Trying something new...

Almost two weeks ago, I launched a book promotion website called Kangaroo Reads. You may be wondering why I did that, so I'd like to take a moment to tell you.

Over two years ago, I published my first book, Here to Stay. I was an unknown author who published an unknown book, and I knew nothing about promoting. I never imagined it would be so difficult to get people to find my book. But it was, at least for me. I wrote subsequent books in the series, and slowly, it gained some followers, but it wasn't until January of this year that I tried a new tact. And it worked! I've had Here to Stay listed on a different promotional website almost every day so far this year and I'm gaining traction. So, it started me thinking about effective ways to promote and Kangaroo Reads was born. (The name, by the way, is completely random. I wanted something with the same initials.)

There are thousands of great books out there that you will never know about. Why? Because there are a ton of published books available for you to buy. But do you really have time to search through page after page after page on Amazon (or wherever you buy your books from) to find a good read? No. I don't know anyone who has that amount of time. So what happens is great books get buried on the bottom of the pile due to sheer volume.

And a lot of promotional sites won't promote a book with less than 10 reviews. I'll admit, I thought of imposing that same restriction. But then I thought, that's not fair to the author who may only have 4 reviews, or 2, or 1. Because we all know that not everyone who reads a book reviews it. That doesn't mean it's not a great read.

The other thing I don't see much promotional opportunity for is new releases and pre-orders. Most sites only offer discounted books. Steals and deals. There's nothing wrong with that. I offer the same thing on Kangaroo Reads. But I'd also like to help authors get the word out about their books "hot off the presses" so to speak, or soon to be, in the case of pre-orders.

And I wanted to give readers an easy way to find out about books that they might never hear about. Those stories buried under the weight of other great stories.

We, as authors, all started out at the same place. With one book. Our first book. And without readers and bloggers and promotion sites, the chances are slim that anyone would even know it was out there. So we shout about our stories from the rooftops until our throats are raw and we're exhausted from the effort. And hopefully, our voices are heard and people buy our books. But if we never utter a sound, I guarantee, no one will know it exists.

I've said it since I published my first book. Writing is the easy part - it's the promoting that's hell. Because once you've finished your story, it's done. Completed. You can move on to the next one. But you can never stop promoting your works or you'll be forgotten as the next slew of titles is published.

So, there you have it. I started Kangaroo Reads for authors to have a place to shout from the rooftops about their books, and for readers to find out about that gem they might not ever have heard about. The best of both worlds.

Take a look, let me know what you think, and even if you're not ready to promote, please sign up for the newsletter. You may just discover your next favorite read.

www.kangarooreads.com