Erotic Books like "Candy Licker" and "Thong on Fire" are a bright spot in a struggling publishing industry. The popular novel is by Noire, a “twenty-something” writer of urban erotic fiction who has sold hundreds of thousands of books since she started publishing just a few years ago. Her book sales are huge numbers in the world of publishing and have made her something of a minor celebrity. Seventy-seven years ago it took an order by a federal judge, John Woolsey, to overturn the government’s obscenity ban on James Joyce’s classic novel "Ulysses. Much of the new erotica is simply porn moved to the printed page, only smarter and largely aimed at women. At a time when overall book sales have been flat or declining for several years “we saw it as a growing opportunity; it has exploded,” Karen Auerbach, Kensington’s director of publicity told me. Cleis Press, a San Francisco Bay area publisher of erotica and other works has seen its sales rise by more than 56 percent over the past three years. This month, Cleis started its own online book club. The romance genre, which has traditionally featured passion in the context of adventurous love between one man and one woman and was rarely explicit, has expanded over the past several years to include bondage, fetish, multi-partner Sex and same sex scenes. Lead author Kate Douglas created the Wolf Tales series about human/wolf shape shifters and the series became a breakout hit. Even in the late 1800s erotic tales circulated widely; Victorian novels like "The Pearl" and "The Romance of Lust" were popular on both sides of the Atlantic. But erotica was always underground because it was illegal. Don't miss these Health stories Steer clear of 'diet food' traps Research shows that if we eat something labeled as "diet food" we often eat up to 28 percent more of it. Click for TODAY's do-it-yourself tips to help you feel better, focus more and avoid sneaky diet traps. But novels and short stories in which erotica was the point were relegated mainly to fringe players. She won't reveal her real name and while she has a career outside of writing books, she won't say what it is. They are cautionary tales, but the sex is off the hook. Noire, it said, “… delivers everything that lovers of this emerging micro genre — black urban erotic chick lit — are coming to expect: cribs full of music, sex, drugs and criminality; many dollars flying by; and an honest, often abused girl just trying to make it through. She’s been so successful she has turned herself into an industry, including a Cinemax series, an online store (where you can buy bras and body creams), and frequent appearances in Essence magazine. Growing number of men reading eroticaWhile the typical reader of erotic literature apears to be a middle class woman under 40, there is a male audience, too, say both writers and publishers. The readers of mainstream erotic fiction expect the sex to be interwoven and integral to the novel or story “and that’s hard to do,” Gleason said. Other than that requirement, though, readers seem willing, even enthusiastic, to read about all kinds of sexual experimentation. We have a warning on the back of the Aphrodisia books, a little box, that says ‘This is a really hot book. An unlikely issue at 85 Does sex have to be naughty to be fun. Regional accents getting stronger Related videos & slideshows Video 10 secrets of super-happy couples Video Bottoms up. Popular stories currently unavailable Top videos Popular videos currently unavailable msnbc. Erotic Book