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In Defence Of Zoella: Why It Doesn’t Matter If Her Book Was Ghost Written

‘Girl Online’ wouldn’t have had half the amount of success without Zoe Sugg’s name on the cover and besides, she's never claimed to be a professional author

It’s the biggest open secret in book publishing, so why has it got so many people up in arms?

Online video blogger Zoe Sugg – aka Zoella – has quit the internet (albeit for a few days) after it was revealed that her bestselling debut novel was ghost-written.

Zoella's debut novel 'Girl Online' became the fastest-selling book of a debut author [Rex]
Zoella's debut novel 'Girl Online' became the fastest-selling book of a debut author [Rex]

The 24-year-old internet personality confirmed on Twitter that she ‘had help’ writing her book Girl Online but that the ‘plot and characters’ were hers.

Penguin also confirmed in a statement that 'to be factually accurate, you would need to say Zoe Sugg did not write the book Girl Online on her own.’

Critics have questioned the admission on moral grounds, arguing that she has been disloyal to her readers by claiming it’s her own work.

Girl Online - not actually written by Zoe Sugg [Rex]
Girl Online - not actually written by Zoe Sugg [Rex]

And fans are furious that for someone who builds their brand on authenticity, and turns down offers for the sake of it ‘not being right’ for her YouTube channel, why did she keep the whole ghostwriting thing a secret?

But while it is disappointing to find out she didn’t write her own book, it’s hardly surprising.

Her job is essentially to make videos on YouTube (no harm in that) but she’s not a professional author and she’s never claimed to be.

Of course she is going to need help writing a book, and she’s not the first celebrity to be outed for doing so.

Did anyone really believe that glamour model Katie Price wrote her own novels?

Katie Price has admitted she hasn't written her own novels [Rex]
Katie Price has admitted she hasn't written her own novels [Rex]

And even if they did, she admitted in an interview with BBC Radio 4 that she speaks into a dictaphone and comes up with the plot and her ghostwriter does the rest.

Naomi Campbell reportedly hadn’t even READ her own book before doing press for it and had to be given a 250-word plot in order to do interviews with journalists.

And then there are all the celebrity autobiographies – it’s common knowledge that many of these were ghost-written.

The difference here is that Zoe didn’t make it clear she WASN’T the author, but surely Katie Price did exactly the same thing when she was promoting book number 14 at Waterstones?

Tim Hughes*, a ghost writer from the UK, argues that the whole selling-point of ‘Girl Online’ was Zoella the brand, and it wouldn’t have had the same level of success without her name on the cover.

“I don't blame her at all. Penguin would have organised the whole thing and they wanted a good product delivered on schedule. I don't blame them either. They know that it's about the brand, the name (Katie Price has proved that) on the cover, rather than the book itself in these kinds of cases,” he said.

“You have to remember that some of the most famous YA series in history - Sweet Valley High for example had ghostwriters.

“Are people seriously suggesting that Lauren Conrad wrote her own novel? I sincerely doubt it.

Lauren Conrad - author?
Lauren Conrad - author?

“And publishing houses now often develop series in-house (key characters, basic plot like "witch school" or something) and then give them out like writing assignments to staff writers.

“So to think that all of publishing is a passionate writer sitting in their garret for nine years honing their prose is a mistake.”

He adds that publishing is a moneymaking business and Penguin would have made a financially-savvy decision by signing up the YouTuber, even if she didn’t write it herself.

“Zoella's book being ghostwritten won't mean that the new Donna Tartt won't be discovered,” he said.

“There's even an argument propagated by some that success of books like Zoella's means publishing houses have more development money to spend on up-and-coming currently-no-name writers (not sure I believe that).

“You have to remember that publishing is a business like any other, even though words on a page may seem more romantic than that.”

[Zoella exclusive interview on anxiety]

[Who is Zoella?]