The Write Stuff: Lessons on Getting Published From a Tween Novelist

So, your kid wants to write a book? Before you wave it off until “someday,” meet Anisha, a local tween who has done what many kids – and adults – only dream of: She wrote and published a book. Her middle grade novel, “Alexia: Secrets, Challenges, and Growing Up – One Diary Entry at a Time” was released on Dec. 22, 2025. Her experience navigating the novelist’s path from bright idea to printed pages with some help from her dad offers a realistic roadmap for creative kids who want to share their stories with the world, and for parents who want to help without taking over.

From the start, Redmond seventh grader Anisha Pradeep avoided the trap that catches most aspiring authors. Instead of starting with the dream of publishing a book, she started with an idea for a story she wanted to tell. Or rather, many stories. Like many first-time novelists, Pradeep had already been writing short stories for years before she tackled a full-length book.

“My inspiration for writing started in first grade, actually. Because in first grade I got bored a lot. It was like the pandemic time and there was not much to do. We lived in a small apartment during that time in Canada. So, I thought, ‘I need another place where I can take my imagination.’ At that time, I was not a big fan of reading, but I loved making up stories,” Pradeep relates.

“Over time, I gently nudged her to expand her thinking: adding more characters, focusing on conversations, and exploring how different personalities interact, especially with strong characters, emotional tension, and shaping a compelling story arc. What began as simple ideas slowly evolved into stories with more structure and depth,” says her father, Pradeep Srinivasamurthy.

As she got older, Pradeep started reading more, and that further fueled her own writing.

“Friends were a bit hard for me in fifth grade. Certainly during that time, I needed a person who could understand me well, and I couldn’t exactly find that person. So, I got really interested while reading books because it felt like there was a whole other world where another person was able to relate with me,” says Pradeep. “It always feels good to know that someone else goes through the same experience as you, to know that you’re not the only one in the world feeling this really strong feeling. So, I think writing is really important.”

Her own experiences gave her the idea for the book’s main character, Alexia, a new student at an elite boarding school. Alexia’s life is different from Pradeep’s, but her feelings are very familiar.

“It’s about this middle school girl who goes through the same problems like everyone else. Normal, teenage problems: friend drama and then big mistakes and embracing your challenges and going through big changes. She goes through a little bit of her own journey,” says Pradeep.

She chose to write the book in first person. “It’s like a diary from her own point of view, because do you really want to hear from someone else? Well, I mean it’s not the best because whenever there’s someone else’s point of view, it’s really neutral. There’s not much detail. When it’s from Alexia’s point of view, she’s explaining how she saw [things] in her way and how she felt it.”

Pradeep began writing the story, and when she had written about 30 pages, she showed them to her father. He enthusiastically encouraged her to keep writing with the goal of publication. But it was a long process. Pradeep added to her Google Doc every day after school, often spending a couple of hours. During summer she wrote even more, up to five hours at a time.

“This took up to a year and a half. Because I was getting into middle school, and that's the time where it got really difficult for me to balance all of it,” says Pradeep.

But for a driven storyteller, the ideas keep flowing. Even as she plugged away at her book and got busier with school, she started a website called Story Pebbles.

“I was actually first inspired by Wordle. Everyone used to play it, like a really quick five-minute game. So, then I'm like, ‘Oh my gosh. What if I had a website where people could read my five-minute stories just in their free time?”

Once she finished the novel, the focus shifted from creativity to business, and her dad took on a bigger role, helping her research publishers. Once upon a time, getting published meant passing layers of gatekeeping by agents, publishers and editors who each took a cut of the sales price. Today, the process is both much easier and much more complex. Authors can still follow the traditional publishing path, which takes longer and pays less. Or they can self-publish, using publishing platforms and tools that range from completely DIY to full service.

After doing their research, Pradeep and her dad settled on Notion Press, a nonexclusive publishing platform based in India that follows the print-on-demand model. That means that instead of printing thousands of books and hoping they sell, Notion minimizes cost and risk by only printing a book when an order is placed.

“For a first-time young author, I felt a guided approach would help her debut more confidently. We worked through editing, formatting, and design,” says Srinivasamurthy. The cover design was a big project for Pradeep.

“For the cover design, I was actually inspired by other books, especially the book ‘Tune It Out.’ I saw how it was really pretty and aesthetic, and it was like super simple, but it showed a lot about the main character,” says Pradeep. Her design depicts her main character in surroundings that are meaningful to the story.

Now, “Alexia” sits on the library shelves at Anisha’s school and may soon be added to King County Library’s collection. Anyone can buy it in hardback or paperback on Amazon (where it’s also available on Kindle) or through Barnes & Noble.

“I think every single part of it was really fun because it’s something I’m really passionate about. Writing is like my life. The biggest challenge I could say is probably finding the publishers. It was a bit hard,” she admits.

With the book out and exams complete, Pradeep has time to think about her next project — a science fiction book — and to write more stories for her website. She also teaches free yoga classes for elementary school students in her neighborhood. Looking further ahead, Pradeep dreams of a career in medicine as a gastroenterologist. But she has enough ambition to aim for a dual career.

“You could say, I’m already a published author. So, I mean, this is already like a profession for me. I really hope that I can keep it going for a long time, even when I'm an adult,” she says.

For the adults raising other creative kids, Srinivasamurthy shares this advice: “If there’s one thing I’d share with other parents, start small, create simple platforms for your child to share, and let them grow at their own pace. The confidence builds over time.”

And for other kids with stories to tell, Pradeep has some advice.

“Never give up, because you’re doing something you want to do. It’s really impactful, and you’re doing great. Of course, there will be highs and lows, but no matter how many lows there are in life, just never give up. Try and trust me, it may be bitter at the start, but it will be a really sweet ending.”