YouTube star Zoella breaks British book sales record

YouTube star Zoella has broken British sales records with her debut book, the young adult novel “Girl Online.” With 78,000 copies sold in its first week, “Girl Online” is England’s fastest-selling book of 2014.

Zoella was a sprightly, beauty- and fashion-obsessed teen when she began her video blog in 2009. Now, the 24-year-old online star’s YouTube channels have more than 9 million subscribers. With that have come sponsors, prizes -- a Nickelodeon Kids Choice Award, a BBC Radio 1 Teen Award, a Teen Choice Award -- and a U.K. book deal with publisher Penguin.

The book “Girl Online” is described as “a modern-day Notting Hill for teens, where an ordinary 15-year-old girl’s relationship with an American pop star goes viral as her anonymous blog is exposed to the world.” It was published under Zoella’s real name, Zoe Sugg.

When she heard the news about her book’s record-breaking sales, 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.”

The book was published simultaneously in the United States by Atria. It hasn’t zoomed as high up the U.S. charts yet, but it is doing quite well. “Girl Online” is currently at No. 131 on Amazon’s bestseller list, ahead of popular young adult author Marie Lu (“Young Elites,” No. 631), bestselling fantasy author Diana Gabaldon (“Written in My Own Heart’s Blood,” No. 570) and star literary memoirist Karl Ove Knaussgaard (“My Struggle: Book Three,” No. 8,191).

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