She has written the fastest-selling paperback of all time - and undoubtedly in the process has become the fastest-earning author of all time.
EL James - real name Erika Leonard - has earned an estimated £6.5million in just a few months after her explicit novel Fifty Shades of Grey became a summer sensation.
A former TV executive who began writing erotic stories in 2009, she admits she never expected Fifty Shades of Grey to be 'a huge bloody success' and had planned to carry on working in TV and writing novels on the side.
However, the salacious tome has proved so popular that Mrs Leonard is reported to have been paid £3million for film rights and to have earned around £3.5million from book sales.
Universal Pictures and Focus Features bought the film rights earlier this year for $5million after a Hollywood bidding war, and have since announced the movie will be produced by Michael De Luca and Dana Brunetti - the team behind Facebook blockbuster The Social Network.
The author and her husband Niall are looking to put the money into a luxurious £3million London property with seven bedrooms and an indoor swimming pool.
E-book: The Kindle version has of Fifty Shades of Grey boosted sales even furtherThough not far from their current home, the Grade-II listed property is worlds apart from the £350,000 terraced house which the couple, who have two children, have owned since 1998.
The book’s racy plot follows the depraved relationship between naive graduate Anastasia Steele and handsome older billionaire Christian Grey, who introduces her to sado-masochism and bondage.
Some 1,162,637 copies were purchased in its first 11 weeks on sale, making it the fastest-selling book since records began, beating Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code and JK Rowling’s Harry Potter books.
And its popularity shows no sign of abating. At the end of June, it sold more copies in a single week (397,889) than any other book has in the UK. To top it off, the novel is only the first installment of a trilogy.
Its availability as an e-book added to its popularity, meaning readers could enjoy it discreetly.
However, its risque subject matter has not deterred millions from happily brandishing printed copies in cafes, trains and beaches.
Some booksellers have run out of stock and the publishers, Random House, have resorted to having it reprinted in Germany, which is home to parent company Bertelsmann AG, as well as in this country.
Publishing magic: E.L. James has a long way to go to the amass the fortune earned by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, here pictured with Potter film-star Emma Watson
