Ghost Online vs. Girl Online- who wrote the book?
Zoella- a young woman fast becoming a house hold name. Starting as a YouTube 'vlogger', Zoe Sugg (better known as YouTube name 'Zoella') has been named "Britain's most influential tweeter", launched a line of beauty products, made several radio and television appearances and now published a novel- "Girl Online".
Released at the end of November, "Girl Online"was already one of the most highly anticipated books of this year due to Zoe's near 7 million YouTube subscribers and 2.61 million Twitter followers. However, no one could have predicted the incredulous success of the book, which sold over 78,000 copies in just seven days, beating the debuts of novelists J K Rowling and Dan Brown. The novel itself is fictional but with an autobiographical undertone, as it follows the story of Penny, a young blogger hiding behind the name "Girl Online".
Fans all over the country were thrilled with the book, some even claiming to have read it over night due to how fantastic it was. For bloggers and vloggers at more of a start out stage, such as myself, the release of the book only further demonstrated what doors could be opened to us if we pushed ourselves forwards enough. If Zoella hadn't inspired us enough already, she sure as hell had done it now. As a regular person using social media to try and get somewhere, you couldn't help but gaze in awe at this young woman who had done just that.
Until this morning. This morning, Sunday the 7th of December, saw the confirmation from both Zoella and Penguin Random House that her debut novel, "Girl Online", was ghost written. Penguin Random House were the first to speak out regarding the reoccurring questioning of Zoella's novel-writing talent, saying "to be factually accurate you would need to say Zoe Sugg did not write the book Girl Online on her own". As you can expect, social media platforms went into meltdown, with Zoe herself receiving torrents of tweets abusing, sympathizing and questioning her on both the accuracy of this statement, Zoe's own honesty and on who really wrote the novel.
Many people have ditched the idea of the novel entirely, with many who had plans to read and/or buy it now saying otherwise due to the disappointment and 'falseness' of both the novel and Zoe. Others have said it doesn't matter and is a common occurrence among celebrities who turn to writing. Finally, this afternoon Zoe spoke out on the situation herself, saying "Everyone needs help when they try something new. The story and characters of Girl Online are mine."
Zoella has signed a two book deal with the publishing company, so will it be a potential sequel or an autobiography on the horizon? Either way it's safe to say that today's announcement could have some impact on the YouTube stars success as an author. But should it really matter?
A number of celebrities who choose to bring out an autobiography have them ghost written by somebody else. As a footballer, actress or model, your talent for writing is not necessarily going to be one of your best. One of the most current celebrities to use a ghost writer is Katie Price. Bringing out a range of non-fiction and fiction books, Katie has openly admitted to using a ghost writer for her stories. She acknowledges writing is not her strong point, yet her books are still a success.
Many other celebrities acknowledge the ghost writers and thank them publicly. It seems the general consensus among Zoella's followers is that they don't mind that the book is ghost written, only that she wasn't completely honest about it. Bibliodaze blog wrote "80,000 sales in one week speaks a hell of a lot louder than this kind of discussion, and many of Sugg's fans will remain dedicated to their idol".
To me, it seems as though Zoella was offered the opportunity to publish a book for a rather large sum of money and decided to take it- who wouldn't? Whilst others argue that Zoella simply wanted to venture out into new things, I refuse to believe this. She has ventured into new things, such as launching a beauty line- this still relates to something the YouTube star knows about and loves. Maybe launching a clothing line would have been more appropriate than going headlong into a brand new field and ending up disappointing many of her fans before she's even had her final big break.
Love from,
Florence Grace
What do you think? Does it matter that Zoella's book was ghost written? Do you think she should have chosen to do this? Let me know in the comments below or get in touch using the links in the sidebar!
Released at the end of November, "Girl Online"was already one of the most highly anticipated books of this year due to Zoe's near 7 million YouTube subscribers and 2.61 million Twitter followers. However, no one could have predicted the incredulous success of the book, which sold over 78,000 copies in just seven days, beating the debuts of novelists J K Rowling and Dan Brown. The novel itself is fictional but with an autobiographical undertone, as it follows the story of Penny, a young blogger hiding behind the name "Girl Online".
Fans all over the country were thrilled with the book, some even claiming to have read it over night due to how fantastic it was. For bloggers and vloggers at more of a start out stage, such as myself, the release of the book only further demonstrated what doors could be opened to us if we pushed ourselves forwards enough. If Zoella hadn't inspired us enough already, she sure as hell had done it now. As a regular person using social media to try and get somewhere, you couldn't help but gaze in awe at this young woman who had done just that.
Until this morning. This morning, Sunday the 7th of December, saw the confirmation from both Zoella and Penguin Random House that her debut novel, "Girl Online", was ghost written. Penguin Random House were the first to speak out regarding the reoccurring questioning of Zoella's novel-writing talent, saying "to be factually accurate you would need to say Zoe Sugg did not write the book Girl Online on her own". As you can expect, social media platforms went into meltdown, with Zoe herself receiving torrents of tweets abusing, sympathizing and questioning her on both the accuracy of this statement, Zoe's own honesty and on who really wrote the novel.
Many people have ditched the idea of the novel entirely, with many who had plans to read and/or buy it now saying otherwise due to the disappointment and 'falseness' of both the novel and Zoe. Others have said it doesn't matter and is a common occurrence among celebrities who turn to writing. Finally, this afternoon Zoe spoke out on the situation herself, saying "Everyone needs help when they try something new. The story and characters of Girl Online are mine."
Zoella has signed a two book deal with the publishing company, so will it be a potential sequel or an autobiography on the horizon? Either way it's safe to say that today's announcement could have some impact on the YouTube stars success as an author. But should it really matter?
A number of celebrities who choose to bring out an autobiography have them ghost written by somebody else. As a footballer, actress or model, your talent for writing is not necessarily going to be one of your best. One of the most current celebrities to use a ghost writer is Katie Price. Bringing out a range of non-fiction and fiction books, Katie has openly admitted to using a ghost writer for her stories. She acknowledges writing is not her strong point, yet her books are still a success.
Many other celebrities acknowledge the ghost writers and thank them publicly. It seems the general consensus among Zoella's followers is that they don't mind that the book is ghost written, only that she wasn't completely honest about it. Bibliodaze blog wrote "80,000 sales in one week speaks a hell of a lot louder than this kind of discussion, and many of Sugg's fans will remain dedicated to their idol".
To me, it seems as though Zoella was offered the opportunity to publish a book for a rather large sum of money and decided to take it- who wouldn't? Whilst others argue that Zoella simply wanted to venture out into new things, I refuse to believe this. She has ventured into new things, such as launching a beauty line- this still relates to something the YouTube star knows about and loves. Maybe launching a clothing line would have been more appropriate than going headlong into a brand new field and ending up disappointing many of her fans before she's even had her final big break.
Love from,
Florence Grace
What do you think? Does it matter that Zoella's book was ghost written? Do you think she should have chosen to do this? Let me know in the comments below or get in touch using the links in the sidebar!
I think people would be surprised at the number of celebrities and public figures who have had ghost writers help them with their books. I think Zoe has proved already from her youtube videos, that she is creative and smart. She was given an opportunity and quite frankly, I would be disappointed in Zoe turning down a great opportunity like publishing a novel, because she had to use the help of a ghost writer. I believe Lauren Conrad also used a ghost writer on her very successful series of books. I don't think it takes away from the content or authenticity. A good book is a good book, even if it had more than one person collaborating on it. Using a ghost writer is never a secret, as there names are often printed on the inside cover of the book! Great post!
ReplyDeletexx
www.darcymae.com
Yes, me too! She definitely has proved she is far from stupid or dependent on others from success- and I think that's why this came as such a big shock to her fans. Yes, definitely- I just think Zoe should have foreseen this happening when she is in the limelight so much, and maybe should have mentioned that as its's her first novel her friend blah blah helped her to structure ZOE'S story. That's what people are forgetting too- the ghost writer didn't write the story, just structured a story that Zoe had already! Thank you, glad you enjoyed! xx
DeleteGreat post! I've taken a slightly more personal and intimate view of events over on my blog, if you wanted to head over and take a look and let me know what you think that would be hugely appreciated!
ReplyDeletehttp://illuminoire.blogspot.com
Cheri xox
Thank you! I shall check your post out now :) xx
DeleteI enjoyed reading this as I didn't realise she had used a ghost writer. I can understand why it would bother some people but it doesn't bother me I really enjoy watching Zoe and reading her blog posts I think she's done so well for being so young and I think if it was me I wouldn't pass up that sort of opportunity :) ive been wanting to buy her book for a while but keep forgetting too I need to remember haha
ReplyDeleteLucy x
www.lucyabbaszadeh.co.uk
Thank you! Yes me too, but it hasn't damaged my opinion of her too much! I'm hoping to get it for Christmas! x
DeleteI wrote about the furore surrounding her book. Honestly I'm in two minds about it. I think some people felt like she had misled them, because when she announced that her book was coming out people assumed she had written it herself. However, what a lot of people fail to realise is that so many famous figure get their books ghostwritten! It's quite common.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, as an aspiring writer I'd rather write my books myself, but I don't think this has completely damaged Zoella's reputation. She's still a big YouTuber, and she's still going onwards and upwards!
Chichi
http://chichi-writes.blogspot.co.uk/