Friday, December 11, 2009

The end of Kirkus Reviews

Wow.

Kirkus reviews, which has been around for 75 years, is ended. And apparently its brother, Billboard, is in trouble too. (Maybe because Billboard gave Taylor Swift the Artist of the Year title? Hey, my kid's a big fan, and after what Kanye did to Taylor at the MTV awards, she deserves a great year)

When Kirkus gave my first book a "not bad" sort of review, my editor said that's a good thing; Kirkus was "known to be persnickety." I liked that quote and used it often, especially to console other writers who received less-than-glowing reviews.

Kirkus was, to me, a curmudgeonly uncle whose favor I was always hoping to win before he died.
RIP, Kirkus.
And best of luck to the staff, who I hope find new jobs soon. We've been doing the Unemployment Shuffle at our house for most of the year. You learn the steps quick enough, but it's not much fun.

1 comment:

Maureen Hume said...

I'm sorry you and yours are doing it hard. It's been a bugger of a year...bring on 2010!
I've always enjoyed words in some form or another and persnickety is a real favorite. It's one of those words that's meaning isn't all that nice but sounds so funny you laugh anyway.
Maureen. www.thepizzagang.com