How do you feel able E.L. James?

[kfarmer30]

I really enjoyed the Fifty Shades books, I never have gotten into the BDSM books before but a friend recommended these to me and I couldn't put them down. I thought the author was pretty good, however I have never really read a lot of books like hers.

[innocentdemand]

Sorry for the late reply! Other BDSM books I've read are 'The Diary of a Submissive' by Sophie Morgan and 'The Story of O' by Pauline Reage - both of which I consider leagues above 50 Shades. I've never been a fan of anything E.L. James has written because it's the sort of thing I probably was throwing out on fanfiction sites when I was younger. I also have a personal interest due to connections to the BDSM scene that make me highly annoyed by James's portrayal of the kink in her writing.

[Nyokaphee]

EL James has quite an imagination, a wild one to say the least. It's what makes her books stand out. Whether copy paste or whatever, she turned fantasy into reality.
You ever see something and think oh...I can definitely do better. That is her personality and its amazing.

Of all her books I loved "fifty shades darker" most probably because of the flaws in the main character which changed his all too perfect perception she'd given us in the first book of the trilogy.

[palilogy]

Successful doesn't mean everything.
I would have rather written an amazing compelling book that helped people then a fan fiction that is terribly written yet guilty entertainment to the masses.

[Nanig83006]

Honestly, I feel she did more than most writers don't: finished her story and published it. There are a lot of people trashing her for writing fan-fiction about Twilight, but she turned it into something. That's more than most people ever do in their lifetime. It may not be the greatest story out there, but there was an audience out there who liked it enough to turn it into three films. In my opinion, her books aren't great, but she's admirable.

[insertbookpunhere]

Absolute trash. A horrible misrepresentation of BDSM culture, which is all about trust and respect for your partner, morphed into a controlling and abusive - and unrealistic - relationship that is now fetishized and normalized by our culture. Plus, the sex scenes everyone raves about were so vanilla.

[innocentdemand]

Honestly, I feel she did more than most writers don't: finished her story and published it. There are a lot of people trashing her for writing fan-fiction about Twilight, but she turned it into something. That's more than most people ever do in their lifetime. It may not be the greatest story out there, but there was an audience out there who liked it enough to turn it into three films. In my opinion, her books aren't great, but she's admirable.

I mean I have read heaps of better-written fanfiction. I used to actively write the stuff when I was a teenager, and it was better than a lot of what was pushed out by James. The entire publishing house that pushed out the books centers around taking fanfic, removing any fan elements, and throwing it out as original fiction.

Just because it got published doesn't mean it's good - see the heaps of self-published works out there, see The Maradonia Saga. Just because it got turned into films doesn't mean it's good. This is baby's first BDSM run. It's not really admirable, it's a stroke of luck.

[Nanig83006]

Honestly, I feel she did more than most writers don't: finished her story and published it. There are a lot of people trashing her for writing fan-fiction about Twilight, but she turned it into something. That's more than most people ever do in their lifetime. It may not be the greatest story out there, but there was an audience out there who liked it enough to turn it into three films. In my opinion, her books aren't great, but she's admirable.

I mean I have read heaps of better-written fanfiction. I used to actively write the stuff when I was a teenager, and it was better than a lot of what was pushed out by James. The entire publishing house that pushed out the books centers around taking fanfic, removing any fan elements, and throwing it out as original fiction.

Just because it got published doesn't mean it's good - see the heaps of self-published works out there, see The Maradonia Saga. Just because it got turned into films doesn't mean it's good. This is baby's first BDSM run. It's not really admirable, it's a stroke of luck.

First, I'd like to comment on your profile pic. It's super cute and Sailor Moon is my favorite anime. As for your thoughts/opinion, I agree to an extent. Her story blowing up the way it did was luck, but I'm a believer of if you do the work you'll reap the reward. Often, luck has nothing to do with that. I, too, have read and still read amazing and well-written fanfiction. It's awesome you wrote as a teen, I did also. Changing the story to make it an "original" plot had more to do with James than the publisher. It blowing up was because it was promoted on a talkshow. Whether that was luck or strategic marketing, I'll never know. But you are still correct, just because its published/popular doesn't mean its good. It doesn't change that these writers finished the story, as fanfic or original works, and published them. What happens after is only so much in their hands.

[Facennagoss]

In terms of success, she has clearly done very well but I think the detail is unnecessary and she fails to achieve a plot which is necessary to a good piece of fiction.

[Jennifer Fernandez]

I'm not impressed with her writing. For me, she is just another generic writer.

[innocentdemand]

First, I'd like to comment on your profile pic. It's super cute and Sailor Moon is my favorite anime. As for your thoughts/opinion, I agree to an extent. Her story blowing up the way it did was luck, but I'm a believer of if you do the work you'll reap the reward. Often, luck has nothing to do with that. I, too, have read and still read amazing and well-written fanfiction. It's awesome you wrote as a teen, I did also. Changing the story to make it an "original" plot had more to do with James than the publisher. It blowing up was because it was promoted on a talkshow. Whether that was luck or strategic marketing, I'll never know. But you are still correct, just because its published/popular doesn't mean its good. It doesn't change that these writers finished the story, as fanfic or original works, and published them. What happens after is only so much in their hands.

I think a good chunk of the success of the story is from the fact that Anna is such a blank slate of a character that anyone can insert themselves into her place. Part of it was also probably the talkshow promotion and marketing. It should probably also be noted that the original publisher of the series also is notorious for taking fanfiction and having the original writers rebrand the stories to feature renamed characters and little else in the way of editing, so it was entirely up to the publisher - I know this from receiving several published books from said publishing entity for reading and reviewing.

Perhaps I'm just an overly critical cynic these days who likes to fight against bad books that became popular, who knows.

[bookdragon7]

I honestly have no idea how she became such a hit and even less of an idea of how there were movies made from these books. She got lucky, plain and simple. Her books came out when women's sexuality was starting to shift. More and more women were becoming more outspoken about their needs and wants and these books came out during this wave of change. I can appreciate the funny inner dialogue but the writing was so elementary it's painful. The only reason I was able to read all three was because it was one of the first books in the erotica genre that introduced me to that genre. I was also a lot younger then. I've read plenty of other books in that same genre and the writing, characters, and plots are so much better! If she writes any more books, I highly doubt they'll be successful. Unless her writing greatly improves.

[M Zee]

These books were decidedly not good. Which is fine for people to enjoy but there's a lot better to be found in the same genres (and often with better research into that kind of sexual relationship).

With everything else I could say about it, the most unrealistic thing in the entire series is that a newly college graduate in the mid-2010s does not have her own email address. COME ON!

[perthy]

Her books are poorly written IMO. I have only read a chapter of 50 shades and decided to put the book down. Good thing I only borrowed the book from a friend. I really dunno what the deal is about with her books when there are lots of other fanfiction out there which are way better plot-wise as well as writing style-wise..

[Swat3737]

I completely agree with the OP about how horrible “Grey” was. I truly loved the first three books. I thought the text and email exchanges between Ana and Christian were so witty, and that it truly was a wonderful love story. I really like EL James’s writing in those first books but can’t imagine I would jump at any new books of hers