--- description: Author breaks silence to defend herself and the book title: Zoella: Ghostwriter Says She Had Issues with 'Girl Online' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt53eb806e6028af6f/69876e42a988ca2a806ab560/zoella1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Books](/tag/books/) ## Books Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Video Blogger's Ghostwriter Says She Had 'Issues' with _Girl Online_ by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 11, 2014 5:38 PM CUT  YouTube blogger Zoe Sugg, known as Zoella, poses during a photocall for her debut novel "Girl Online" in London Nov. 24, 2014. YouTube blogger Zoe Sugg, known as Zoella, poses during a photocall for her debut novel "Girl Online" in London Nov. 24, 2014.Luke MacGregor—Reuters by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 11, 2014 5:38 PM CUT The author who has been described as the ghostwriter behind YouTube star Zoella’s [New York _Times_ best-selling](http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/young-adult/list.html "undefined") young adult novel _Girl Online_ said she had issues with the way the project was managed that she is barred from discussing. [The _Sunday Times_](http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk%5Fnews/article1492948.ece?CMP=OTH-gnws-standard-2014%5F12%5F07 "undefined") of London named British Young Adult writer Siobhan Curham as the likely ghostwriter of the book by Zoella, whose real name is Zoe Sugg. Curham, along with author and editorial director at Penguin U.K., Amy Alward, were mentioned in Sugg’s acknowledgements for _Girl Online_ — but many people criticized Sugg for not explicitly crediting a ghostwriter. On Monday, _Girl Online_‘s publisher Penguin [told TIME in a statement](http://time.com/3623032/zoella-girl-online-ghost-written/# "undefined") that, “The factual accuracy of the matter is simply that Zoe Sugg did not write _Girl Online_ on her own. For her first novel, _Girl Online_, Zoe has worked with an expert editorial team to help her bring to life her characters and experiences in a heartwarming and compelling story.” Despite the online backlash that erupted against Sugg, Curham had stayed quiet on the controversy. But on Wednesday, Curham [posted a defense of both herself and Sugg](http://daretodreamcoaching.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/girl-online-for-record%5F10.html "undefined") to her blog. Writing that she had signed on to help Sugg with the book not to become “famous” or “rich,” Curham said that she’d agreed because she loves writing and “helping others write books.” She did, however, note that it wasn’t an entirely enjoyable process, saying: --- > “” --- Curham also noted that she couldn’t reveal the precise nature of the work she did on the book, for “legal reasons,” though she did say, “Zoe Sugg chose to create a storyline that dealt with \[issues such as cyber bullying, homophobia and anxiety\] out of a desire to help her fans. And, when I was offered the opportunity to help Zoe, I also saw the opportunity to help get important and empowering messages across to her incredibly huge fan-base.” And, perhaps proving that she really is a fan of the perpetually optimistic Sugg, Curham also found the bright spot in the whole ordeal. “By breaking sales records — because of Zoe’s humungous fan-base — book stores such as Waterstones are ending the year on healthy profits,” she writes. “Thousands of young people across the world have been tweeting excitedly about reading a book!” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3629612/zoella-girl-online/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3629612/zoella-girl-online/"},"headline":"Video Blogger's Ghostwriter Says She Had 'Issues' with Girl Online","datePublished":"2014-12-11T17:38:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:46:10.320Z","description":"Author breaks silence to defend herself and the book","url":"https://time.com/3629612/zoella-girl-online/","keywords":["Books","controversy","YA"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt53eb806e6028af6f/69876e42a988ca2a806ab560/zoella1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt53eb806e6028af6f/69876e42a988ca2a806ab560/zoella1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Zoella","caption":"YouTube blogger Zoe Sugg, known as Zoella, poses during a photocall for her debut novel \"Girl Online\" in London Nov. 24, 2014.","creditText":"Luke MacGregor—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3629612/zoella-girl-online/","name":"Video Blogger's Ghostwriter Says She Had 'Issues' with Girl Online"}}]}] ```