I actually find it perversely encouraging when other people's ridiculous idfic gets published and popular, as it gives a bit more hope that my own odder ideas could find an audience. (Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) - ekaterinv, 2012-07-03 01:08 am UTC

	kitesareevil 2012-07-04 05:04 am UTC (link)
	Holy...that was her? I can't stop laughing. I have read all of the Twilight books and the first 50 Shades. I was pretty drunk for 50 Shades, but there were many more grammar and spelling errors in it than Twilight. But I'm hardpressed to say which one is worse than the other. It's a bit like asking how you want to be punished: no matter what it sucks. (Reply to this)