It’s a huge milestone for me and the series!

You can read the full review on the Kirkus website.

What, what is a Kirkus Review?

The three trade publications that cover books are Publisher’s Weekly, Booklist and Kirkus Reviews. 

If you take a look at the jackets of popular mainstream books, you’ll likely see one or all three shops mentioned in the blurbs trying to convince you to buy the book.

In marketing land, that kind of endorsement is called social proof. It helps you take a chance on something new because someone else has told you it’s good.

For example, here on the right is the front matter for Leigh Bardugo’s Crooked Kingdom. As you can see, her book designer has prominently referenced feedback from both Booklist and Kirkus Reviews: 

As an indie author, getting the attention of industry players is never a sure thing.

I don’t have a publisher or agent to vouch for me in those circles.  

How do you get a Kirkus Review?

I submitted Chaos Calling for a review back in October. Participation is pay-to-play (and in USD, too, owww), but that only opens the door.

There’s no guarantee the reviewer who receives the .pdf copy you send will like the book. And their submission process is very blunt about that to manage your expectations. You also aren’t told who the reviewer is and the post is anonymous.

I waited six weeks to hear back. I did my best not to think about it during that time. Having the insanity of the holidays to prepare for made that easy.

What did the Chaos Calling Kirkus Review say?

When I got the review back on December 27, I was thrilled. They didn’t give it a Kirkus star (the highest blessing), but they did say some damn nice things.

I can’t tell you how gratifying it was to see the reviewer comment on the character development and pacing.

I worked so hard with my beta readers and editorial team to get those aspects of the book right. It feels amazing to see them singled out here as strengths of the reading experience.

Read the whole review here.

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Before taking the course, I’d finished a novel draft and was working on a second project. I was excited about my ideas. What I didn’t know was whether I could write. Close friends and family had read for me, but blindly trusting their opinions struck me as foolhardy.

What I wanted, of course, was feedback from people who weren’t invested in me.

I was working on U of T’s campus in Media Relations at the time. As a staff member, I only had to pay the tax to take a course through Continuing Studies. To this day, I deeply appreciate that benefit.

Hopkinson is an award-winning speculative fiction author. She happened to be teaching creative writing at U of T the semester I signed up in 2005.

Through that course, I met my writing group. Hopkinson’s feedback sessions set the rules for our meetings over the next seven years. It was a transformational period in my life.

Diana continues to read my drafts. I named Anna and Malcolm’s son Tim to remember T. J. O’Neill, our late colleague.

Taking my School of Continuing Studies journey full circle

When I published Chaos Calling earlier this spring, I reached out to the school to thank them for the opportunity all those years ago. I told them about our writing group’s success. They were kind enough to post this piece about my experience and downstream success.

Thank you to the School of Continuing Studies’ Marketing team for featuring my work.

You can read the article on their website.

Curious about taking a course? You’ll find more information on their website.

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