How Facebook turned shop blogger Emily Benet into a published author

24-year-old Emily started to write a blog about the comings and goings in her mother's Crystal Plus lighting shop in Tower Bridge Road in June 2008.

Emily's sharp observation and gentle humour soon gained a strong following.

Emily, an aspiring writer and journalist, started promoting her work on social networking sites and posted a link to her blog on the Facebook wall of Cambridge-based Salt Publishing.

"The book is testimony to the power of the internet – and good writing of course," said Salt Publishing director Jen Hamilton-Emery.

"We first came across Emily via Facebook and started reading her blog. We fell in love with it and decided 'this absolutely has to become a book'.

"Things started to get a bit surreal when we started reading ourselves in it!"

With publishers inundated with manuscripts and proposals, Emily's 'discovery' via Facebook is a remarkable success story.

The book was launched at the Fashion & Textile Museum in Bermondsey Street earlier this month.

A short film called Shop Girl Blog, filmed in the Tower Bridge Road shop, is currently in production.

The Shop Girl Diaries book can be purchased online, at Crystal Plus, the Fashion & Textile Museum and other local outlets.