Yesterday, E.L. James announced that she would be writing another installment in her Fifty Shades of Grey series, told from the perspective of Christian Grey. In a matter of hours, pre-orders pushed Grey: Fifty Shades of Grey as Told by Christian, to the top of the Barnes & Noble and Amazon bestseller lists. As of this writing, the book is #1 in physical and digital at both retailers—it will be released by Vintage, a division of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, on June 18.
Vintage announced a 1.25 million copy first print run for the title, which, according to Paul Bogaards, executive director of publicity, promotion and media relations at Knopf Doubleday, was the yield the publisher could achieve based on the time frame it had. But, Bogaards added, much like when the original trilogy was released, the publisher has reserved press time, with a "rolling inventory situation."
When asked why Vintage announced the book just two weeks before its on sale date, Bogaards said, it's what E.L. James, nee Erika Mitchell, wanted. "Erika wanted this to be a surprise for her readers, and the only amplification that was necessary on our end was to point press to her tweet [about the publication], which we did."
As of now, there is no lineup of TV or tour appearances for James. "This week was all about getting the announcement out and working with our retail partners' inventory demands," said Bogaards. "There may be more to come."
