British author E.L. James' Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy has been parked atop the New York Times digital bestseller list for weeks. PHOTO: AFP/RELAXNEWS
E.L. James wasn't the only writer to profit from 2012's erotic fiction
fad, with Sylvia Day also prominent on Amazon's list; Jennifer Probst's The Marriage Bargain also made the most of a rich, eligible bachelor as its romantic lead.
That's not to say established mainstream writers were cast by the wayside: three lawyers-turned-authors in John Grisham, David Baldacci and William Landay also featured in the combined Kindle and print top ten, as did a controversial insider account of the raid on Bin Laden's compound.
Amazon.com's top 10 best-selling books first published in 2012:
1. Fifty Shades Freed: Book Three of the Fifty Shades Trilogy by E. L. James
2. Gone Girl: A Novel by Gillian Flynn
3. Fifty Shades Trilogy Boxed Set by E. L. James
4. Bared to You: A Crossfire Novel by Sylvia Day
5. No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden by Mark Owen
6. The Marriage Bargain (Marriage to a Billionaire) by Jennifer Probst
7. Reflected in You: A Crossfire Novel by Sylvia Day
8. The Racketeer by John Grisham
9. Defending Jacob: A Novel by William Landay
10. The Innocent by David Baldacci