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Splat
...also?
Oww.
So! Kirkus Reviews sees Harlequin's vanity publishing plan and realizes, ohmighod, those books will never get reviewed in a traditional venue, like, say Kirkus, and! there's money in them thar hills.
Announcing Kirkus Discoveries, where "independently published authors" can, for a mere $400 purchase a review*.
I think we're moving toward a business model here where only the wealthy can afford to publish. Maybe I'd better start a bookstore for "independently published authors" and sell shelf-space by the per-foot.
going to go bang my head against my desk now
Edited to add: OK; Kirkus was more forward-looking than Harlequin; here's a 2004 opinion piece on the Discoveries program, from the Christian Science Monitor. Thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
slrose and janni for the heads-up.
-----------
*Just in case someone doesn't know -- No, here in Genre Fiction Land we don't pay for reviews, either.
Oww.
So! Kirkus Reviews sees Harlequin's vanity publishing plan and realizes, ohmighod, those books will never get reviewed in a traditional venue, like, say Kirkus, and! there's money in them thar hills.
Announcing Kirkus Discoveries, where "independently published authors" can, for a mere $400 purchase a review*.
I think we're moving toward a business model here where only the wealthy can afford to publish. Maybe I'd better start a bookstore for "independently published authors" and sell shelf-space by the per-foot.
going to go bang my head against my desk now
Edited to add: OK; Kirkus was more forward-looking than Harlequin; here's a 2004 opinion piece on the Discoveries program, from the Christian Science Monitor. Thanks to
slrose and janni for the heads-up.-----------
*Just in case someone doesn't know -- No, here in Genre Fiction Land we don't pay for reviews, either.
no subject
FWIW, it's published as a glossy pullout insert, and everyone I knows does just that -- pulls and throws out, unread, like any other ad. (And remember, unlike most review journals, Kirkus doesn't take ads, publisher or otherwise, so they really do have to do *something* to keep the journal running. I wish they had come up with something else, though.)
Also, I know a fair number of Kirkus reviewers, and not one would write for Discoveries -- not one would be anything but insulted to be ASKED to write for discoveries -- even though the pay is significantly better than for regular reviews.
Not that it makes it any less disgusting.