E. L James continues to surprise book trade pundits by the sheer volumes of sales of her debut erotic romance, Fifty Shades of Grey, which is selling 60,000 copies a week in paperback, plenty enough to keep her at the top of the UK book charts for the last three weeks.

While some US libraries are reported to have banned Fifty Shades of Grey, the sensation is now credited with prompting a revival in interest in erotic fiction in general. Ebury have announced a revival for vintage erotic genre series Black Lace and indie erotic publisher Xcite have launched a Secret Library series packaged in tactile and non-traditional (for the genre) covers which will be stocked in high street retailers. According to Tom Tivnan, features editor at trade magazine The Bookseller, reported in The Independent newspaper yesterday, "The e-reader is the new brown paper bag" making it easier to read erotic fiction free from embarrassment. There is no doubt some truth in this. Perhaps now it is time for a chick lit sensation to put out to grass those annoying princess pink fluffy covers that rarely bear any relation to the stories inside.