YouTube sensation Zoe Sugg, aka Zoella, has a new book out today. She hosted a launch party for her debut novel, Girl Online, in central London last night. Doesn’t celebrity chef Jamie Oliver look excited to be there? Anyway, the book is out and Zoella’s fans have been commenting like mad about it on Twitter this morning. Some people are excited to read a book for once.Actually excited to read a book for once :') @ZozeeBo #GirlOnline — Amy McCullough (@Amyy_McCullough) Some got up seriously early to get their hands on a copy. @ZozeeBo I bought mine at 6am! — tracey sargeson (@tlsargeson) @ZozeeBo #GirlOnline display at my local waterstones! (Had to wait outside cos they weren't open yet oops) #eager — Rianne Potter Holme (@rianneholme) People have been waiting for this day for a long time. MY CALENDAR SAYS IT ALL!!! — ♡Madeleine Low♡ (@Madeleine2110) #GirlOnline #GirlOnline #GirlOnline #GirlOnline #GirlOnline #GirlOnline omg zoe I cant wait to read it and ilysssm imma so proud ♔ @ZozeeBo
@ZozeeBo my mam knows what to get me👌👌😁 #GirlOnline xx OMG @ZozeeBo #GirlOnline | the time has come!!! It's so weird to have it in my hands OMG I'm so proud 💕💗 ILY —oella fans who have the book can’t stop reading it. Halfway through #GirlOnline .. will be finished in a couple of hours and what will I do then? It's perfect @ZozeeBo 💗 — ozeeBo #girlonline you should be so proud, this book is excellent. I'm on Chapter 12 and I've already laughed, cried and loved it all — kerri xox (@kezza_pocka) @ZozeeBo just finished reading #GirlOnline it's amazing and Some really great advice in it that everyone can take something from-Much love-X — Nicola Bulman (@nikkibulman) Noah is a character in the book fyi. @ZozeeBo Noah is a dreamboat <3 #GirlOnline — Noreen Khanom (@NoreenKhanom) Those who don’t have the book yet are getting pretty frantic. still waiting for #GirlOnline, hurry up postman!!! @ZozeeBo 'S BOOK JUST ARRIVED AT MY DADS WORK BUT IM IN SCHOOL AND IM FREAKING OUT #GirlOnline —
Please Luke? ♡ :( (g the day has come!!! #GirlOnline is finally out!! my mum said i can get it for christmas :) — Lucy Hutchings (@LucyHutchings1) have about ꌰ in my bank and desperately need petrol, looks like i'll be waiting for @ZozeeBo's book until after payday #GirlOnline — shannon ✌️ (@_shannonsaurus) It’s pretty much child cruelty. my #GirlOnline has been dispatched but I'm not allowed it until christmas💔 pretty much child cruelty tbf — a then there’s the group who are just desperate for the book not to be ruined by spoilers. PLEASE DONT TWEET ANY SPOILERS TO ZOES BOOK BC NOT EVERYONE CAN GET IT TODAY AND ITLL BE UNFAIR #GirlOnline — millie (@rickysnecklace) I think twitter needs to be a spoiler free zone until like January so everyone has the chance to read #girlonline 💖 — (christmas) eve (@evebennettx) REPEAT AFTER ME: I will not tweet #GirlOnline spoilers — kation for no one to spoil #GirlOnline until new year so then that gives people time after christmas — 2
is heading to Glasgow today for an eagerly awaited book signing. IT'S OFFICIALLY TODAY! Girl Online is now available to buy. I can't believe the day is finally here. Now up to Scotland I go! #GirlOnline — Zola hysteria comes to Glasgow today for her #GirlOnline book signing in top secret location ooooh. — Ruth Foulis (@ruffassa) The 24-year-old will then appear at a signing event in Kent on Wednesday, followed by one in Manchester on Thursday. Due to her huge popularity (she has some 6 million subscribers on YouTube), the events are all ticketed and those who attend have been told they won’t be able to get their picture taken with her. Given the reaction it received in just a few hours, Girl Online, published by Penguin, looks destined to top the bestseller lists this Christmas. YouTube Star Zoella’s Book Is Already A Bestseller And It Isn’t Out For Another Month buzz Is How Nine People Came To Dominate The UK YouTube Scene buzz
2 Photos and videos Are you sure you want to view these Tweets? Viewing Tweets won't unblock @Zozeebo Loading seems to be taking a while. Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information. Catch up instantly on the best stories happening as they unfold.LONDON — British YouTube sensation Zoella has been at the centre of an online backlash after it was revealed her publishers employed a ghostwriter to work on her debut novel Girl Online. The book, which sold 78,000 copies in its first week after it was released by Penguin on Nov. 25, became the fastest-selling debut since Nielsen BookScan began keeping track of sales since 1998, surpassing efforts from J.K. Rowling and Dan Brown. See also: YouTube star Zoella breaks first week sales records with debut novel During the week, though, rumours started circulating that Zoella, whose real name is Zoe Sugg, had had a little help with the book, something she hinted at in the acknowledgements of her book and finally confirmed on Twitter.
This might answer some of your tweets! — Zoë (@ZozeeBo) December 7, 2014 The acknowledgements page mentioned several names that led readers to believe the novel - which is about a young blogger that falls in love - wasn't all original work. "I want to thank everyone at Penguin for helping me put together my first novel, especially Amy Alward and Siobhan Curham who were with me every step of the way," she wrote. Amy Alward is an editorial director at Penguin; Curham is thought to be the ghostwriter. A Penguin spokeswoman wouldn't directly confirm that the book was ghostwritten, but did tell Mashable that "Siobhan was part of the editorial team that worked with Zoe on Girl Online." Curham didn't respond to a request for comment. Andrew Crofts, a prolific ghostwriter who has written some 80 books and sold more than 10 million copies, believes that the response is unfair. "They should stop raining on her parade," Crofts told Mashable. "She's a nice girl who's got a following.
It's Penguin who have created this by not being completely open in their initial answers. By being mealy-mouthed they've brought it on themselves." Crofts, whose tell-all memoir Confessions of a Ghostwriter lifted the lid on the profession this summer, says most people aren't bothered if something is ghostwritten. "The public doesn't care, and they've shown that with people like David Beckham and Katie Price," he says, referring to two celebrities who openly admit their books are the work of someone else. "If the book's good people don't care who wrote it. They just want a quality product." He also thinks it's obvious that a YouTube star such as Zoella would need help with a debut novel. "It takes a a lot of time to learn how to write a book — you have to slog away for years," he said. "The chances that they could suddenly write 70,000 words to publishable standard is unlikely. I don’t think her readers stop to think about it." Crofts says that publishers traditionally wanted ghostwriters to be totally secret, but that has shifted with the public's change in attitude, partly due to shows like The X Factor that depict the behind-the-scenes nature of the entertainment industry.
He believes that around 50% of nonfiction and 10% to 20% of commercial fiction — those books you see on the tables at the entrance to stores — are from ghostwritten, often “where the writer is already a brand.” Penguin defended its editorial decisions to Mashable in a further statement: As publishers our role is, and always has been, to find the very best talent and help them tell their story and connect them with readers. Talented You Tube entrepreneurs such as Zoe are brilliant at understanding and entertaining their audience. For her first novel, Girl Online, Zoe has worked with an expert editorial team to help her bring to life her characters and experiences in a heartwarming and compelling story. Also controversial was the rumoured fee that the ghostwriter was paid. Several authors reportedly turned down a £7,000 to £8,000 fee to ghostwrite the book. Crofts told Mashable that ghostwriters can usually negotiate a fee of around 30% to 50% of the royalties, an insight which might upset anyone who was paid a flat fee for a novel that sold more than 70,000 copies in the first week alone.
He thinks the rumoured low fee is down to the abundance of available writers in the young adult fiction genre and a keenness by publishers to maximise profit. "They say Amazon is the big bad bully," he said, but publishers "make writers write as much as fast as possible." "Like most companies, Penguin never discloses salaries, fees or contracts with third parties," a spokeswoman said. One author recommended buying original works from Curham as compensation. If you're incensed by the Zoella-ghostwriter-getting-paid-bog-all scandal, there's a simple way to help.Buy Siobhan Curham's own books. — Sally Nicholls (@Sally_Nicholls) December 5, 2014 They're probably much better than Zoella's too. Not having been written in six months. Seriously, let's do this. Imagine if you'd written the NUMBER 1 BESTSELLING BOOK on Amazon and you'd been paid four figures. Amid the online uproar, Zoella annoucned on Twitter on Monday that she is taking a break from the Internet.
#GirlOnline — Zola hysteria comes to Glasgow today for her #GirlOnline book signing in top secret location ooooh. — Ruth Foulis (@ruffassa) The 24-year-old will then appear at a signing event in Kent on Wednesday, followed by one in Manchester on Thursday. Due to her huge popularity (she has some 6 million subscribers on YouTube), the events are all ticketed and those who attend have been told they won’t be able to get their picture taken with her. Given the reaction it received in just a few hours, Girl Online, published by Penguin, looks destined to top the bestseller lists this Christmas. YouTube Star Zoella’s Book Is Already A Bestseller And It Isn’t Out For Another Month buzz Is How Nine People Came To Dominate The UK YouTube Scene buzz