How Fifty Shades Of Grey Has Contributed To The Decline In Printed Books

Printed book sales fell dramatically in 2013, and it's all down to one very racy trilogy...

Fifty Shades of Grey has contributed to a decline in sales of printed books, according to new research.

Printed book sales fell by £98m in 2013, owing in part to the rise in digital book sales, but also because sales of Fifty Shades Of Grey novels are finally slowing down, proving just what an impact the story had on the nation.

Incredibly, E.L. James's kinky trilogy, dubbed 'mummy porn' by the press at the height of its popularity, was responsible for almost half of all book sales in 2012. A whopping £47.3m was made on 10.5 million sold copies of the trilogy that year.

However, in 2013, sales of the Fifty Shades of Grey novels dropped dramatically, and totalled only £1.4m. Still, it's a lot more money than we're ever likely to see in our lifetime.

Meanwhile, Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson are busy filming scenes for the upcoming movie adaptation of the first Fifty Shades of Grey novel, directed by Sam Taylor-Johsnon. 

Does the decline in Fifty Shades of Grey sales reflect a decline in interest? Or are you as captivated by Christian and Anastasia's steamy story as ever? Let us know in the comments box below...

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