Let’s get one thing out of the way. The books aren’t great. I get that. I haven’t read them, and I won’t read them. Not interesting to me as a reader. But as someone who cares about books and reading culture, I find her story fascinating, as the evolution of the work from online fan-fiction forums to most-successful debut novelist of all time touches on a host of literary flashpoints.
via bookriot.com
Publisher's Weekly has named EL James as their Person of the Year.
Love her books or hate them (I have no opinion either way, I haven't read them) it's impossible to disagree with PW's choice.
EL James has energized books and publishing.
From a writer's point of view, EL James gives all of us hope. Anything is possible now. We have amazing (and free, mostly) self-publishing tools. Our future is in our own hands.
From a voracious reader's point of view, in the past 12 months I've read more, and enjoyed my reading more, than I ever have. My Kindle's packed with "must read" books. I can glom onto an author's entire backlist at a few clicks. I've discovered some wonderful new self-published authors. I'm spending way too much time reading, but that's another story... :-)
When I first heard of EL James last June, I found it hard to believe what she'd achieved in just a few months.
Which brings us to Amazon. That's the heart of the story. What EL James achieved wouldn't be possible without Amazon.
If PW's handing out any awards, they should give Amazon a big one too.
