A TEENAGE author from Newport whose stories have been read 19 million times online has signed a three-book deal with publisher Random House.

Beth Reeks, 17, was snapped up after her story 'The Kissing Booth' attracted more than 40,000 comments on the web.

The teenager, who lives with her parents and sister in Newport, is studying for A-Levels in physics, maths, French and Spanish, and wrote the stories in her bedroom.

"I enjoyed writing short stories when I was younger in primary school," explained Beth, who goes by the pen-name Beth Reekles.

"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," she said.

Most of her stories are romance and teen fiction.

"Sometimes I won't write for two weeks in a row and other times I will write for maybe 10 hours a week," she said.

"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.

"My parents didn't know I was writing until one day I said I was writing books," she said.

"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.

Beth has also been hired by a Canadian production company to write a story on Wattpad to promote an app, and another online publisher wanted to sign her up, but the family chose the more traditional publishing route, she said.

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."

Publisher excited by author’s work

Philippa Dickinson, managing director of Random House's Children's Publishing arm, 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."

The story is out as an e-book now for £3.