The First Ten Focus Group Feedback for What is Sure to Follow
Because What is Sure to Follow was Book of the Day, some of our most trusted members have carefully looked over the cover, the description, and other aspects of this book as a part of purchase-intent focus group. We then asked each participant in the focus group if they planned to buy and read the book, and why they planned to buy and read the book or not. Their answer to that question and reasons are displayed below. We call this awesome feature The First Ten Focus Group.
Keep in mind, the responses from the members are not reviews. This is purchase-intent focus group which means the participants are people who have NOT yet bought or read your book. A purchase-intent focus group is an important and extremely useful marketing tool for any product, not just books. For other products, you might walk on the street and show people an item in a package and poll them about whether they would buy if or $X or not. These kind of focus groups are one of the ways big marketing companies find the ideal price points for products and test the effectiveness of different packaging. The focus group can help you identify your market so you how to target ads of your book, and it can (but may not) provide you new useful info about your "packaging" (e.g. your book cover, your book synopsis on Amazon, etc.). The point of the focus group comments is to give you information from people who have not bought or read your book about why they plan to buy your book which will help you in marketing the book. These are not reviews or critiques of your book because they are not from people have read the book. This is a marketing tool, not reviews. The trick of book marketing and book advertising is that you have to convince people who have not read your book yet that your book is worth buying and reading. For marketing, it doesn't matter much if people love your book after reading it if you cannot convince potential buyers before they read it that they will love it.
IMPORTANT: Any score over 10% is considered very good. And any score above 0% is acceptable. This is because we only poll about 20 or so readers, and all readers have to say "no" to almost all books. Over a million books are published each year. Even a very active reader cannot come close to even reading 1% of books out there.
This is also why publishing books is such a tough industry.
Cjgarland89
Stories based on war time aren't usually something I can get into. Based on the Amazon reviews and OBC review I don't think that this is something that I would enjoy reading. After reading the first ten I will not be finishing the book. It was hard to get into what was happening and the book didn't keep my attention at all. The book didn't have any errors from what I saw, and flowed nicely.
First Ten review added on September 17, 2016, at 8:10 am by Cjgarland89.
Kourtney Bradley
Based on the first ten pages, I feel like the story will revolve around some kind or depression due to what has been witnessed while fighting in wad. There appeared to be no grammatical errors, but just doesn't sound like a type of story I would be interested in.
First Ten review added on September 17, 2016, at 7:46 am by Kourtney Bradley.
truebookaddict
I would not have chosen to read this book based on the cover or the blurb because I just don't read books of this kind.
I will not buy and read the whole book. As I said, I don't read books surrounding this subject matter and reading the sample reminded me why. It's just too traumaticl and violent.
The editing is good in the book. No typos or grammatical errors that I could see.
Even though this is not the type of book I would read, I can appreciate how well the author depicted a person with post traumatic stress disorder. The opening scene in the war veteran group was intense. I can really suggest no improvement. For a person who likes this type of book, I think this would be a good read for them.
This book was officially reviewed by OBC.
First Ten review added on September 17, 2016, at 5:54 am by truebookaddict.
CataclysmicKnight
The opening to this book ended up being quite wild (in a good way), and really drew me in with how tense it got! I had no idea a Vietnam vet self-help meeting could get that intense! It seemed well-edited except a time or two where I noticed an error. While the book was well-written and seemed interesting, I don't see finishing it anytime soon.
First Ten review added on September 16, 2016, at 10:35 pm by CataclysmicKnight.
braver
I don't typically like war stories, so I would not have chosen to pick this book up on my own. What I found most surprising was that for such an emotionally charged topic, the writing came across as clinical and flat. We see Sims in the middle of an intense episode, but there was no tension or force conveyed in the writing. After reading the first few pages, there's nothing that makes me interested in continuing - no real hook, no promise of a twist. There was also a distinct lack of commas that was distracting. I will not be reading this book.
First Ten review added on September 16, 2016, at 3:29 pm by braver.
Catherine Hsu
If I had not reviewed the first ten pages, I may have read the book; I was very engaged in the blurb and I felt that the premise was interesting. After reading the first ten pages, I have not changed my mind. The book was written very well; the writing style was very descriptive, allowing me to visualize events and feel the characters' emotions. The book does seem like it was professionally edited. Although I did not see an official OnlineBookClub review, my decision was not altered.
First Ten review added on September 16, 2016, at 5:17 am by Catherine Hsu.
Gravy
The cover fits very well, and is attractive.This is not something I would normally look at, so I would not have sampled it without this program. While I did catch an occasional error, it's hardly worth mentioning. The writing held my interest and was of a pleasant style.
I liked how the author was able to bring me into what was happening, with just the right amount of description.
This book (at this point in time) is not for me, but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to others.
First Ten review added on September 16, 2016, at 12:31 am by Gravy.
L_Therese
I had such high hopes for this book. It sounded so interesting, and though I had some reservations because the reviewer warned about violence, the praise heaped on the book mostly outweighed those concerns. When I read the first ten pages, I just couldn't get into it. I think that the procedure followed by the group leader was distracting to me because it seemed a little off-protocol. I don't think that's really a writing or editing flaw, since a group leader is more likely to be a recovered group member than a professional social worker. The only possible editing flaw was a word that might have been misspelled (I'd have to look it up). Regardless, this book just wasn't working for me, so I'm going to pass.
First Ten review added on September 16, 2016, at 12:20 am by L_Therese.
CrescentMoon
Based on the cover, title, blurb, and reviews, I probably would not pick this book up. I sometimes do enjoy reading historical fiction, but only for certain topics. I generally am not a fan of reading books about war or violence. After reading the first ten pages, I actually do think the book seems to be well-written so far. I do like stories written in the 3rd person perspective and I don't see any immediate grammar errors. However, this genre is not for me so I will not continue reading this book.
First Ten review added on September 15, 2016, at 7:12 pm by CrescentMoon.
easy_dc13
I may not have read it but seeing the insight once I sampled the book, I would probably like to continue reading more of it. The writing style is spot-on, I didn't expect it to be as good as it is. No typos and errors from what I've read. Following the main character's struggle with his past experiences was the good part, and rightfully so because that is what the book is all about.
First Ten review added on September 15, 2016, at 6:02 pm by easy_dc13.
Heidi M Simone
Based on the title, cover, blurb, and genre (historical fiction) all spark my interest. I love learn by reading books from this genre. On top of all this, the reviews look great and the OBC reviewer spoke highly of this read. Therefore, I would have sampled this book without this program.
The book does seem to be professionally edited based on the bit that I read. I really loved how the author opened up with the Vet self-help group. When the main character has flashbacks of his time serving, it seemed so realistic and I felt like I was experiencing his thoughts, at the time. At this point, I don't see any need for improvement. Therefore, I will happily give this book a full read.
First Ten review added on September 15, 2016, at 4:50 pm by Heidi M Simone.
gali
I wouldn't have sampled the book without the program as military tales aren't my cup of team. The blurb was ok, but the official review made the plot clearer. The reconstruction of the war by Luke was very realistic and I could imagine it taking place right in front of me. Intriguing as the plot seems to be, it is too intense for me. Also, I didn't connect to the writing, though it seems well written. I won't buy and read the book due to those issues.
First Ten review added on September 15, 2016, at 3:49 pm by gali.
ashley_claire
I probably wouldn't have sampled this book if not for this, just because I'm not really looking to add any war stories to my list of books to read. The first ten pages were enjoyable to read and seemed professionally edited and put together. The OBC review did entice me to want to know more about the book and the author. Ultimately, I have to pass because the subject matter isn't something I'm interested in reading at this time.
First Ten review added on September 15, 2016, at 1:03 pm by ashley_claire.
Annelore Trujillo
Based on the blurb and OBC review, I probably would not have read this book. I have very rarely enjoyed war stories. After reading the first ten pages, I will not be finishing the book. I just couldn't get into the content. Again, war stories aren't usually interesting to me. It seemed to be a well-written book, but it isn't a book for me. I also noticed quite a few errors in the use of commas and one or two in the use of quotation marks.
First Ten review added on September 15, 2016, at 12:33 pm by Annelore Trujillo.
Vermont Reviews
I was very impressed with the preview of the book titled By What is Sure to Follow by Donald N. Burton.
I had many of my high school friends who served in the military in the Vietnam War. Many went there and returned quite different then when the went over there. War is a tragedy that we cannot seem to overcome. I really felt the emotions by reading this one. Luke Sims although a fictional character represents those who served. The author Donald N. Burton has the experience to write a great story and shows his ability in By What is Sure To Follow. Very well written. The character Randall Rinke the VA counselor was also a character that I enjoyed. I would love to read this story completely but my reading schedule is currently overbooked.
Vermont Reviews
First Ten review added on September 15, 2016, at 10:45 am by Vermont Reviews.
bookowlie
The Amazon summary blurb appears to be professional edited and gave me a good sense of what the book is about. While the premise is intriguing, I don't usually care for books that have violence and a war theme. That being said, the beginning pages are well written and include excellent imagery. I also read the Official Review that highlighted the positive points and what to expect in terms of sexual themes and severe mental illness. I think this book would be a good choice for readers who like this type of subject matter, but I am not interested in reading the entire book based on the Amazon blurb, review, and sample pages.
First Ten review added on September 15, 2016, at 10:13 am by bookowlie.
Total ~ 19%
What is Sure to Follow earned a score of 19%.
In other words, out of the top-level reviewers who read at least the first 10 pages of this book, 19% plan to read the whole book.
IMPORTANT: Any score over 10% is considered very good. And any score above 0% is acceptable.
Over a million books are published each year. Any given person could not even read .0001% of the books out there. This means readers have to be very selective. Even taking the time to look over reviews and blurbs, let alone read samples, is more time than most readers can afford for most books. The First Ten is a powerful focus group that addresses those issues. It creates a helpful tool for authors, publishers, and other readers.
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