The First Ten Focus Group Feedback for Necessary Evils
Because Necessary Evils 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.
Judyk
The cover and title may have enticed me to sample this book and having done so i plan to read the rest of it. The book seems to be professionally edited as I noticed no obvious mistakes. I enjoyed the character building and descriptions given by the author, so much turmoil packed into one chapter.
First Ten review added on July 18, 2016, at 3:00 am by Judyk.
truebookaddict
I probably would not have read it. The blurb didn't really grab my interest.
I didn't buy the book, as the blurb did not really spark an interest so probably won't read it. However, after reading the first ten pages, I kind of want to know what happens. John's plan of vigilantism seems pretty crazy.
It seems professionally edited. No typos or grammatical errors noticed.
I liked when John came up with his plan and how he went about executing it, i.e. the planning stage. The only thing that could be improved is perhaps the overly descriptive prose.
First Ten review added on July 18, 2016, at 2:41 am by truebookaddict.
Gravy
I probably would have looked at this book, because the cover drew me in. It actually looks, at a glance, to belong to the fantasy or sci-fi genres. After reading the sample I can't say I would read this, but it still impressed me with the emotions on the page, the pain the protagonist goes through. From what I read, I'd say they author doesn't pull their punches, which I mean as a compliment.
The only error I found was a word substitution very early in the sample.
First Ten review added on July 17, 2016, at 5:30 pm by Gravy.
Momlovesbooks
I enjoy thrillers, and based on the cover and title of this book, I thought I would enjoy reading it. The first few chapters were just too graphic and dark for my taste. The writing style was intense and detailed, but I couldn't get past the disturbing plot. I probably won't be reading the remainder of this book.
First Ten review added on July 16, 2016, at 5:54 pm by Momlovesbooks.
L_Therese
Detective thrillers are a difficult genre for me to judge ahead of time. Based on first impressions of this book, I would probably have given it a try. Its cover is interesting, and the ratings are high. However, for me to really enjoy a crime novel, I really need to be able to connect with the main character. After ten pages, this one isn't working for me. It started off badly when the prologue misused a semi-colon and messed up the commas, and the protagonist seems pretty flat to me. It's possible that it gets better as the plot moves forward, but there's not enough magic happening to make me want to finish the book.
First Ten review added on July 16, 2016, at 4:19 pm by L_Therese.
Rachaelamb1
The cover and title seem very fitting for the type of book it is. This is not a book I would normally read. Reading the sample didn't change my mind, but it does seem like it will be a good book for people who love thrillers. I did notice some minor errors like a missing comma, and the author does not use a period on the end of the word "Mr". The characters seem realistic and the book sounds like it will be one to keep you on the edge of your seat.
First Ten review added on July 16, 2016, at 2:13 pm by Rachaelamb1.
CataclysmicKnight
I'd originally thought this would be something similar to Sherlock (which I'm a huge fan of, by the way). As I began reading, though, it became clear that wasn't the case, and after reading the OBC review I got an even better look into what the book is. Both of these are better than I would've expected! I can definitely see finishing this one.
First Ten review added on July 16, 2016, at 1:40 pm by CataclysmicKnight.
gali
I would have probably sampled this book based on the blurb as it sounded interesting. The cover isn't very fetching though. The beginning was a bit slow to my taste (the reflections of John were a bit long-winded), but after a couple of pages the pace picked up. I liked the writing and found the plot interesting enough to want to read it at some point.
First Ten review added on July 16, 2016, at 12:41 pm by gali.
Heidi M Simone
The cover and title are both intriguing, while the genre can be intimidating. A serial killer thriller is something, I don't believe, I've read before, which might be a bit intense for me. The customer reviews seem to be mixed, but leaning towards the positive side. Also, since the official OBC review was positive. However, due to the genre, I might pass on this book.
The bit that read does seem to show that the book was professionally edited with the exception of one sentence. The following sentence in the first chapter: "...still the same girl the same innocent girl I married..." perhaps a comma should be added or the first "the same girl" should be eliminated to make it more cohesive. I will mention that, within the sample, there weren't any line spacing in between paragraphs, which threw me off a little.
I liked the relationship between John and Sarah the most. The author, I feel, has begun to portray a steady and realistic relationship between the two. The one thing I would suggest is just with formatting the paragraphs because the sample just looks like one big paragraph, which can be off-putting to some. This could very well be different in the actual eBook, but I'm unsure.
First Ten review added on July 16, 2016, at 12:33 pm by Heidi M Simone.
bookowlie
The Amazon summary blurb is well written and gave me a good flavor of what the book is about. However, it was meaningless to me that there are excerpts from three Goodreads reviews. It would have mattered more if the reviews were from an official reviewer or periodical, rather than someone who may have received the book for free from a relative/friend or Goodreads giveaway. Since the book is Book 1 in a series, it would be helpful if "Nick Harland Crime Thriller: Book 1" was stated on the cover instead of the subjective line, "Gripping Detective Thriller Full of Suspense." The beginning section is professionally edited and had me hooked with John's wife's shocking murder. I am definitely interested in reading further.
First Ten review added on July 16, 2016, at 10:57 am by bookowlie.
Vermont Reviews
Necessary Evils by Bill Carson is the story about John and Sarah Kane. One of my favorite lines from the first ten pages. "What can't be cured must be endured." John Kane finds it hard to accept the death of his wife Sarah. He decides to take his own life. After failing in his attempt he makes a pact to avenge the death of his wife. I found the first ten pages to be an exciting read. Well written, with no apparent problems with grammar or spelling. The author has the ability to build a great plot with interesting characters. I would be interested in finishing the story. I like the cover and did read some of the reviews. I would be willing to read more by this talented author.
Vermont Reviews
First Ten review added on July 16, 2016, at 10:54 am by Vermont Reviews.
Total ~ 36%
Necessary Evils earned a score of 36%.
In other words, out of the top-level reviewers who read at least the first 10 pages of this book, 36% 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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