Posted by JP on March 23, 2012 at 14:17:16:
The novel, Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James, a soft porn romance by a young female British first-time author, started out as Kindle only. Now, after reaching number one on the New York Times best-sellers list, it has been picked up by Random House which will print 750,000 paperback copies creating another instant first time novelist millionaire.
There has been a lot of criticism of the book regarding its portrayal of violence by men toward women (whips, chains, handcuffs, etc.), but the women readers don't seem to mind that.
The lesson: if you want to get published, write a steamy romance aimed at women readers (and be sure to use a woman's name as the author).