I am really very fortunate that I chose to self-publish my work instead of hanging on and waiting for Santa Claus to grant my request of being a great writer. Doors that I pounded on did not open, even though I knew there were people inside. I didn't have any contacts in the publishing world, and I was treated as an invisible man of sorts. Faceless rejections and an inability to get any attention for my work rocked me hard. I learned that a life of writing wasn't exactly romantic. As a matter of fact, it was downright cruel and pitiful. No one would touch my work, give me suggestions, or let me into the publishing elite. I was stuck.
Finally, after twenty-five years of writing and publishing my material, Kirkus Reviews, by paying them a fair price, would review my novels and would review them impartially and objectively. Because Kirkus Reviews is well-known in the book industry and has a reputation of writing highly skilled reviews, I latched on. And now I have published my fifteenth book, and when I turn to Kirkus, I know I can expect well-written and expert reviews.
I am so thankful that I found Kirkus. Otherwise, I would never have learned how my books would fare in the soulless world of so-called legitimate writing. Without Kirkus pushing me along, I doubt I would have continued with that one novel I wrote several decades ago, which I could have revised to death. Kirkus has always been in my corner. I can't thank them enough.
Harvey Havel is a short-story writer and novelist. He is the author of nine novels, the latest one being The Thruway Killers, published in 2015. He was a writing instructor at Bergen Community College in Paramus, New Jersey, and taught writing and literature at the College of St. Rose in Albany as well as SUNY Albany.
