Six weeks after Random House took over the publication, and distribution of E.L. James's Fifty Shades trilogy, the publisher reports that the series has sold over 10 million copies in print and digital. The trilogy, from RH's Vintage imprint, is comprised of Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker, and Fifty Shades Freed.
The series has gone through 60 printings and is available in nearly 15,000 bricks and mortar locations throughout the U.S. After Vintage acquired U.S. rights to the series in February, it released the books in March in trade paperback, publishing Fifty Shades of Grey on April 3, and then following with Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed on April 17. Anthony Chrico, president of Knopf Doubleday, said the division has been reprinting the books "on a weekly basis since publication" with, he added, certain daily reprints of over 950,000 copies.
Chirico said RH does not see sales slowing down any time soon. "The sales velocity for Fifty Shades of Grey is unprecedented, with reader demand still growing. BookScan data indicates that the trilogy has captured twenty-five percent of the adult fiction market in recent weeks. As we head into the heart of the summer reading season, sales are likely to continue exceeding even our most optimistic forecasts."
