Kirkus Reviews 

Submitting for this review was so simple and so clear, and all happened in perfect time. As a former bookseller and publisher, and as a writer who's published with big and small presses, now self-publishing for the first time, Kirkus Reviews has always been a boon, not just to me but to the book world as a whole.

My experience with Kirkus in all aspects has been phenomenal. I used them for editing, interior design, cover design, reviews, and marketing and I have not interacted with a more supportive or professional group of people. Every author should use their many resources.

I am really pleased with my experience with Kirkus Reviews. The review I received was well-written, thorough, and insightful. The service was efficient, timely, and seamless.

The staff is always helpful and prompt to get things done when requested. A top-flight experience.

Responsive customer support, professional and even handed feedback, an all around great experience.

Author of a new mystery series, I've received reviews from other sources, but this was my first from Kirkus and I am most impressed. Not just because they liked my book. What made the experience exceptional is that, unlike too many other reviewers, this one approached the manuscript with respect-- acceptance of an author's unique style, vision, goals -- instead of just evaluating it from the perspective of how well it reflects his/her own taste. Without great verbiage, this writer succinctly represented the book's plot and also fairly conveyed its prose style: literary but fun. An accomplished, enlightened review of a complex story. Good job!

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.

The team at Kirkus was quick to respond to my concerns kindly and courteously, and they fixed everything speedily. It’s an excellent service.

Carol Fisher Saller
Writer, Publisher

Kirkus has it together when it comes to the most important quality in business: Responsiveness!

I have worked with Kirkus team members from three divisions. They were terrific; they answered my questions promptly both by phone and email. In this day and age, that merits an A Plus!

Ann Marie Sabath, Author
The Wannabe Investor

In the past few months I’ve sent multiple letters to each of seven Kirkus representatives, without a single reply.

Kirkus chose a reviewer who feels sonnets are 'outdated' to review my book of sonnets.

This despite Kirkus’ written agreement to use its best efforts to provide a review that is impartial and unbiased.

No one at Kirkus seems willing or able to explain how the review is not biased.

Communications were clear and direct. The review came in on time and the reviewer clearly read the book with care and made insightful comments.

Is it possible to give ZERO stars instead of one?

I'm an established, multi-award-winning author, and for my most recent book, like others here, I paid $500 for a supposedly professional review, given Kirkus carries weight in literary circles and the bookselling world. What I received instead was a poorly written summary by a very biased reviewer who obviously did not read past the first chapter, but cherry-picked a few sentences to form their dismissive opinion.

Not only is the book described as a "caregiver's memoir" (it's actually about being outsiders in a foreign country), but the so-called-review contains numerous factual errors—including one of the protagonists' nationality, which is central to the narrative on being an outsider. All of which underscore that the reviewer did not actually READ the book.

As someone has already pointed out, Kirkus states it will use its "best efforts to provide a review that is impartial and unbiased." Yet their chosen reviewer clearly has a strong distaste for anything with a spiritual, "alternative" or New Age vibe; so much so, they actually used the word "annoying" to describe my "affirmation-speak" (their description). Really, Kirkus?

My writing has won multiple awards, and this latest book was selected as an Editor's Pick by Publishers Weekly—who gave it a beautiful and glowing review, with an "A" score in all categories! Similarly with the other professional reviews we obtained, ALL of which have been overwhelmingly positive.

Kirkus missed the boat entirely. The fact that they keep their reviewers anonymous not only allows the comments to be biased, but for them to skate off with writing a crappy summary for a book their reviewer merely skimmed.

Despite all this, I decided the lukewarm final line of the so-called-review—"the money quote," as people call it—was worth using simply because of Kirkus's clout. I wrote to them, pointing out my disappointment that their reviewer clearly did not READ the book (as proven by the numerous factual errors which I outlined), stipulating I would be willing to publish the review IF the errors were corrected. To date, three months later, I have never received a reply from their so-called Customer Service, and the corrections have still not been made.

In all, a complete waste of money and a TERRIBLE, unprofessional show on the part of a company who sits jauntily as an established trade review periodical.

Author, beware!

I am the author of “The Diary of a Sugarbaby” (J.Q. Gagliastro). Pros: My review was delivered ahead of schedule. The reviewer was succinct. Cons: The review contains spoilers. The reviewer was also not entirely accurate to the story. While they gave me a stellar review, they incorrectly labeled my protagonist (Dime) as a ‘gay man.’ In several passages (e.g., page 22 and 251), Dime says he is queer and nonbinary. Therefore, he is not a gay man but a queer and nonbinary individual. While he acknowledges that he can pass as a cis male, a passing cis male does not a gay man make. It is a matter of semantics. I am not offended by any means and mistakes happen. But there is a nuance between those labels and that should not go unnoticed. Lastly, Kirkus Reviews said, “some of the descriptions of violence and degradation are excessive.” While I agree some are (i.e., the death scenes), I must point out that this story is also part memoir. Some of the violent and degrading scenes that they may deem excessive have in truth happened to me. Those scenes must not be trivialized.