Zoella is already an internet star – now she’s celebrating being a literary one too, after reaching number three on the Amazon Bestseller chart at the launch of her debut novel thanks to the pre-orders alone.

Zoella
(Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire)

Zoella, real name Zoe Sugg, has more than six million YouTube subscribers to her beauty video blogs – and her devoted online following is expected to take the book to number one.

A collection of her friends, family and the industry’s main booksellers showed up at Penguin Random House’s offices in London’s Charing Cross for the launch of Zoella’s book, Girl Online.

The popularity of the book was such that every vendor broke the embargo on its sale, the publisher said.

Jamie Oliver
(Ian West/PA Wire)

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver was there to show his support. He said: “I’ve come for two reasons. I’ve been working with the (book publishing) team for 17 years and I’ve been doing YouTube for a year and a bit. I’m very supportive of Zoe.”

He added: “Traditional TV has been about stealing each other’s audience. If me or Gordon (Ramsay) had a show it was stealing the audience from the other but YouTube isn’t like that. It’s about sharing and working together.”

Oliver has 1,145,224 YouTube subscribers while the 24-year old currently has 6,570,237 and more than 2.5 million Twitter followers. She began her videos, which includes titles such as Drugstore Beauty Spree, in 2007.

Oliver praised Sugg, her boyfriend Alfie Deyes who is also a YouTube success, and their fellow blogger friends, saying: “They’re really dynamic. We have to admire them, they’re doing five things in one – and my kids love them.

“I don’t like to admit this but I’m the old fart here, it feels like now a new generation is starting here. I’ve been doing this for 17 years. I used to think I was doing a great job if I had 1,500 people turning up. Alfie’s been getting 18,000.”

Bloggers Tanya Burr, Giovanna Fletcher, Victoria Magrath and Jim Chapman were all at the book launch . Booksellers WHSmith and Waterstones also attended.

Zoella
(Matt Alexander/PA Wire)

Tom Weldon, chief executive of Penguin Random House, said the book would be sold around the world.

Adele Minchin, publicity director at Penguin Random House, said: “We’re expecting number one this week.”

Discussing the book, Oliver said: “It’s going to be great. Zoe’s an amazing girl – her fans know that – and the people that don’t know just yet need to get their heads around it.”

He said he was “very happy” for his kids to watch the YouTube star’s videos, which, he said, was a “big thing at the moment” at a time when parents were nervous about material online.