17-Year-Old Beth Reeks Lands Book Deal After Posting Romance Novel Online
17-Year-Old Lands Book Deal After Posting Romance Novel Online
Stephen Johns— Caters / Huffington Post
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A teenage girl has scooped a book deal after her stories were read 19 million times online.
Beth Reeks, 17, was snapped up by publisher Random House after her story 'The Kissing Booth' became popular online.
The teenager, who lives with her parents in Newport, South Wales has been given a three-book deal even though she hasn't finished her A-Levels.
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17-year-old Beth Reeks has been given a book deal
Beth, who goes by the pen-name Beth Reekles, writes the stories - mostly about romance and teen fiction - in her bedroom.
She said: "I enjoyed writing short stories when I was younger in primary school.
"When I started comprehensive school I had a laptop and began writing really long books.
"I couldn't say how long, I rarely look at the word count anymore, I just save the stories and store them away on my laptop.
"A friend introduced me to the website Wattpad and I was quite excited that there were other authors out there who were my age.
"Sometimes I won't write for two weeks in a row and other times I will write for maybe 10 hours a week.
"With 'The Kissing Booth' I was posting one chapter at a time every couple of days. The first chapter had one million reads alone and at one point I had a million hits in two weeks.
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The story is about a girl called Elle who runs a 'kissing booth' at a school event and ends up snogging her best friend's older brother, a 'badass total player' callled Noah.
"My parents didn't know I was writing until one day I said I was writing books," Beth says.
"To be published is incredible, it was a really big shock."
The family travelled to London during October half-term to visit Random House, and 'The Kissing Booth' is already available to buy as an e-book for £3.
A physical copy of the book is due for release in the spring.
Beth said: "I think it's only going to really sink in when I've got the physical book in my hands. I've got a few books already written and a few more coming up."
Philippa Dickinson, from Random House said: "We are very excited to be partnering Beth at the beginning of her publishing career.
"She is a teenager writing for teenagers, her knowledge of her readership is spot-on and her voice is completely authentic."
Annoyingly Young Artists And Writers
Aelita Andre(01 of09)
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Ah yes, the work of a creative toddler. Brightly coloured, often involving small toys, selling for $30,000... Oh, wait, maybe not that part. By age 4, Australian wunderkind Aelita Andre had made more money than most UK twenty-somethings, and had been dubbed the "Next Jackson Pollock" by the New York Times art critic. All before she's technically large enough to dominate her own press shots.PHOTO: Courtesy of Aelita Andre
Alexander Pope(02 of09)
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We all know Pope was a bit of a hero in later life - writing Rape of the Lock, sending up The Man, hanging out with a load of cool 18th century satirists (who wouldn't want to be Jonathan Swift's friend?). But what makes him even more sickeningly ace is that he was this good when he was a child writing poetry. Which means he got a total head start on being the third most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, and should give the rest of us a chance.PHOTO: Wikimedia Commons
Arthur Rimbaud(03 of09)
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Teenagers writing poetry isn't that much of a rarity. Teenagers being dubbed "an infant Shakespeare" by French Literary legend Victor Hugo is quite another. Arthur Rimbaud's teenager poetic prowess was such that he gave it all up before reaching his third decade, chosing instead to grow his hair long, drink heavily, and travel before dying at just 37.
Kieron Williamson(04 of09)
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While other eight-year-olds messed around in rural idylls, Kieron Williamson was painting them. And exhibiting his paintings. And selling out his exhibitions in 14 minutes. The prodigy from Holt, Norfolk, paints his local surroundings and has helped his parents to buy a house with his profits - which reach into the hundreds of thousands. PHOTO: Kieron Williamson 2010
John Keats(05 of09)
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Oh, lovely Keats, forever remembered being fresh-faced and youthful, because he died at 23 - a fact Romantic poet fans have forever mourned. Orphaned at 14, Keats wasn't truly appreciated in his own time, instead being taken under a few influential literary wings. Now, of course, we appreciate his brilliance - with only a mildly bitter taste that we will never be as good. PHOTO: Wikimedia Commons
John Everett Millais(06 of09)
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This image, unsurprisingly, is not of painterly protege Millais, but something he created when he was 16. Indeed, quite the winning piece of GCSE coursework - had Millias not been accepted into the Royal Academy Schools at age 11. Naturally, he improved upon this early work, and went on to produce the stunning Ophelia, which now hangs in London's National Gallery, at the ripe old age of 22. PHOTO: Wikimedia Commons
Albrecht Dürer(07 of09)
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Albrecht Dürer was one of between 14 and 18 children in his family, so perhaps that's why he felt the need to shine. You know, by creating this incredibly detailed and tactile self-portrait at age 13. No sign of burgeoning teenage angst there.Dürer went on to become one of the Renaissance's finest painters. What did they say about sibling rivalry, again?PHOTO: Wikimedia Commons
H.P. Lovecraft(08 of09)
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Lovecraft could be seen as proof of what happens if your mum's your only friend during childhood. Meaning, churning out impressive poetry from the age of six - after learning to read at two. While Lovecraft went on to become one of the most influential Sci-Fi and horror writers of the 20th century (although unappreciated in his time), his unusual youth almost definitely had some impact on his talent. The son of two mentally ill parents, Lovecraft spent his sickly childhood under the care of his grandfather, who enjoyed telling him horror stories. The moral here? Well, probably not to nurture a vulnerable child's imagination in such terrifying ways...IMAGE: PA
Mary Shelley(09 of09)
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Frankenstein's authorship may have been the subject of rife academic debate for decades, but for those who accept that Mary - rather than her husband Percy Shelley wrote it - we can be mildly peeved that she was annoyingly young. Shelley started work on the earliest example of science fiction at just 18, and by 21 had finished her gothic masterpiece. Whether or not she realised people would still be entranced by it 200 years later is another issue. PHOTO: Wikimedia Commons
