The End of Kirkus Reviews
I just read that Kirkus Reviews will be going out of business as the parent company, Nielsen Business Media, is divesting itself of its trade publication ventures. Nielsen is selling some of its properties but is letting Kirkus die.
This is awful news for the book world. Review sections in newspapers have been dropping like flies but we could depend on the big book review sources such as Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and Kirkus Reviews. The difference with Kirkus was that they were really, really picky to the point where it was sometimes a mild joke, kind of like the movie critic you never agree with, but that meant that the author who got a good review from them could wave that banner proudly. A bad or indifferent Kirkus review was commonplace, though still very useful because they noticed things other reviewers overlooked or chose not to highlight. A good Kirkus review was golden and a starred review…well, that was pretty close to priceless.
Kirkus Reviews will be missed by readers and everyone in the book industry.
December 10, 2009
Posted in: Tales of a Bookseller
Loading ...
One Response
What a shame. I am one of those lucky writers who got a good review, and did indeed shamlessly wave it. They were pickey, but that was a good thing. For readers, for book stores, and even for writers,as much as we hated to admit it. They did hold our feet to the fire. Not that our agents, publishers, booksellers and readers don’t, but Kirkus was something special. They will be missed.
Leave a Reply