Buy a review from Kirkus

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evanaharris

For $350, you *might* be able to get a fair and unbiased review of your self-published book. The owner of Kirkus, VNU Business Publications, is rolling out an e-newsletter called Kirkus Discoveries that targets, specifically, self-published authors. Think PA might include this in their package, now?

www.csmonitor.com/2004/09...-bogn.html
 

maestrowork

BUY a review? Even if you get one I don't know how good it is.

"A great, fascinated movie.
-- reviewed by XXX, a paid service"
 

annied

I read the article on the link and just shook my head. I wouldn't PAY to have them review my stuff. A bad review for $350?? :ack I can't afford wasting that much money only to get slammed in front of millions of people.

Sorry, ix-nay on Kirkus.

Annie
 

skylarburris

I doubt any outfit that SOLD reviews would be taken seriously by any reader. What a way to make a buck.
 

nelidougal

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What Kirkus ought to do is charge self-published authors a "reading fee" of $350 to read the book with a view to deciding whether or not it is worthy of a review. If they decide that it is, then they should review it and refund the money. If it is not then they should keep the money to cover the costs of wasted time in reading the book.

Any self-published author who genuinely believes that his work is good, would go for this. And because they would NOT make money out of those reviews that they DO publish, their readers can trust in the integrity of the reviews.

Of course, they might decide that it is worthy of a BAD review - but still, as the saying goes: the most important quality that a reviewer has for sale is his integrity ;-)
 

Nick Russell

practical experience, FTW
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In the newspaper business, something like this is called an "advertorial", basically a paid review is nothing more than an advertisement, and is taken just as seriously.
 

Chris Huff

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Rule #1 - Money flows TOWARDS the author
Rule #2 - Money flows TOWARDS the author

These are the rules for the traditional publishing model. They both go out the window for self-publishers. Which this newsletter is specifically geared towards.

Still, paying for a review sounds like a horrible idea.
 
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