Kirkus ReviewsReviews of kirkusreviews.com

I have had three books reviewed by Kirkus. The reviews are honest and show me how I can improve the next book. I have found Kirkus staff to be thorough, timely in response, and extremely positive. They had helped me in numerous ways with the challenge of publicizing an independently published book. I recommend them unreservedly to Indie Writers!

This is so good, you won't get any better than this

Kirkus fixes errors. It cares about language. I found a mistake in the spelling of someone's name and they immediately followed up and fixed what they could in cyberspace. This kind of service must be expensive to maintain. It gives Kirkus the credibility that it enjoys.

Don't use this service. It's a total scam. At one time Kirkus was a trusted brand but now they lure independent authors in, and never thoroughly read their books and then slam them. Kirkus assigns reviewers to your book who don't fit your genre and then bash your book because the reviewer would never read that type of book to start with. In effect, they steal your money and rob potential readers who enjoy and who seek out your genre, of the opportunity to find your title. Then they defend their dishonest practices whenever they are exposed by further attacking your title. But when asked more about the reviewer, their demographic and their taste in books, Kirkus goes silent. If you write a love and romance book, Kirkus is prone to passing your title to a reviewer who dislikes love and romance and who will cherry pick parts of your book and take things out of context to include in your negative review. They also don't take into account positive reviews from anywhere else no matter how many examples you provide them. Plus, they will never re-review your title. If you are an author backed by a major publisher, they will surely be more thoughtful in their process. But if you are an indie author, you are likely to be scammed.

My experience with Kirkus Reviews exceeded my expectations. The copy editor not only went over my manuscript with a fine tooth comb, but suggested ways for improvement and analyzed and categorized what I had written. I will be using Kirkus from now on and will recommend their services to my writer friends.

I requested a book review by Kirkus in January 2024. The review arrived exactly on the day it was due, and the support staff have been exceptionally attentive and responsive when I posted the review and needed to update details (like genres, page count, publication date, etc.) Overall, a great experience!

My recent well-documented criticism of Kirkus was taken down with the message "Kirkus Reviews flagged this review for containing harmful or illegal content." A Kirkus representative blamed Trustpilot. I contacted Trustpilot, whose representative explained, “the review was flagged by kirkusreviews.com for the reason it contains "harmful or illegal content." However, after assessment it was determined that it follows our guidelines. Therefore, it was validated and put online."

A writer knows when a reader, or reviewer in these cases, really reads the book. It doesn't mean they have to like it, but one wants them to give it an honest read and understanding of the novel's total effect for the benefit of those that come after. And that's what I've received from Kirkus. Additionally, the review process itself (website, dashboard management) is fairly simple and straightforward. My latest experience is with Dan Nolan and Sasha Carney, and they, as usual, haven't disappointed. Kudos to Kirkus and their hardworking team for having this available for writers who simply want to reach readers and hopefully give them an experience they won't soon forget.