UK's 'mummy porn' expected to boost revenue of publishers

Far EasTone Telecommunications Co., Taiwan's No. 3 mobile provider, expects to see its e-book membership double and revenues for the service to triple in August from a year ago, Josiane Hsu, the company's marketing director, said on the sidelines of a press briefing.

Although the books are dubbed pejoratively as “mummy porn” and rated as restricted, “we're very confident the trilogy can increase our sales substantially,” Hsu said.

Since 2010, when Far EasTone launched its e-book platform, it has garnered some valid 300,000 members who have downloaded some 2.5 million books, she added.

The Taipei-based Star East Publications, Inc., which bought the copyright for the trilogy, also expressed optimism over sales of the print version.

Fanny Yang, Star East's chief editor, declined to reveal how much her company paid for the copyright, saying only that it is by far the highest price her company has ever paid for a foreign novel.

“We're confident it's worth it,” she said.

The novels have become bestsellers worldwide and are especially popular among married women, with the first book, “Fifty Shades of Grey,” shifting over 534,000 copies in the United Kingdom, according to industry publication The Bookseller.

The series has sold 31 million copies worldwide, with book rights having been sold in 37 countries, and has set the record as the fastest-selling paperback of all time, surpassing even the Harry Potter series.

The “Fifty Shades” trilogy, notable for its explicit erotic scenes involving X-rated content involving bondage, discipline, sadism and masochism, features a steamy relationship between billionaire Christian Grey and “unworldly, innocent” literature student, Anastasia Steele.

The first book's Chinese edition will hit store shelves Aug. 24, with book two, “Fifty Shades Darker,” expected to be available in mid-November and book three, “Fifty Shades Freed,” in early February 2013.

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