Eight sentences have been taken out of the text below. Insert each sentence in the corresponding gap in the text. One sentence is not needed. 0 is an example.
ALTHOUGH THEY TEND NOT TO ACCEPT THIS FACT
DESPITE CHRONICLING MUCH OF HER LIFE ON SOCIAL MEDIA
EVERYONE NEEDS HELP WHEN THEY TRY SOMETHING NEW
FOR SOMETHING OTHER THAN WRITING
IT'S COME TRUE
MAKES NO SECRET OF THE FACT HER NOVELS
THAN THIS KIND OF DISCUSSION
WERE LARGELY WRITTEN BY A RANGE OF GHOSTWRITERS
WHO WERE WITH ME EVERY STEP OF THE WAY
When Zoe Sugg, (0) …………………. YouTube superstar Zoella, released her first novel Girl Online in November, it scored the highest first-week sales for a debut author since records began, selling 78,109 copies in seven days. But as more people have read the book, some have begun to ask if it was written entirely by Zoe Sugg.
Today, a spokesperson for Penguin Random House told the Sunday Times that "to be factually accurate you would need to say Zoe Sugg did not write the book Girl Online on her own". Later, Sugg posted a message on Twitter saying: "Of course I was going to have help from Penguin's editorial team in telling my story, which I talked about from the beginning. (1) ………………….. . The story and the characters of Girl Online are mine. I want to thank all of you who have taken time to support the book.” The publishers have signed a two-book deal with Sugg.
Speculation began because of 24-year-old Sugg's acknowledgements page in Girl Online, which reads: "I want to thank everyone at Penguin for helping me put together my first novel, especially Amy Alward and Siobhan Curham, (2) …………………. .” Alward is Sugg's editor. Curham's exact role is unclear, but she usually works as a novelist and freelance writer of young adult fiction.
Some bloggers claimed to have found an archived, deleted post on Curham's website about being asked to write a novel in six weeks, which could in theory fit with the timeline from Zoella announcing her novel to its release. (3) …………………. , Sugg rarely mentioned working on her novel, which is about a teenage girl whose blog goes viral after she meets a rock star, before publication.
Ghostwriting is a common feature of celebrity publishing. Former glamour model Katie Price (4) …………………. were ghostwritten by Rebecca Farnworth, who died last week at the age of 49. Katie Price's novel Crystal, written by Farnworth, outsold the entire Booker Prize list the year it was published.
Actors, musicians, athletes and politicians work with ghostwriters as a matter of course. Sometimes they are credited - as in the case of Roy Keane's recent book with Roddy Doyle, or Alex Haley's co-authorship of the Autobiography of Malcolm X; at other times they are not. The authors of such ghostwritten books are people who are famous (5) …………………. . Zoella has a following thanks to viewers of her video blog, not because she is the new Zadie Smith.
Inevitably, some people have asked if how much it actually matters that the book may be ghostwritten. As the Bibliodaze blog put it: "80,000 sales in one week speaks a hell of a lot louder (6) …………………., and many of Sugg’s fans will remain dedicated to their idol."
Plenty of popular novels, especially those aimed at children and young people, have been ghostwritten. Although Anne M Martin wrote many of the hugely popular The Baby-Sitters Club series of books published under her name, a number were ghostwritten by Peter Lerangis. Similarly, Francine Pascal's Sweet Valley books for teenagers (7) …………………. .
On the back cover of Girl Online, Sugg is quoted as saying: "My dream has been to write a book, and I can't believe (8) …………………. . Girl Online is my first novel and I'm so excited for you to read it." The biographical details on the book say that Sugg "has been writing stories ever since she was little".
The Telegraph's Anita Singh called Girl Online "sugary as a frosted cupcake... Even Winnie the Pooh might regard it as a bit twee". Siobhan Curham could not be reached for comment.
Photo: REUTERS/Luke MacGregor through The Telegraph
Key:
although they tend not to acknowledge this fact (not needed)
Despite chronicling much of her life on social media 3
Everyone needs help when they try something new 1
for something other than writing 5
it's come true 8
makes no secret of the fact her novels 4
than this kind of discussion 6
were largely written by a range of ghostwriters 7
who were with me every step of the way 2
