The pitch to the publishers was absolutely a fabrication of true readership of the fan fiction, that is fair call. But to say that any book with the same amount of marketing would reach the same level of appeal is short sighted.
Simply, the book had the X-factor. The story was provocative, sensual, shocking and ultimately all elements contributed to it’s appeal. People talked after it was published, people talked about how it effected them and that raised awareness with the millions of people who were ultimately affected (some of which have never actually read the story, like myself). I live in Australia and from my perspective the book was never marketed as “read by millions online first as a fan fiction and now published as a big, rock-hard book”.
It was the content of the story and how that resonated within society which ultimately lead to it being so huge. The X-Factor, you see it in all facets of the entertainment industry niches (I know I work in the industry). You may even find that if 50 shades of gray were released 10 years ago that it would never have gained such acclaim at all because we as a society may not have been so engaged with it’s content.
I see a major flaw here that I have to point out.
The pitch to the publishers was absolutely a fabrication of true readership of the fan fiction, that is fair call. But to say that any book with the same amount of marketing would reach the same level of appeal is short sighted.
Simply, the book had the X-factor. The story was provocative, sensual, shocking and ultimately all elements contributed to it’s appeal. People talked after it was published, people talked about how it effected them and that raised awareness with the millions of people who were ultimately affected (some of which have never actually read the story, like myself). I live in Australia and from my perspective the book was never marketed as “read by millions online first as a fan fiction and now published as a big, rock-hard book”.
It was the content of the story and how that resonated within society which ultimately lead to it being so huge. The X-Factor, you see it in all facets of the entertainment industry niches (I know I work in the industry). You may even find that if 50 shades of gray were released 10 years ago that it would never have gained such acclaim at all because we as a society may not have been so engaged with it’s content.