50 Shades of Grey

[Ursa major]

Maybe it should be EL's next move. 50 Shades of Gay.

If we're looking for new directions....

Fifty Shaves of Grey. (There might be a variety of shavers. I'm sure one or two here would imagine Loras- or Renly-lookalikes wielding the razor....)

Fifty Shales of Grey, the tale of an activist against the exploitation of shale oil in Canada, whose sexual conquests scandalise the world, leading to extradition requests and the seeking of asylum.

Fifty Shades of Cray, describing the high-octane, not to say technicolour, romantic exploits of a completely colour-blind marine biologist.

 

[Gordian Knot]

Teresa, you have described it so much better than did I. Well done.

Anne, Yes it is very tame by BDSM standards, and even by erotic romance fiction I suppose. But I am no expert. As Karn mentioned it is faithful to the consensual aspect of most all such relationships. Which is very nice.

Since no one in the news media ever mentions anything about the subject unless it is related in some way to a terrible crime, this book is very refreshing.

 

[Erin99]

Ursa, you need to write those up! I'd buy them. They'd be better than the original, I bet!

As for the topic - I've never read FSoG, but I've seen that the series gets increasingly worse reviews with each book. However, considering that publishers and agents are always hoping to catch "the next big thing", popular fan fiction is an easy target. The readership is already there, and most likely the readers of the fanfic will buy copies of the book because they want to support the author and work they so loved - and they'll provide word-of-mouth. Also, in their heads they'll likely still see Bella and Edward as they read, or whoever the characters originally were... and considering that Twilight has ended, this new series makes their favourites live on...

...which will mean the huge fanbase of Twilight may have bought the books, too.


Makes you wonder if you should be writing cheesy fanfic instead of slogging away on novels, doesn't it?

Should we be writing BDSM Game of Thrones??? I suppose there's enough violence already in those books...

 

[Mouse]

Well...yes.

Maybe it should be EL's next move. 50 Shades of Gay.

I'd read it tbh.

Ha! http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007QTOQJ4/?tag=brite-21

Not if it's written by E L James, I wouldn't. I have writer friends whose m/m romances make 50SoG look like, well, the amateurish tripe it is.

For starters: http://alexbeecroft.com/ (historical fiction and contemporary fantasy)

I've got one of Alex's on my wishlist on Amazon after your recommendation the last time.

If we're looking for new directions....

Fifty Shaves of Grey. (There might be a variety of shavers. I'm sure one or two here would imagine Loras- or Renly-lookalikes wielding the razor....)

Fifty Shales of Grey, the tale of an activist against the exploitation of shale oil in Canada, whose sexual conquests scandalise the world, leading to extradition requests and the seeking of asylum.

Fifty Shades of Cray, describing the high-octane, not to say technicolour, romantic exploits of a completely colour-blind marine biologist.

Now those would be awesome.

How about Nifty Shades on Grey. Where hot men named Grey parade about in nothing but uber-cool sunglasses.

 

[Ursa major]

Makes you wonder if you should be writing cheesy fanfic instead of slogging away on novels, doesn't it?

There's cheese-based fanfic...?


Okay, I expect Wallace & Gromit fanfic must use a fair amount of Wensleydale in their whey-hey moments, but I hadn't realised that cheese had been around in other areas. (I wonder: do they use love triangles when under the bedspread?)


So it seems that if you want to make a wedge, or even that rare bit of money, cheese is the answer. Don't and you'll be simply toast.

 

[Erin99]

You know, Ursa, when I met up with Tillane and Seph the other day, we talked about your puns... and decided that you are unequivocally the best punner in the universe. They come so naturally to you, so fast, as if you don't even have to think about them...

And mmmmm! I would SOOOO read a fic about cheese! It would HAVE to have Brie and Camembert in it, though.

 

[Ursa major]

And mmmmm! I would SOOOO read a fic about cheese! It would HAVE to have Brie and Camembert in it, though.

Sounds like you're encouraging me to write some. I mean, why else say, "C'mon, Bear."

 

[Erin99]

See? And that's why we love you.

Right, I better stop derailing this thread!

 

[Anne Lyle]

As for the topic - I've never read FSoG, but I've seen that the series gets increasingly worse reviews with each book. However, considering that publishers and agents are always hoping to catch "the next big thing", popular fan fiction is an easy target.

I guess the issue is whether the fanfic can be made "original" enough to not be sue-able by the owner of the property being used as a foundation. 50SoG started out as AU (alternate universe), so it wasn't that hard to change the names and make it barely recognisable as Twilight-based, apart from the heroine's trademark clumsiness and Greyward's untidy auburn hair.

Outside the Twilight fanbase and interested parties like ourselves, how many readers know it started out as fanfic, or even what fanfic is?

 

[vanye]

Yes. That was my point. Why would I've said it otherwise?

I wasn't too sure about what you meant by "straight" in this context. Seems I missed and my attempt at humour went astray.

 

[allmywires]

Ha! http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007QTOQJ4/?tag=brite-21.

Oh, excellent.

 

[Gordian Knot]

Oh and let us NOT forget. 50 Shades of Blue. Hilarious sendoff!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKWIqRAW_WI

 

[Mouse]

Oh, excellent.

Well it sounds excellent* but I read the first couple of lines under the 'look inside' thing and it's insanely bad.


*not that I read porn.

 

[allmywires]

*not that I read porn.

Oh, of course not.

 

[Triceratops]

Unfortunately, morbid curiosity is what's driven the sales up on this title so high--it's a massive snowball effect. I did a blog post on this mess at Guerrilla Warfare For Writers, trying to determine its validity. I could only come up with a good, bad and ugly scenario.

Jesus, what's next? A parody of FSOg? A rip-off of a rip-off? I hold the huge publishing houses in just as much contempt--acting like shameless ambulance chasers, sucking up and devouring every damn self-published hit that comes along. And the movie studios...let's not even go there...

chris

ETA: Do you have the feeling that everything you learned as a writer, all the time and effort you've put into honing your craft, has all been for naught?

 

[allmywires]

ETA: Do you have the feeling that everything you learned as a writer, all the time and effort you've put into honing your craft, has all been for naught?

Always. I don't know whether it's been said before, but I believe her husband is a publisher (or at least has some pretty good connections in that field).

Really, when Katie Price is an author multiple times over, it's hard not to let it get you down.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I hold the huge publishing houses in just as much contempt--acting like shameless ambulance chasers, sucking up and devouring every damn self-published hit that comes along. And the movie studios...let's not even go there...

I think, but I may be wrong, that the author's agents approach the publishers (well, I know they do in some cases, but with a huge success it may be different), and possibly the movie studios.

 

[Triceratops]

Hi, Tersa, you bring up an interesting point, of whether the agents who were (possibly) obtained first, initiated the contacts, which is quite possible. Any author who did receive direct contact from the big houses or movie companies should have made agent rep a priority (first) and this probably happened. I'm just wondering if the first contact to the author came from the big houses before the author was repped.

Now, a large NYC publisher who contacts you and suggests a deal, BUT ALSO advises that you obtain agent rep (and maybe suggests a few), shows a little bit of class, instead of knocking down your front door and announcing their presence.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

whether the agents who were (possibly) obtained first, initiated the contacts, which is quite possible.

I think that's more of a probably than a possibly.

But as for the movie studios, if they "suck up" self-published books, well, that's all to the advantage of the author, because unlike publishing their own book, they're not going to be able to make their own movie and get it into the movie houses. And movie deals are big money. That's if the author wants to see their book made into a movie, which some do not. I'm guessing that E. L. James is in the does camp.

Does anyone know if 50 Shades of Grey has been optioned by a movie studio yet?* If not, I wouldn't be surprised if her agent is negotiating a contract even as we speak.

*Maybe this was mentioned earlier in the thread and I missed it?

 

[Triceratops]

I thought I saw that it was optioned, but I can't remember where I saw it.

chris