E L James made £33m in 2013

Fifty Shades author E L James made £33m before tax in the year to the end of September 2013, more than three times what she made the year before.

Accounts filed with Companies House show that Fifty Shades Ltd had a turnover of £43,910,466 in the 12 months to 30th September 2013, with a profit before taxation of £33,336,127, compared to a pre-tax profit of £10,657,738 the year before.

In the accounts files, the company said it “had a very successful year, during which it secured royalty agreements with numerous international publishing houses, and licencing agreements with other organisations”.

Sales of the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy, published by Arrow Books, topped 100m copies worldwide across all formats, said Random House earlier this year.

In the UK the trilogy has sold 10,939,693 copies through Nielsen BookScan, with a value of £48,895,389.90.

Looking forward, Fifty Shades Ltd said it “continues to be profitable with income streams contracted to continue for a number of years”. Among the future income streams is the film adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey, the first book in the trilogy, which is released in cinemas on Valentine’s Day next year.

First published as an e-book in May 2011 by James, whose real name is Erika Leonard, Fifty Shades of Grey follows the relationship of 27-year-old billionaire Christian Grey and college student Anastasia Steele, with subsequent novels exploring the couple’s relationship.

Arrow, an imprint of Penguin Random House’s Cornerstone, released the titles as paperbacks in in April 2012.

The trilogy has been translated into 51 different languages.