Sarah Slipp, 12, self-publishes 1st book, 'You Can Do It'

Woodstock Middle School student Sarah Slipp is on her way to literary success.

The 12-year-old recently published her first book, You Can Do It.

It's a story about a young orphan girl, Jillian, who doesn't have enough money to go to university.

Throughout the book Jillian overcomes several obstacles to make her dreams come true.

"I've always had a passion for writing. I started writing, You Can Do It when I was nine," Sarah said. 

Sarah drew from her own experiences of persevering on sports teams to write the book.

"Basically just whenever you are struggling just believe in yourself no matter what anyone else says, you can do it," she said.

After working on her book for three a half years, her family were surprised to see the outcome.

"We certainly experienced the hours and hours of writing that Sarah put in, the many comments teachers would make on report cards that Sarah likes to write and writes a lot,” said her father, John.

“We certainly did not expect that Sarah at her young age would have the ability to pull it all off.”

With the help of her 16-year-old brother, Sarah self-published the book through the website, lulu.com.

As a self-publisher, she also had to organize the launch and figure out where and how the books would be sold.

"It's a lot more than just writing it out," she said.

Sarah already has plans for the future.

She's finished the first draft of her second novel, EPGOF — which stands for Epic Group Of Four — and hopes to one day make a living as an author.

She will be signing books on Nov. 15 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Chapters book store in the Fredericton Regent Mall. One dollar from every book goes to supporting Bullying Canada.