Plymouth Teen Author Publishes Book

A Wayzata High School student has become Sigma’s Booksehlf’s latest teen author to publish a book.

Sakthika Vijay loves to tell stories and said writing changed her life. She remembers going through insecurities and mental health issues in middle school. To express her feelings, Sakthika started to write about it but she eventually stopped.

During the summer after eighth grade, Sakthika stumbled upon her old writing and decided to finish it. The young writer called her book “Outcast.”

“Outcast is about this teenager who decides that one day she wants to be a famous singer,” Sakthika explained. “After competing in this one competition, she realizes she has this talent and she wants to portray this out into the world.”

The teen book reflects Sakthika’s own life about a girl’s journey of being a nobody and turning into a somebody.

Sakthika submitted her work to multiple publishers, but after nearly 30 rejections, she finally got one letter of acceptance. 

“I cried, I definitely cried,” Sakthika said. 

It’s thanks to another young writer, Justin Anderson, who graduated from Wayzata High School in 2019. He launched Sigma’s Bookshelf in 2016.

“It’s the first publishing company exclusively for teen offers,” Anderson explained. “We take in completed manuscripts for review and publish them.”

Anderson said he and his mother select which teen book to publish free of charge. Currently, the organization has published 16 books including “Outcast” and 2 others by Plymouth teens: 
“Throne Spirits” and “Night of the Crown.” 

While teens do receive royalties for books sold, Sakthika said nothing outweighs the experience and life changing moments of writing a book.

“So through “Outcast”, I learned how to properly love myself you know, gave me a lot of confidence. It gave me self control,” said Sakthika. 

• Click here to order Sakthika’s book. 

Wayzata High School

Plymouth