Meg Kuehn, vice president of business development of Kirkus Reviews, shares her thoughts on Kirkus’ role in the publishing industry and the company’s future.

Q:  Kirkus has long been a voice in publishing, offering pre pub reviews that have served, predominately, as a guide to booksellers. It seems the recent sale of the publication has brought an expansion of the brand to the public, as Kirkus reviews are now popping up in the Austin American Statesman’s book section. Can you tell us about that?

A:  Yes, Kirkus has helped the publishing industry discover the best new books since 1933, but after Herb Simon and Marc Winkelman acquired the company last year, we expanded our reach to help consumers figure out which books are worth their time, money and attention. In 2011, Kirkus launched a consumer-facing website that now gets more than 100,000 unique visitors per month, launched a new email newsletter, which is now distributed to more than 50,000 subscribers, and started syndicating our reviews to consumer outlets, such as the Austin American Statesman and Dallas Morning News.

Q:  With review outlets shrinking so rapidly in the past few years, is Kirkus filling in some of those gaps?

A:  Professional review outlets are shrinking, but consumer review outlets are exploding, so while there are not many places for a consumer to go to find reliable recommendations, one can drown in a sea of book reviews. Kirkus helps make sense of all the mess and provide readers with recommendations they can trust. We review more than 5,000 books a year, and we’re not afraid to say it when we think a book stinks. As a result, if we recommend a book to you, you can trust that it will be worth your time and money—that’s the gap we’re filling.

Q:  What distinguishes Kirkus reviews from others, trade and traditional newspaper and magazine reviews? Is there a secret sauce to the company’s success?

A:  Yes! Our reviews are short, clear and opinionated. You can read the last line of any Kirkus review and know for sure if we think you should buy it, borrow it or skip it altogether!

Q:  You’ve recently joined the company as the vice president of business development. Can you tell us what might be new and next for Kirkus?

A:  In the coming months, we will be rolling out our highly anticipated recommendation engine. As more and more bookstores disappear and eBook sales continue to grow, online book discovery is becoming a more acute pain point for authors and publishers as well as consumers. Kirkus will emerge as a leader in online book discovery by connecting readers with trusted, personalized recommendations.

Then, in 2012, you’ll see even bigger growth from Kirkus. One of the most exciting things we will unveil is a new suite of services in our Indie program that will help self-publishers get discovered by both consumers and industry influencers (such as agents and publishers).

Q:  Is there an ultimate dream for the Kirkus brand?  

A:  The Kirkus brand is all about DISCOVERY—we help readers discover new books, publishers and agents discover new authors, producers discover new stories and characters, and librarians and booksellers discover the best new books pre-release.