YouTube Star Tanya Burr On Why She Acknowledged Her Ghost Writer And Didn’t Ask Zoella For Help

The vlogger's new book has been released just weeks after the controversial publication of Zoe Sugg's Girl Online.

On Thursday, YouTube star Tanya Burr released her first book, and it has already found its way to the top of bestseller lists.

Channel 7 / Via youtube.com

Its publication comes hot on the heels of the controversial debut novel by fellow vlogger Zoe Sugg.

Burr has openly acknowledged she used a ghost writer to help create the part-autobiography, part-lifestyle guide, which is called Love, Tanya.

While there has been plenty written about whether Sugg did enough to acknowledge the help she received for her book, Burr told BuzzFeed News that publicly praising author Georgina Rodgers for her help came "completely naturally".

In a blog post, Burr also said:

Although I wanted to write the whole book myself, I knew it wasn't realistic with the time scale we had to work to.

Georgina came over almost every day for a week and we just talked loads with a dictaphone running, I told her all about the chapters I had planned and she suggested new ones and we basically just brainstormed.

Georgina then went home and transcribed our days of chatting and came up with a draft and structure for the book.

I then spent all my time working on the text.

Rodgers, meanwhile, told BuzzFeed News she did not want to comment on the writing process as she was busy with another project.

Twitter: @georginaro

The book the pair created is a 300-page fashion, beauty, and cooking guide that also tells the story of Burr’s childhood.

Burr said she has no plans to release a follow-up and only signed a deal with Penguin for a single publication, unlike Sugg, whose second novel is set to be released later this year.

Burr told BuzzFeed News she did not ask Sugg for any advice about writing a book, despite them both landing publishing deals off the back of their YouTube success.

instagram.com

Instead, she sought advice and help from old schoolfriends and Penguin.

The publishing house told her the initial book idea needed developing and twice as many chapters when the deal was struck in September.

It was at that point that Rodgers came on board.

Tanya Burr @TanyaBurr

My book is now officially out! I'm an author! This is so exciting. I really hope you all like it.

07:53 AM - 29 Jan 2015

Georgina Rodgers @georginaro

Sad to be missing @TanyaBurr launch party later for #LoveTanya Instead I will be in my onesie eating chicken soup. Have fun guys! #flu #sob

02:34 PM - 27 Jan 2015

The book's publication has seen Burr embark on something of a surprise worldwide promotional tour.

youtube.com

During a recent holiday to Sydney, Australia, with her fiancé, fellow YouTube star Jim Chapman, Burr found herself on national TV following a request from her publisher.

After the UK Penguin team informed their Australian counterparts she was going to be in the country, the press were informed and there was immediately interest.

And Burr then found herself spending a day of her holiday with a member of the talent agency she is signed to, Gleam Futures, doing interviews and promoting the book.

Here she is on Channel 7's Sunrise programme:

youtube.com

Even on the other side of the world, the vlogger has devoted fans following her every move and watching her videos in their thousands.

youtube.com

Since starting her channel in 2009, Burr, who used to work at a beauty counter, has wracked up almost 3 million subscribers on YouTube and over 1.2 million followers on Twitter.

Her success is down to her likability, and how her fans can relate to the things she says and does.

She recently told ITV News London:

It's hard to say why the videos are so popular. I think it's because I'm just a normal girl, going about my life, and I film some make-up tutorials – so I guess they can be quite helpful for people.

Also I vlog my daily life, like I was just filming backstage here … giving people a behind-the-scenes look at what I get up to.

When I meet [fans] in the street, we seem to have so much in common and it feels like I'm meeting friends, which is really nice.

Burr told BuzzFeed News she has been completely overwhelmed by the support she has received and was thrilled to learn that young girls reading her book claim to have been empowered by it.

Tanya Burr @TanyaBurr

Every time someone says something nice to me today I just cry #ijusthavealotoffeelings

Wed Jan 28 10:40:55 UTC+0000 2015

YouTube has provided Burr, and her fellow vloggers, with an extremely lucrative career, something she said she never imagined was possible.

instagram.com

Next month, the 25-year-old is taking her book on tour, before working on "something huge" for her beauty range later in the year.

She is also marrying Chapman, an event that is guaranteed to greatly excite their millions of fans.

Having previously told BuzzFeed News she plans to continue vlogging for at least another five years, it appears Burr is making the most of her devoted following and every success it brings.