E. L. James has introduced millions of women to the world of sadomasochistic erotica through her “Fifty Shades” trilogy. But Anne Rice got there first.

Ms. Rice’s “Sleeping Beauty” trilogy, published in the 1980s under the pen name A. N. Roquelaure, was an underground hit when it was first released. Now, trying to capture some sales from “Fifty Shades” readers searching for their next book in the genre, Ms. Rice’s publisher will rerelease the novels this week with slick new covers.

In case any potential reader misses the point, each book jacket is stamped with a message: “If you liked 50 Shades of Grey, you’ll love the Sleeping Beauty trilogy.”

The reissued books include a new preface by Ms. Rice, who wrote that the novel “Fifty Shades of Grey” proved that “people in general are ‘out of the closet’ as enjoyers of erotic books.”

The “Sleeping Beauty” books were a graphic reimagining of the fairy tale, with Sleeping Beauty awakened in the opening pages by a prince who surprised her with more than a chaste kiss. (Ms. Rice, by then a well-known novelist, later revealed herself to be Roquelaure.)

The new books display Ms. Rice’s name prominently as the author, with smaller text beneath it that says “writing as A. N. Roquelaure.” They will go on sale on Thursday, released by Plume, an imprint of Penguin Group USA.

Publishers have raced in recent months to acquire, release and market more erotica to take advantage of the attention paid to the “Fifty Shades” books, which are the best-selling novels in the country.

A spokeswoman for Plume said the publisher had recorded a sharp rise in sales of the Ms. Rice’s trilogy in recent months. Sales in the first six months of 2012 were twice those throughout all of 2011. Plume said it would print 350,000 copies of the newly designed books, titled “The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty,” “Beauty’s Release” and “Beauty’s Punishment.”

In an interview, Ms. Rice, whose latest novel, “The Wolf Gift,” was released by Knopf in February, said she had been heartened by the openness with which people were discussing erotica, a far cry from when the “Sleeping Beauty” books were released.

“In the ’80s when these books were published, people really didn’t want to talk about them,” Ms. Rice said. “It was viewed as an outrageous thing to do. The gays were the only people speaking about sexual liberation.”

She said that the empowerment of women today had allowed them to freely acknowledge enjoying erotic novels. “Women have just as much right to pornography as men do, and I’m talking about literary porn, erotica,” she said. “If a woman wants to read about being overwhelmed by a pirate, that’s her right.”