Christine Marton asked Michael J. Sullivan:

Michael, I just published my first novel, Unholy Innocents, in July, 2015. I listened to the recorded webinar that you and Robin did August 18 on Goodreads. It was very helpful. thank you. You are fortunate to have someone so capable to assist you. I am considering spending the money on a Kirkus Review. Do you have any thoughts on whether or not this is a good expenditure?

Michael J. Sullivan Hey Christine, first, congratulations on your novel. I wish you great success with it. Also, thanks for watching the Writer's Digest University. I hope you found it worth your time. I am indeed very fortunate to have Robin...and not just because she helps me with my books and getting the word out.

I do have opinions, pretty strong ones, in fact, regarding Kirkus Reviews. I would counsel you not to spend money on it. There are several reasons for this.

This is a copy/paste from part of my article on "Do's and Don'ts of Getting Your Book Reviewed"

Paid Reviews
I’m opposed to paid reviews. There are a few reasons for this.

* The “good ones” are expensive (Kirkus $425 for standard, $575 for advanced), that’s a lot of money for one review.

* No matter how much they claim to be “unbiased” readers it’s hard not to divorce from your mind that he who pays the piper gets to call the tune

* To me the reek of desperation. There was a book I was remotely interested in because of a “good review” by a site I wasn’t familiar with – so I clicked through and found out that it was a paid review site and it made me lose all interest in the book. I just don’t think the risk of alienation is worth the small benefit to get one review.

Hope some of that helps.

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