Our History
The book review publications began as a collaboration between founders, Heidi and Ross, who, in 2008, had just started dating. Ross, a voracious reader, had this crazy idea of starting his own 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 the 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.
Manhattan Book Review was developed in 2015, offering publicists and authors the ability to have multiple book reviews in two different magazines.
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, San Diego Book Review, and Tulsa Book Review. We took over Tulsa Book Review from the Tulsa City-Country Library in 2017.
Licensing is the perfect marketing tool for libraries. If your library is interested in more information, please contact us.
In 2014, we decided to start Kids’ BookBuzz, which is exclusively done by kids from 5 years old to 18 years old.
Also in 2014, we launched another city book review: Manhattan Book Review.
In 2016, we added Seattle Book Review.
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 many more services.
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. There’s much more to come from us, so keep an eye on new services we offer to authors and publicists.