E.L. James, also known as Erika Leonard James, author of the novel upon which soon-to-be-released film "Fifty Shades of Grey" is based, is now officially the richest author in all of Britain.
She "sealed a spot on the list of Britain's Richest Authors after conquering the world with her erotic romance novels and gaining over £33 million ($56 million) on pre-tax profits in only one year," The International Business Times noted.
Since the book's first publishing, the author has since sold no less than 100 million copies of the raunchy tome, which is actually part of a trilogy that includes "Fifty Shades Darker" and "Fifty Shades Freed."
Her revenues trebled in 2013 "to more than £33 million after striking numerous royalty and licensing deals for her erotic novels," The Telegraph reported.
James' financial success was unprecedented as her literary attempt was borne of an experimental foray with online fan fiction based on the "Twilight" trilogy. However, the "mummy porn" of a novel became an international hit and earned a movie adaptation, which stars Jamie Dornan as the young and powerful business magnate Christian Grey and Dakota Johnson as the virginal college student Anastasia Steele.
Last year, Forbes ranked James as 2013's top-earning author, raking in about $95 million - a figure that the business and finance news source based "on sales data, published figures and information from industry sources between June 2012 and June 2013."
The online publication also noted that while the 51-year-old Londoner "didn't follow any of the rules for getting to the top," she still hit the veritable pot of gold all the same, simply by "selling more copies faster than any other author in history."
"For the publishing industry, the lesson is clear: The formula isn't everything," Forbes observed.
Despite her newfound wealth, James and her husband, director and screenwriter Niall Leonard, continue to live a low-key lifestyle. The Independent noted that accounts showed that James "paid herself a salary of just £7,800 ($13,260) but took a dividend of £3.24 million."
However, with the release of "Fifty Shades of Grey" in theaters come February 2015, will she and her family be able to maintain their "down-to-earth" ways? She is poised for more success and revenues when the movies does finally hit the big screens.
On that note, one wonders: will she come out with another book next year to keep her lucky streak going? What do you think, readers?