Submit to relevant trade-review outlets
Submit or verify submission to Kirkus editorial consideration
Confirm that your publisher submitted a digital galley to the Kirkus Reviews editorial program 4 to 5 months before publication, and keep it distinct from the paid Kirkus Indie service.
Authors often hire help with this: publicity or marketing.
Why it matters
Kirkus is one of the four major prepublication trade outlets, and its reviews are syndicated into the ordering tools that libraries and bookstores use. Because the window closes months before publication and the route depends on your publishing path, a quick verification early prevents a missed opportunity or, worse, money spent on the wrong program by mistake.
Your part
- What you do
- Verify. Someone else may do it. Inspect the result yourself.
- Who normally owns it
- Publisher and Author. Publisher submits; author verifies. Not open to self-published titles
- When
- Digital galley 4 to 5 months before publication (Submit to relevant trade-review outlets: six to three months before publication, against each outlet's own deadline)Checked September 13, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
Your part changes with your publishing route.
How to do it
The full walkthrough
Kirkus Reviews runs two very different programs under one name, and the distinction matters. The editorial program is editorial consideration: publishers submit a digital galley, Kirkus editors decide whether to review, and no fee is involved. Kirkus Indie is a paid review service where the fee secures a review (not a positive one). This item is about the editorial program. The Indie decision has its own item.
The editorial program accepts submissions from publishers, and its guidelines ask for a digital galley four to five months before publication. Hybrid titles are considered when the press has qualifying national distribution and the press itself submits. Self-published titles are not accepted into the editorial program; Kirkus directs them to Kirkus Indie.
Verify early, because the route depends on your publishing path and the window closes months before publication. If a publisher or press is submitting, confirm with the publicist that the galley went to Kirkus and when, and check that a hybrid press meets Kirkus's national distribution requirement. If the book is self-published, this item is a signpost: the editorial door is closed, and the question becomes whether a paid Indie review fits your goals and budget.
Kirkus reviews are known for being blunt. That is part of their credibility with librarians and booksellers, and a mixed review is a normal outcome, not a disaster.
Common mistakes
- Paying for Kirkus Indie while believing it is the same as an editorial review.
- Assuming a hybrid press qualifies for the editorial program without asking.
- Sending a self-published title to the publisher route, where it will not be considered.
- Missing the window because the galley was not ready in digital form.
What done looks like
- Confirmation that a digital galley went to the Kirkus editorial program 4 to 5 months before publication, with the date.
- The submission logged as editorial consideration, separate from any Kirkus Indie purchase.
- For hybrid titles, a clear answer on whether the press qualifies and submitted.
- Marketing copy that never blurs an Indie review with an editorial one.
Evidence. Done means someone says the work happened. Verified means you checked the confirmation, link, or public record yourself.
Ask your publisher
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Sources and last checked
- Official source
- Official source (opens in a new tab)
- Last checked
- September 13, 2026
- How confident we are
- Verified
Rules and deadlines change. We last checked this information on September 13, 2026. If you see something that needs updating, please tell us.