Zoe Sugg, a 24-year-old from Brighton whose YouTube videos are watched by more than 12 million people every month, has been signed up by Penguin to begin a career as a novelist.
Sugg, known online as Zoella, started her YouTube channel and her blog in 2009, covering beauty and fashion, but also issues such as anxiety, self-esteem, and cyber-bullying. She now has 4.9 million YouTube subscribers, 1.6 million Twitter followers and two million Instagram followers.
Penguin announced on Tuesday that it had bought two novels from Sugg, who it said had won "a legion of teenage fans across the globe" with her "girl-next-door personality". American and Canadian rights in the books were sold in 24 hours to Atria Books.
Sugg's first novel, Girl Online, is "a modern-day Notting Hill for teens", according to Penguin, in which "an ordinary 15-year-old girl's relationship with an American pop star goes viral as her anonymous blog is exposed to the world".
"I had no idea Girl Online would take off the way it has – I can't believe I now have 5,432 followers, thanks so much! – and the thought of opening up to you all about this is terrifying, but here goes … " writes heroine Penny, who blogs under the alias GirlOnline, tackling "school dramas, boys, her mad, whirlwind family – and the panic attacks she's suffered from lately" as well as the moment she falls in love with "the gorgeous, guitar-strumming Noah".
The book will be published this November. Amy McCulloch, editorial director of Penguin Children's, said that Sugg "has an incredible voice for teens and she drew on her wealth of experience dealing with real issues like anxiety and cyber-bullying to deliver a poignant, romantic and heart-warming debut novel".
Sugg said she had had her "nose in a book" ever since she learned to read, and that when she was 14, she "had my mind set on the fact that I would one day write my own book, something that other people would love to read".
"I then started writing my blog in 2009 and would never have imagined it would bring me the opportunity to make my teenage dream come true," she added.
Sugg's agent, Dominic Smales at Gleam Futures, said that "social talent like Zoe will be an important cultural influence in the future". Her deal follows one for Anna Todd, whose fan fiction about the band One Direction garnered 800m reads on the website Wattpad, landing her a book deal with Simon & Schuster earlier this month.
