Teenager, 18, secures six-figure sum for vampire novel inspired by Twilight saga which she wrote after school

  • Abigail Gibbs starting writing The Dark Heroine aged just 14
  • She stayed up until 3am on school nights to finish it

Abigail Gibbs has secured a six-figure book contract after writing The Dark Heroine, a Twilight-inspired novel which she started aged just 14

Abigail Gibbs has secured a six-figure book contract after writing The Dark Heroine, a Twilight-inspired novel which she started aged just 14

A teenager has secured a six-figure sum for a vampire novel she wrote after being inspired by the Twilight saga.

Abigail Gibbs, 18, who started writing the book aged 14, released chapters of her novel online, where the book eventually received 17 million hits.

HarperCollins in Britain and America have now signed the talented author following her phenomenal internet success.

Miss Gibbs, from Brixham, Devon, who is about to start studying English at Oxford University, is the first author to be discovered on Wattpad.

Wattpad is an online writing platform which allows subscribers to upload or read other people's stories.

Miss Gibbs said Stephenie Meyer's famous Twilight books had influenced her novel, The Dark Heroine.

She said: 'I read the Twilight saga and did really enjoy it. I loved the romantic element between the human and the vampire.

'I wanted to do something like that but it wasn't bloody and edgy enough for me so I thought I would sit down and do my own thing and that's what I did.

'At first, my parents were a bit opposed to me writing the book because I was staying up till 3am on school nights and they were worried about me falling behind.'

Miss Gibbs finished her book at the age of 16, just two years after she started writing it and it will now hit the high street.

She posted each chapter after she had written it on the internet site, until she got to five chapters before the end when she stopped.

She said: 'I stopped because I had signed with an agent and he basically said don't post anymore or the ending to keep readers in suspense.

'That was tough because I disappeared off the site for a year and there were a lot of fans asking where I was.

'There was a lot of temptation to tell them but I kept it all up in wraps.

'I have had so many requests from fans to upload the last five chapters, some people even said they were going to write their own ending.'

Her fans can buy the ebook for £2.99, or wait for the paperback book priced at £6.99, in shops next month.

Twilight
The novel, pictured, was released chapter by chapter online and eventually received 17 million hits

Famous novel Twilight, left, inspired Miss Gibbs to write her vampire novel, right

The novel tells of 18-year-old Violet Lee witnessing a horrific mass murder in Trafalgar Square before being kidnapped into a dark world of vampires.

The teenager puts her success down to the feedback she has had from her readers.

She said: 'A lot of the readers were demanding more, they wanted a lot more uploads.

'Some of them were saying I should get it published so that was very encouraging and it helped when it came to my agent discovering me and going to agents having fans like that.

'I am completely shocked at where I am now. I started on Wattpad and that taking off was enough of a surprise.

'I took notice and realised that people really did like my work.

After launching the book on Saturday night, in 24 hours it went from number 22,000 in the kindle chart to number 22.

The ambitious writer has already started writing the sequel and hopes to see the book made into a film.

She said: 'It is all very exciting at the moment and there will definitely be a sequel which I hope will come out next summer.

'I am halfway through it at the moment so that is great.

'To see my book in a cinema would be great, some fans are asking if I am going to get a movie deal but that is a long way off, although it would be great.'

Kate Elton, publisher of HarperFiction said: 'The fact that she's writing something that feels British, with a genre that's traditionally been American, gives it an individual feel.'

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