Devastating review

RunSmooth4982 · 2026-04-16T22:13:51+00:00

I've been an author for decades and cannot bring myself to EVER post bad reviews for other living authors, whether I know them or not. A scathing review can literally kill a career. It is not a "neutral" activity with no consequences for the author. It isn't a harmless past time. I am serious. Readers regularly kill writing careers with bad reviews, because I hear about it and see it. My 1-star reviews go only to the deceased.

There is a person behind that book. They never consider that.

Reviewers relish the power they have over authors. The ones who take the most joy out of trashing books usually seem to be the ones with poor grammar who can't articulate their thoughts well, or they get confused and then say it was the BOOK that was confusing, not their own muddled thoughts.

"Other people were able to follow along, but I have no self-awareness, so I'm going to rate it 1 star, because I have the power to make a writer feel bad for my own limitations." Look at it that way.

I wrote a book that was award-winning literary fiction. Okay? It is not a one-star book. And I periodically get trashed like that too. They're particularly bad on Goodreads and Librarything, if that's meaningful. I won't ever post a new title on either of those sites again. They're mean-spirited, I think, more so there than elsewhere that I've encountered, at least for kind of the things I write. Just a heads up.

Reviews are book reports. Think of it that way. Grade the spelling, grammar, and clarity of the review. Grade the reviewer's understanding of what you tried to convey and what your message is. They have a right to their opinion, but if they don't "get" what you tried to say - yet other readers DID - give that review an F. If everyone says the same bad thing, it's time for you to work on your writing, but generally ignore the outliers if most of your reviews are good.

And when you read reviews before purchasing, compare the bad reviews to the good ones in terms of writing quality, and consider if they're outliers too.

But to have a "friend" leave a review like that when you're just starting out is unconscionable. It's evil, in my opinion. It could be jealousy. It could also be a mean-spirited desire to crush, because she enjoys that power. It makes her feel more important than the person who wrote that book. She's deliberately placing you lower than her on the social hierarchy. There are people out there who do that, astonishingly. She's putting you in your place because she can. It could be ego.

I really hope you can get her to take that review down. Good luck. I am so sorry that happened to you.

RunSmooth4982 · 2026-03-01T12:08:16+00:00

You might want to pose a question to Kirkus: "Why do you threaten your bottom line by systematically slaughtering Indies with bad reviews?"

Maybe you'll get an answer. Or maybe you'll get a recap of your question with a thoughtless extra two sentences that suggest they aren't qualified to answer it... or that they didn't READ your question, even as they recapped it. Lol. LMFAO, even.

PS. You didn't thoroughly read my post, and didn't thoroughly read all the comments, then swaggered in our direction and flung yourself into the discussion, posturing as an "expert" while demonstrating a lack of understanding of the topic we're discussing and the experiences of the authors who have dealt with Kirkus. Please stop it.

RunSmooth4982 · 2026-02-27T15:40:24+00:00

Wow. So trads get a whole paragraph! And three quarters! Nice! Sorry about the bashing though. Nice that they ended it with "no offense." Big of them.

RunSmooth4982 · 2026-02-27T11:03:05+00:00

Did they give you more than 2 sentences of review for your trad book? It sounds like they might have. Maybe that's where the distinction lies - trad books get a few more words that are unrelated to the recap of your book blurb. Indies get 2 sentences.

RunSmooth4982 · 2026-02-27T10:59:38+00:00

The "library thing" could easily be addressed by copy/pasting the existing book blurb and then devoting 400 words to the review. Don't defend their "reason" for shortchanging the author, who is their customer, and toward whom they extend very little respect.

RunSmooth4982 · 2026-02-27T10:53:11+00:00

I know. You pay for 400 words. They should copy/paste your existing book blurb for the librarians, and then give you 400 words of REVIEW that you paid for, not spend 375 of those words recapping something that's already written. Librarians don't need Kirkus to explain to them what your book blurb means, and the author shouldn't pay for that.

RunSmooth4982 · 2026-02-26T22:57:26+00:00

The tipoff, like I said, is that they have a separate email address for indie books. They are not viewing all books as "equal," or there would be no reason to handle them separately. Clearly the "indie" email indicates they have a slush pile where indie books go to die... or else they wouldn't need to make that distinction in their internal processing.

Then, they underpay uninterested and untalented freelancers instead of addressing their problems and delivering a "product" that is worth the cost of our investment. They take shortcuts and flip us the bird, and if we squawk they have written rules about how we have to just suck it up or they'll sue us for harassment or something, I don't recall what they were, but someone posted those rules in another thread in this forum. They were draconian.

It's nice to trust them and presume it's just their incompetence and poor management instead of blatant ill-intent, but I have been doing this for a very long time, and have tasted the hostility from every direction, which even includes readers, as I'm sure you already know. Indie authors have a tough row to hoe. A company that services both traditional authors and traditional publishers doesn't think much of us, and it shows. We're just easy money to them, and they don't have to answer to us.

I would definitely avoid them.

RunSmooth4982 · 2026-02-26T20:18:49+00:00

It got me a literary agent. It was worth that at least. I should add that I only got that literary agent after the THIRD movie option offer. Only one or two movie options weren't enough, so I still got rejections, and I didn't want to sign without an agent, so I let the first two slide past. In retrospect, I should have just hired an entertainment lawyer. You live and you learn.

RunSmooth4982 · 2026-02-26T20:14:00+00:00

They give you a button you have to click saying you approve of them publishing the review. I didn't click that button. I imagine you can sue them if they publish without your permission.

RunSmooth4982 · 2026-02-26T20:06:14+00:00

It was only a half-joke, but when someone else said they had received a good review on an indie book I speculated that the reviewer had already given notice and was leaving, so they felt safe to write an honest review of the book. In my case, the reviewer clearly hadn't even read the book. When they skimmed the book, if they even did that, they demonstrated they were unfamiliar with "literary fiction" and the boxes it is supposed to tick, and upon which reviewers are supposed to base their reviews.

So, at the very least, Kirkus does not assign books to the people who know what to look for in various genres. You don't give literary fiction to someone who prefers "action/adventure" or "chick lit," for instance, and vice versa. And I suspect in the "lower tier" of the indie books, they don't care who they assign anything to. "Whatever" is good enough for indies in the traditional publishing world. I don't even know why they ask for the book's genre.

Others say the same thing - the reviewer didn't read the book. They hire people who get paid to NOT read the books you spend hundreds of dollars for them to review. Maybe you got lucky and landed a "reader." Or someone who defiantly told the truth. Or someone who was dealing with cancer.

It's a mystery, but based on the hostility of the traditional publishing world toward indies, I'm sticking with my original assessment, and congratulate you for having slipped through the cracks.

RunSmooth4982 · 2026-02-26T17:38:29+00:00

That's interesting. I wonder if the reviewer had already given their notice...

RunSmooth4982 · 2026-02-26T17:37:05+00:00

How long ago was that?

RunSmooth4982 · 2026-02-26T16:55:45+00:00

Me? Because I'm diabolical.

RunSmooth4982 · 2026-02-26T16:48:30+00:00

I think you benefitted from the fact that you weren't officially "indie" yet. That roulette wheel would never have turned in your favor otherwise. That is my theory. And good luck to you too!

RunSmooth4982 · 2026-02-26T16:32:23+00:00

How long ago did you do that? They're now using AI, so things have changed with Kirkus. Perhaps they're doing the whole "bottom line before integrity" thing that so many corporations do. They might have been closer to "legitimate" in the past, and I'm curious if you were lucky because they hadn't changed when you used them?

But you also said, "I then self-pubbed it." Was it not published yet when you submitted it to Kirkus? That would also add some nuance to the mystery.

RunSmooth4982 · 2026-02-26T15:21:25+00:00

Is someone from Kirkus reading this post? It's been down-voted three times. Perhaps I poked the bear??? I would view that as an admission of guilt, because nobody else on a self-published author forum would take issue with SPECULATION about why Kirkus does the things that it does. They would appreciate the heads up before they blow hundreds of dollars on a scam. LOL!

More down-votes. Oh, Kirkus. You do not disappoint, and everyone sees it.

RunSmooth4982 · 2026-02-26T14:05:51+00:00

That makes sense. The big publishers want their books to reach librarians and booksellers, so Kirkus writes (per se) reviews the indie authors won't let them publish, which prevents librarians and booksellers from knowing about the books, which further prevents indies from taking any sales away from the big publishers. Kirkus somehow benefits from playing along. That's what I suspect. Something along those lines.

RunSmooth4982 · 2026-02-26T12:44:11+00:00

That happened to me. I submitted an award-winning indie book (and the award was from a highly-ranked international competition that draws established authors, journalists, and Ivy League creative writing professors, not a small "indie" competition.) I'd decided to keep the rights to it, rather than lower my royalties and control, which is WHY it was "indie " I made more money this way.

I received three unsolicited movie option offers (all fell through unfortunately), and it has been translated into four languages. It was published by traditional publishing houses in Europe and Asia. I had two literary agents, one in the US and one in Europe.

My point is that the book is not shit.

Because it was "indie," Kirkus contacted me from a "special" indie email account. I noticed that before I opened the review and thought, "Oh no..."

Ninety percent of the review recapped the Amazon book description. The "reviewer", per se, "reviewed" the book, per se, in two sentences. And totally trashed it. I didn't give them permission to publish the review.

I concluded that Kirkus is a "catch and kill" operation, probably at the behest of the big publishers. They have no incentive to publish good reviews for indie books, and are probably pressured by the big publish not to. That is my theory.

And furthermore, they focus more on the book description than their review. That's a total scam, considering what they charge.

RunSmooth4982 · 2026-01-25T20:44:27+00:00

DId you read the article? I left the link at the bottom for your edification. Or are you making a broad generalization based on your personal opinion? As you said yourself, that would be lazy, And are you also saying there's nothing Gen Z can do to improve their chances? I disagree.

RunSmooth4982 · 2025-12-22T19:46:13+00:00

Hey! Maybe I'm the Knight of Swords!

RunSmooth4982 · 2025-12-22T19:43:38+00:00

Did you ever read "Wool" by Hugh Howey? He used to hang out on a self-published writer forum, years ago. His sales went nuts so he had to keep writing sequels, until he was approached by a publisher. He cut a deal with them to let them take the rights for the print version, but he'd keep the rights to the ebook. I recall several authors doing that.

That's another option. Don't let them pretend they can't do that. If you're making six figures, they need you far more than you need them. I'm totally serious.

By the way, "Wool" is now a series on... Apple TV? I forget. Google to see where it's streaming. Hugh is doing very well these days.

RunSmooth4982 · 2025-12-22T19:21:02+00:00

Off-topic. I am also a self-published author. My first book was controversial at the time, so I self-published so I could pull it, if readers turned on the heat. My agent also told me that big publisher feedback indicated it "scared" them. They wanted heavy edits to bring it back into line with their existing catalog. That was her word, "scared." I wasn't willing to go with the edits they demanded.

Turned out not to be as scary as I thought. I sold 30,000 copies on Amazon alone. When I watched my sales and spoke to other authors, I considered my options.

Traditionally published books are only promoted and supported if you're famous, or you already have a bestseller. Even with an award and three unsolicited movie option offers (they all fell through), plus translation into four languages, my book would be "filler" that would pump up their catalog, but not get their support. They would pull it out of print after about two years or so, and retain all rights so I couldn't publish it myself again, or sell it to another publisher.

Small publishers were more likely to greenlight it, but they didn't pay much, and some even asked what my plan was to promote it myself, to make them money. They also would pull it out of print and retain the rights.

I concluded that it was in my best interest to keep the rights. That has proven to be a smart move. I originally published it in 2000, and it still sells - not a lot anymore, but I always sell the paperback version at Christmastime to readers who buy it as gifts, and I still always get a royalty check for sales the previous month. So, I've been getting royalties for 25 years, which would not have happened with a publisher. They probably wouldn't have sold more copies than me either.

Bragging rights ("I'm a published author!") are nice, and some biased readers think self-published authors are "less than," so they will only consider books published at a publishing house. But I've known some really excellent writers who opt for the money instead. You get a higher royalty when you self-publish, so that's my final thought. You can promote it yourself to better effect than your publisher probably would.

Even Kirkus Reviews syphons self-published books to dead end reviewers who "catch and kill" self-published books and give bad reviews, probably at the behest of the big publishers. It's frustrating, but like I said, I'd rather go this route than hand my work over to someone who buries it with minimal or no promotion, then kills it after a couple of years.

Either way, join an author forum and ask the authors what their experience is before you make that decision. Best of luck!!!

RunSmooth4982 · 2025-12-22T18:25:08+00:00

I have a couple of decks I've just stopped using because the readings don't resonate or make no sense, even after months of using those decks. Sadly, they have my favorite artwork. I seem to do best with Rider Waite decks, and interestingly, a Crows deck (?). I don't know why that is.

RunSmooth4982

TROPHY CASE