E.L. James's Fifty Shades trilogy should hit the 20 million copies sold mark in the U.S. soon. The Wall Street Journal reported that, as of July 2, the trilogy "had sold 19.4 million copies in both print and e-book form since its U.S. publication in March," with sales evenly matched between physical and digital versions (9.8 million paperbacks and 9.6 million e-books). By comparison, Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy took more than three years to reach the 20-million sales mark in the U.S.
"It's entered the cultural conversation, which has made the trilogy much bigger than books often are," said Anne Messitte, publisher of Vintage Books.
A Vintage spokesman said 31 million copies have sold in English-language markets worldwide, including the U.S. The Guardian noted last week that the U.K. has accounted for four million of that total. 
This morning's New York Times highlighted one of the collateral sales beneficiaries of the 50 Shades of Grey phenomenon: Anne Rice's 1980s Sleeping Beauty trilogy (The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty, Beauty's Release and Beauty's Punishment), which she wrote under the pen name A.N. Roquelaure. A spokesman for Plume said sales during the first six months of this year doubled 2011 totals. The publisher is releasing new and redesigned editions of the trilogy, featuring the cover message: "If you liked 50 Shades of Grey, you'll love the Sleeping Beauty trilogy."
