Penguin declares Day its 'new erotic brand sensation'

Penguin has announced UK sales of 50,000 paperbacks of Sylvia Day's Bared to You, published last week (19th July), with almost 500,000 copies in print. A further 50,000 copies have been sold in e-book form, the publisher said. 

Rachel Russell, W H Smith business unit director, called the sales "astounding", pointing out they exceeded those of E L James' Fifty Shades of Grey in its first week of publication, before it became a record-breaking phenomenon.

Penguin UK c.e.o. Tom Weldon said: "Bared to You is Penguin's fastest selling paperback for a decade. It is ironic that at the very moment the doomsayers are telling us it is all over for the book industry, these supersellers prove the exact opposite." He added: "This is not copycat publishing. In a digital age, this is giving readers what they want straight away."

American author Sylvia Day visited the UK last week, doing a signing event at Ann Summers in Oxford Street, London, as well as interviews for BBC regional radio and RTE's John Murray show, and a Google "hangout" event. Penguin also commissioned a "Bare All" survey into female sexuality, announced for publication and picked up by the Sun and online.

A marketing campaign, including London underground and at key railway stations around the UK, launched today (23rd July).

Nielsen BookScan data for book sales during the seven days to 21st July will be released tomorrow (24th).

Bared to You has featured on the New York Times bestseller list for 11 weeks, with sales cited at the 1m copy mark.