Two Dickinson English majors have recently published an e-book commentary on the bestselling erotic romance “Fifty Shades of Grey” by E. L. James.
The book, “Fifty Shades of Grey SpankNotes,” was written in collaboration by Ariel Klatskin ’13 and Matthew Weddig ’13. Self-published, the e-book was released at the beginning of January through Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) on amazon.com.
Since its release, seventy copies have been sold through amazon.com, a rapid sale that the two seniors never expected.
“I thought we would maybe sell a few copies to our parents and to a friend or two,” said Klatskin. “We were really surprised that so many people were interested in it, especially [since] we did not advertise it at all.”
The e-book is composed of Klatskin’s and Weddig’s posts on the E.L. James novel from their blog Bad Books, Good Times. The two seniors started the blog last year while studying abroad in England.
“All of our friends were reading “Fifty Shades of Grey” and we thought, ‘why don’t we just make fun of it,’” said Weddig.
Their blog reviews and criticizes “Fifty Shades of Grey” (including the second and third volume), as well as other well-known books like the bestsellers “Hush Hush” by Becca Fitzpatrick and R.L. Stine’s series “Goosebumps.”
“We only read books with no artistic merit,” explained Weddig.
He added that their blog has about 500 followers.
“We get comments on a daily basis. That is the most rewarding sort of feeling,” added Weddig.
Buoyed by the modest success of their first published work, Klatskin and Weddig are looking ahead towards writing more, though they do not yet know when their next e-book will be published.
“We definitely want to come out with more e-books, but it is a matter of finding time,” said Klatskin. “Maybe over spring break we will put something together”.
Klatskin and Weddig’s reading companion to “Fifty Shades of Grey” can be purchased on amazon.com. For more information about the blog check out badbooksgoodtimes.com or follow the blog on Facebook or Twitter.
