The First Ten Focus Group Feedback for Normal Family
Because Normal Family 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
Both the cover and title would have had me curious enough to try a free sample of this book because I enjoy comedy and have a "normal" family of my own. After reading the first ten pages I will definitely be reading the rest of the book. It is well written with interesting characters and enough foreshadowing to pique my interest.
First Ten review added on July 3, 2016, at 10:41 pm by Judyk.
truebookaddict
I probably would not have chosen to read or sample this book purely because I actually thought it was a memoir and I'm not much of a reader of memoirs.
After reading this sample, I would be more apt to read the whole book. Henry's description of his family and what goes on in the first three chapters had me hooked. I probably will read the whole book eventually.
The book did seem to be professionally edited since I didn't notice any typos or major grammatical errors.
I enjoyed reading about Henry's family. Coming from a slightly dysfunctional family myself, I could relate to some of what was going on. Also, the author captures exactly the frustration of a ten year old when you have no control over where you go, or what situations you are placed in by your family, or your less than nice siblings. I really cannot see any need for improvement in this book.
First Ten review added on July 3, 2016, at 8:51 pm by truebookaddict.
Rachaelamb1
I wrote the official review for this book a couple of months ago. I remember being captivated by the author's storytelling and ability to capture unique and interesting characters.
First Ten review added on July 3, 2016, at 12:18 pm by Rachaelamb1.
bluemel4
I knew I wanted to read this humorous coming of age novel after reading the official OBC review; the cover is perfect and the blurb is entertaining. Reading the sample only made me want to read it more. I loved the way Trowden describes the characters. It's a hilarious and moving account of family gatherings.
First Ten review added on July 3, 2016, at 11:20 am by bluemel4.
Momlovesbooks
I would not have picked up this book based solely on the cover. It was a little too creepy looking. I read the first ten pages but had a hard time getting into the story. It seemed to start a little slowly. However, I kept reading and by the end of my sample pages, this dysfunctional family began having some interesting moments. The story seems to be well-written with a good story line. I will probably continue reading this book, just to see if it meets my expectations.
First Ten review added on July 3, 2016, at 10:15 am by Momlovesbooks.
Sarah G
The front cover really grabbed my eye. I know we're not supposed to judge a book by it's cover...but if a book can't get your attention on a shelf, you're much less likely to read the blurb. From just the first 10 pages I feel invested in little Don. I want to know his story. I want to know what happened on these holidays that changed his family.
In the first 10 pages majority of the family have all been introduced and a glimpse had been given into what they are like. Enough to make you want to read on. Maybe it's the nosey side in me :-p
First Ten review added on July 3, 2016, at 5:09 am by Sarah G.
L_Therese
This is a book I would be unlikely to choose. The title, cover, and description remind me of a Beverly Cleary novel, and I outgrew those years ago. The first ten pages introduced a number of interesting characters in this family. The storytelling thus far exceeded my expectations, but only marginally. At this time, I don't intend to continue reading the novel. This is not because of any explicit fault to which I can point, but rather because it didn't impress me enough to inspire me to add a coming-of-age novel to my recreational reading list. Not today, anyway.
First Ten review added on July 2, 2016, at 11:30 pm by L_Therese.
CataclysmicKnight
The first page or so (leading up to the start of the actual story) had me rather worried and sure I was going to say "no" to wanting to read the rest. The writing seemed rough and I had to reread lines to make sense of things at times. However, once the main story started I got sucked in. If this was a book that was entirely free, I'm sure I'd find time to finish reading it, although it wouldn't be high on my list. I enjoy a good "my family is crazy" story for sure, but some of that family just seemed TOO irritating to read for long. Because of that and the fact that the book was only a discount, I'll have to say "no" to finishing it.
First Ten review added on July 2, 2016, at 7:39 pm by CataclysmicKnight.
Gravy
Reading the sample felt like a particularly interesting memoir, something I have a weakness for. The cover also hints at non-fiction and, despite it being categorised as other fiction, I could see reading this, and enjoying it.
I probably wouldn't have looked too deeply at this book, given the cover and genre, but after reading the sample I would gladly give it a shot.
First Ten review added on July 2, 2016, at 2:52 pm by Gravy.
gali
I didn't like the cover, but the blurb intrigued me. Based on the premise and sample, this looks like a cute book. The first pages didn't grab me, but that changed when I reached the toilet scene. This scene and the next were very amusing and bode well for the rest of the book. It sounds like a fresh coming-of-age story and I like the writing. I think I will read the book when I am in the mood for such a book.
First Ten review added on July 2, 2016, at 12:38 pm by gali.
Vermont Reviews
I found the book Normal Family by Don Trowden to be an enjoyable read. Based on the first ten pages I would buy the book. The story takes place at the grandparents house. During the thanksgiving holiday season. The fishing trip was a very funny part of the story. I do like the cover. The book appears to have no problems as far as spelling, grammar, or misused words. The author has a great way of showing the story. I would buy the book based on the sample that I've read. Well done. I love reading the family history stories like this one.
First Ten review added on July 2, 2016, at 12:15 pm by Vermont Reviews.
Heidi M Simone
Based on the cover and title, I probably would not have sampled the first ten pages. However, the blurb interested me and the customer and editorial reviews are fairly good. Even though the concept may interest some, I don't find myself interested enough to finish reading it.
Based on the first ten pages, the book seems to be edited fairly well with the exception of a few run-on sentences. The first one I noticed was on page 1: "For my family, these waves came in the form of four consecutive holidays spent with my eccentric grandparents, holidays that eventually pulled us under, both personally and financially." (page 1). Breaking up the sentence with a period or semicolon between 'grandparents' and 'holidays' could prove to have a better flow. This happens a few times within the pages I read.
I liked that the book is told in the child's perspective because so often adults become so engrossed with their own issues and stress, that a child's take on things can be easily forgotten. The improvement that I can see are the run-on sentences and perhaps the cover. By looking at the cover alone, I thought this book was going to be about horror, which can sometimes be off-putting.
First Ten review added on July 2, 2016, at 10:31 am by Heidi M Simone.
bookowlie
I became interested in reading this book based on the well-written Amazon summary blurb. I like the concept of the story taking place over four holidays, and that it’s a funny, coming-of-age story. The cover doesn’t convey a feeling of a wildly funny book, as the blurb suggests, and I didn’t really care for the bulging eyes. The sample pages drew me in right from the start. I love the author’s writing, with such nuggets as “interrupted my fork’s descent into the awaiting pancakes” and “Gramps had lost more than his hearing aid.” The sample appears to be professionally edited.
First Ten review added on July 2, 2016, at 10:27 am by bookowlie.
Total ~ 77%
Normal Family earned a score of 77%.
In other words, out of the top-level reviewers who read at least the first 10 pages of this book, 77% 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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