My Nonfiction Book on 50 Shades

So, I can finally announce my exciting news!

I am editing a collection of essays on 50 Shades of Grey, titled 50 Writers on 50 Shades for Ben Bella Books.  I'll announce the line up of authors in a few weeks, but I am looking for different takes on the trilogy, both positive and negative. But you already know where I stand on this debate.

And please feel free to make suggestions for contributors.  I am especially looking for a female 21 year old Seattle college student's take on Ana, so please pass that on.

Read my Publisher's Marketplace write up below for a more complete description:

May 23, 2012
		Non-fiction: Anthology		Lori Perkins's 50 WRITERS ON 50 SHADES OF GREY, an anthology by a panel of insiders - from the editor who first "discovered" Fifty Shades of Grey, to BDSM experts, erotica authors, feminists, romance writers, and a whole lot more - extending the conversation about the pop culture phenomenon that has captured the imaginations of so many, from the sexual politics and its fanfiction origins to what sets it apart from other erotic fiction and romance (and what doesn't), to Leah Wilson at BenBella Books, for publication in December 2012, by Louise Fury at L. Perkins Agency(World). lfury@lperkinsagency.com

Banning Books: The American Way?

I was appalled to read that libraries throughout the country are pulling 50 Shades of Grey from their shelves. If you haven't read this article, please do, http://t.co/IaCqMoVD.


There are hardly words for me to express how wrong this is, on so many levels.  I am enraged that more women aren't protesting.  Where is the feminist outcry over this obviously sexist assault on what we choose to read?  This is a prime opportunity for the romance community and feminists to show their power.  Romance and feminism are not antithesis.  Quite the opposite.


An aside (before I reeve up for my tirade). Dirty books have always been a huge part of feminism for me (see previous blogpost about my definition of feminism being about choice). When I was a high school freshman, I got ahold of the list of books banned by the Catholic Church (I am not Catholic, so I looked at this as a suggestion list, not blasphemy) and read every one of them, starting with Portnoy's Complaint.  I was probably the only teenager at the Bronx High school of Science who has read Ulysses, Lady Chatterley's Lover and Justine (I'd also read Lolita, Fanny Hill, Candy, Fear of Flying and Delta of Venus).  I got them all out of the New York Public Library.  After about the third book (I think it was Fanny Hill), the librarians knew me because I had asked them where some of these books were (in the old days of the Dewey decimal system library card catalog).  They lead me to the "secret" cupboard of dirty books in a separate room and told me to go in and get whatever I wanted (I think the Joy of Sex, Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Sex and Xavier Hollander's books were there too, but that was nonfiction and I was only interested in fiction).


Smut made me into the voracious reader I am.  I cut my literary teeth on smut.  Some of that smut was later decried literature, but all of it was deemed reprehensible by someone.


After reading Delta of Venus and Little Birds by Anais Nin, I wrote in my journal at 17 that some day I wanted to grow up and start an erotic magazine for women.  Three decades later, I started an erotic ebook company.  So you see, sharing the diversity of female sexuality has always been a dream of mine.


And the reason I wanted to start an erotic magazine (that was the quick and cheap means of communication in the 70's) was because almost all the smut I read was by men, and even then I knew that women needed to express their sexuality freely and frequently.  Our voices (or moans) needed to be heard. Loudly.


Male authors have been expressing their sexuality in print for years.  It's our turn.


EL James is the tip of the iceberg of this revolution.  


We MUST fight for our right to female-expressed erotic content in libraries.  This is about much more than censorship.  It's about personhood and the right to see women express their sexually as freely as men, and the right to choose.


The Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy needs to be available in every library in America to inspire every young girl  (and boy) who seeks it out.  S/he should be able to find a reflection of female sexuality without judgment.


If I had Bill Gates' money, I'd buy a set of her books for every library in America.

Fifty Shades of Green

I love the Fifty Shades of Grey series for so many reasons.

As an agent who has toiled in the erotica fields for decades, it shows the world that there is a strong market for erotic fiction written, edited and purchased by women. This is smut for women.

Some of you know that I consider myself a “feminist pornographer,” which always raises a few eyebrows. But I believe this movement of women claiming their own smut is part of the evolution of feminism – proudly owning your sexuality is a big part of equality.

When I was a young feminist, I read The Story of O, and I was offended by it, because I knew that I was not a submissive woman. I’ve wrestled with this my entire life in my personal relationships, and since I was not a submissive, I assumed that the submissive woman fantasy was a male fantasy and part of the patriarchy.

Until I became the editor of erotic literature. And I quickly learned that the submissive woman’s fantasy of complete surrender to an Alpha man is the leading daydream of the majority of American women.

As a young feminist, I looked down on this “romance” troupe. I didn’t think it was possible to be submissive and a feminist, just as old school feminists were appalled that their well-educated daughters wanted to stay home and be mothers, or learn to knit and bake. We’ve been saying for the past two decades that feminism was about having choices, and one of those is to be free in our erotic fantasies.

In a recent review of The Hunger Games movie, a feminist reviewer complained about the need for “romance” in an otherwise action-based dystopian YA. I used to feel that way too, but I secretly went to romantic comedies alone so no one would see me cry. I was ashamed of my romantic side.

You can be a feminist and a romantic. It’s OK. And it’s really OK to want, and believe in, a happy ending, even if you know that in reality 50% of all marriages fail. These movies and books are an escape, and a hope.

Everyone wants to fall in love, and be swept away by its power, even men. But they don’t have the freedom women have. They don’t have the choices we have.

So, Fifty Shades of Grey brings all these issues to the surface and has proven, once and for all, that women love to read smut.

As an erotica agent, this means that there’s a whole new marketplace for these stories. The Story of O is 40 years old and the current edition is a dated translation (I’d love to see this in contemporary language). We need new fantasies, which EL James has given us. I am awed to see the birth of a new erotica classic, which is what Fifty Shades is (it’s the same feeling I had as I watched Harry Potter become a children’s literature classic in my time).

But we also need variety. So I am hoping that these books will usher in a publishing tidal wave of commercially successful erotica featuring M/M (that’s gay male romance often written by women) and erotica featuring dominant women and submissive men, as well as more lesbian fiction. And lots and lots of ménage featuring one woman and at least two men!

Some Trend Spotting

So, you all know I've been working two jobs for 3 1/2 years (July marks my 4 year anniversary), and since I really do work 16 hour days a few days a week. I barely have time to remember my middle name, let alone write in my blogs and journals. But Sunday morning is always a bit of "me" time and I thought I'd share some trends a few of us agents and editors see ahead.

As some of you may know from my twitter feed (and you should follow me, LoriPerkinsRR because I am constantly tweeting about publishing), I went to the midnight showing of Hunger Games on 3/19 with 9 other agents and editors. We got there two hours early and talked about books. This is what we see trending in the next year or on in terms of purchasing (which is different from what will be in print, because print takes so long). Remember, that my colleagues are skewed towards romance.

Geek love is coming. Hot nerds. Alphas in glasses. Shy billionaire entrepreneurs.

Even more dystopian fiction. One of these editors told me that she has bought through 2016. But they are being picky. I think YA is a little crowded, but not so much adult fiction. So, end of the world love stories. BTW, I am putting the finishing edits on APOCALYPSE TOMORROW: Love Among the Ruins, our end of the world and in love anthology at RR, so if you have something that might fit, send it in asap!

BDSM romance. Not a surprise after Fifty Shades of Grey. But it's BDSM light. So, if you have a naughty little trunk novel, or fan fiction that might be rewritten, dust it off and send it out.

And, here's my two cents on the fan fiction issue. It's fan fiction. It's entertainment. Surely we all have run an erotic scenario based on some TV show through our heads at some point in our lives. These authors have just decided to share. It's no big deal. When something is sent for publication, it has to be wiped clean of its obvious influence, but you can't copyright an idea (or a title). Inspiration is not plagiarism.

Now, off to the gym.

Cccchanges

Well, we have exciting news at the L. Perkins Agency.

Marisa Corvisiero has decided to start her own agency, in conjunction with her literary consulting business, PowerHouse (see her blog announcement at http://thoughtsfromaliteraryagent.blogspot.com/), and Emily Keyes, who had worked with this agency as an intern while getting her Masters in publishing from studying NYU's Center for Publishing, and then going on to work in contracts at Simon & Schuster, has come back to us.

So welcome home, Emily! Emily is now the Contracts & Foreign Rights Manager at the L. Perkins Agency. She’s very passionate about YA and teen novels and is looking to acquire in that area.

Previously, she was a Contracts Administrator at Simon & Schuster, Inc. and a writer for “The World Almanac for Kids.” She is a graduate of the NYU Publishing program and knowledgeable about many areas of publishing, and an expert on all things “Sweet Valley.”

Email her at emily@lperkinsagency.com. Follow her on twitter @esc_key

And good luck Marisa.