"Fifty Shades of Grey" by E.L. James has swept the nation with its chapters filled with BDSM fantasies and erotica. Now, publishers want to keep the fantasies going by acquiring more books like these.
Publishers are ready to jump at the next hot new erotic romance, and "Because You Are Mine" by Beth Kery might be the next hot thing.
"Everyone in publishing was trying to figure out what the Fifty Shades of Grey fans would read next," said Berkley Books president and publisher Leslie Gelbman, according to USA Today. "When we discovered Bared to You, we knew it had the potential to be the next erotic romance breakthrough."
Judith Curr, publisher of Atria Books, agrees there will be an "explosion of erotica titles because everyone will want to catch that wave. But not all of them will make it onto the best-seller lists.
That might not be true for Kery. Coming out on July 31 as a serialized e-book, "Because You Are Mine" will be released over eight weeks, according to USA Today, from publisher Berkley Books.
The upcoming erotic series was also mentioned in Time Magazine, which said that Berkley Books "has also green-lit Beth Kery's Because You Are Mine."
This will be following the success of erotic book "Bared to You" by Sylvia Day, which became a New York Times bestseller. It was also on USA Today's Best-Selling Books list in June.
Kery is the author of many books, including "Wicked Burn", which is her latest erotic romance released in May as a mass market paperback.
In a review by Lea Franczak of USA Today, she said that "Wicked Burn" "burned its way into my heart and remains my all-time favorite erotic romance."
Fallen Angel Reviews said, "Hot enough to make the pages smoke."
According to USA Today, May Chen, a senior editor at HarperCollins who specializes in romance, is delighted Fifty Shades of Grey is helping new readers discover erotic romance.
"James hit a nerve," she says. "It was an amazing moment, and it worked perfectly."
"Because You Are Mine" might have the same fire effects, because any reader loves a good sex story.