A YouTube Star's Fame Translates to Record-Breaking Book Sales Zoe Sugg, known on YouTube as Zoella, finds success with her first novel.
By Carly Okyle
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Just as famous singers like Cher and Madonna have found cross-over success in acting, British YouTube star Zoella (real name Zoe Sugg) has triumphed in her transition into writing. Her debut novel, Girl Online, has sold 78,000 copies in its first week, the most sales in that time recorded by Nielsen BookScan, Mashable reports.
Sugg had a solid fan base to appeal to, with more than 6.6 million subscribers to her fashion, beauty and lifestyle-focused YouTube channel. Those numbers make her channel the 51st most popular on YouTube, ahead of the NBA (number 69) and the VEVO account for rapper Pitbull (number 80). Currently, the book is in the top slot on Amazon.
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The novel -- the first installment in a series -- tells the story of a blogger who moves to New York City and falls for a musician. Earlier this week, Sugg expressed appreciation to her fans for their part in the book's record-breaking sales numbers. "I'm legit blown away by this," she tweeted.
I'm legit blown away by this. I never in a million years thought that so many of you would pick up a copy of Girl Online. Almost wanna cry..
— Zoë (@ZozeeBo) December 2, 2014With such success, Sugg joins ranks with John Green, a YouTube star whose book The Fault in Our Stars was later made into a movie.
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