Happy birthday, Rooted! Celebrate with a readalong on The Storygraph

Big news: my first novel, Rooted, is turning one year old this summer!

The course wasn’t always smooth sailing (just ask my husband how many times I ranted at him while pulling my hair out over file types and color profiles), but I am so proud to be a self-published author and to have my book out there in the world.

To celebrate, I’m going a little unconventional. From June 21 through July 26, I’ll be hosting a readalong on The Storygraph! Participants can discuss the book with other readers as they progress through the story together. Chat about your favorite characters, point out interesting history facts about English pirates in the early 1600s, and predict what happens next in Margaret’s story. There are four big chunks, and we’ll tackle one per week. (Yes, it’s a breakneck pace, but it can’t take the whole summer! People have places to be!)

The best part? Those who mark Rooted 100% complete on The Storygraph will immediately gain access to a special forum on the readalong that includes a brand new, never-published bonus chapter! It’s told from a different point of view than the book, and if Margaret’s romance gave you warm fuzzies, I guarantee you’ll love seeing it from this perspective.

Whether you’re cracking the book open for the first time or you’ve already added Rooted to your Read shelf, the readalong is open to everyone.

And to get the party started, I’m handing out presents! When you join my mailing list between June 19 and 21, I’ll send you the book for FREE.

Seriously! The more, the merrier!

If you miss the window, it’ll be available at the usual low price wherever you get your ebooks (find vendor links here). By the way, the paperback is always $3 cheaper if you use my link.

Rooted is a really special book, because it originated as a short story when I was in middle school. I tinkered with it for twenty years until I figured out what the story was really about, and then I spent two solid years polishing it so I could share it. It’s not just my first published novel, it’s my first finished novel, and despite the relentless assault of imposter syndrome, I’m very proud of it.

But I’m even more proud of the community of readers who discovered it, loved it, and recommended it to their friends. It has enjoyed a few minutes of fame on Reddit and was shared by respected authors and content creators on Instagram. It’s a little risky to give the book it’s own readalong with such a small fan base, but if I loved writing it and a good handful of people loved reading it, I’m sure we’ll have a great time talking about it together!

So please join us in celebrating Rooted‘s first birthday!

What’s Rooted about?

It’s a historical romance set in England around the time of Shakespeare, and it’s about a noblewoman who convinces a pirate captain to rescue her from her conniving family. Of course, as soon as she arrives onboard, she runs into a figure from her past and has to fight against the habits and strictures that she had worked so hard to escape. Read the full synopsis and content warnings here.

Where and when is the readalong?

Click the button above to join the readalong. To participate, you’ll need to log in or create a free account on The Storygraph and add Rooted to your “currently reading” bookshelf.

The readalong will open on June 21. Each week, we’ll target about eight chapters. That means we’ll finish around July 26. But don’t worry! The readalong stays open after the finish date, so feel free to participate at your own pace!

The Storygraph is a book cataloguing platform founded by Nadia Odunayo and Rob Frelow. The Storygraph is an excellent alternative to Goodreads for readers wishing to distance themselves from Amazon. Join readalongs, buddy reads, and book clubs to chat about your favorite books and genres with like-minded readers!

Do I have to buy the book to participate in the forums?

No, but it will be more fun if you’re reading it with us! If you need your own copy, you can get it for free by joining my mailing list using the “Sign Up Now” button above, but only between June 19 and 21. Otherwise, it’s $2.99 wherever you get your ebooks. I’d much prefer you download a nice legible copy than one that’s been badly pirated.

Rooted is my baby and I worked real hard on it, so that’s why it’s not free all the time. But on the other hand, I’m definitely not relying on it to pay for my retirement! I don’t mind handing out free copies if it means more folks will get to read my book. That’s also why I took a risk and went wide [link to blog post] recently.

What can I expect?

I honestly don’t know! I’ve never done a Storygraph readalong before. I’m also a small-time indie author with an itty-bitty fan base (hey, mom!) and a short reach, so I have no idea how much discussion will actually happen. But whoever shows up should feel welcome to post their thoughts and feelings, and hopefully others will jump in and interact!

I’ll also be there to facilitate, which leads to my next question…

Is this cringe?

I mean, yeah, a little. But if I don’t stan my own book, how can I expect anyone else to?