The manuscript that later became Go Ask Alice was initially prepared for publication by Beatrice Sparks, a Mormon youth counselor then in her early 50s, who had previously done various forms of writing. Sparks had reportedly noted that the general public at that time lacked knowledge about youth drug abuse, and she likely had both educational and moral motives for publishing the book.[25][26][28] Sparks later claimed that the book was based on a real diary she received from a real teenage girl,[28] although this claim was never substantiated[25] and the girl has never been identified[5][3] (see Authorship and veracity controversies). In the 1982 Avon paperback version of Go Ask Alice the Library of Congress lists the book as "fiction."[29]
With the help of Art Linkletter, a popular talk show host for whom Sparks had worked as a ghostwriter, the manuscript was passed on to Linkletter's literary agent, who sold it to Prentice Hall.[28][3] Linkletter, who had become a prominent anti-drug crusader after the 1969 suicide of his daughter Diane,[30] also helped publicize the book.[31][32][33] Even before its publication, Go Ask Alice had racked up large advance orders of 18,000 copies.[31]
