About Kids’ BookBuzz
Our History
The book review publications began as a collaboration between founders, Heidi and Ross Rojek, who, in 2008, had just started dating. Ross, a voracious reader, had this crazy idea of starting his how book review publication, because there was nothing on the market then that was giving him the volume of book suggestions he was after.
With Heidi’s background in marketing and graphic design, she thought they’d make a great team to launch this new business.
And, so Sacramento Book Review was born on their kitchen table.
San Francisco Book Review was formed in 2009, after a successful year of publishing Sacramento Book Review. We were distributing SBR in the Bay Area, and many readers were asking when we were going to make one for the Bay Area. And so, SFBR was born.
Changing With the Times
With the economy in the tank as we were starting the company, it became very expensive to print and find advertisers to support it. Technology was blooming, and the demands of readers was, too. We decided to abandon printing and focus on building the best book review websites available.
Adding to the Success
Since launching in 2008, we’ve added a few licensees to the mix: Portland Book Review and Tulsa Book Review. Portland is managed by Whitney Smyth. Tulsa had been licensed by the Tulsa City-County Library system for 6 years and recently was turned back over to us. They print a monthly publication that was distributed in all of their libraries and around shops in Tulsa. Today, Tulsa Book Review is online only.
Licensing is the perfect marketing tool for libraries. If your library is interested in more information, please contact us.
Since our inception, we had always worked with children once a year for Children’s Book Week. We typically partnered with local schools. In 2012, due to its popularity, we decided to spin it into its own brand and website. We now work with nearly 100 parents, educators, and grandparents who shepherd the books and reviews through their process. The reviewers range in age from 5 to 18 — some of them have transitioned over to becoming an adult reviewer after they turn 18.
Where We’re at Today
Since 2008, we have since expanded our services to assist independent writers with creating and marketing their book(s) and websites through cover design, author appearance marketing (we’ve designed tables and products for book conferences and book signings), website SEO, book review video services, and more services to come in the future.
We went from just Heidi and Ross working at their kitchen table to having an office (which closely resembles a bookstore) in East Sacramento with a staff, who think every day is Christmas in the office. There’s much more to come from us, so keep an eye on new services we offer to authors and publicists.