‘Fifty Shades’ sequel whips up a frenzy, selling 1.1 million copies in its first weekend

E.L. James’ new book Grey, the latest novel in the erotic Fifty Shades of Grey series, has sold more than 1.1 million copies in trade, paperback, ebook and audio editions in just four days, its publisher said.

To meet demand for the novel that retells the first book through the eyes of its billionaire protagonist Christian Grey, Vintage Books is printing a million more copies.

“This is an astonishing number of books to sell over a weekend and speaks to the engagement and passion readers have for the Fifty Shades books,” said publisher Anne Messitte, of the imprint of Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. “Christian’s side of the story is proving to be irresistible,” she said on Monday.

Grey had been the highest Kindle pre-order of this year on Amazon.com and shot straight to No. 1 on the online bestseller lists when it was published last Thursday. The novel was also released in Britain and in a Spanish-language version.

The Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy sold more than 125 million copies worldwide and was published in 52 languages.

James announced the publication of the book on social media on June 1 in one of the best-kept secrets in publishing. She said she was prompted to write it by fans who wanted to know Grey’s take on his relationship with college student Anastasia Steele, whom he introduces to kinky sex, sadomasochism and bondage.