Cover for The Immigrant's Lament

The First Ten Focus Group Feedback for The Immigrant's Lament

Because The Immigrant's Lament 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.

Mercelle

204747
Judging by the cover, I wasn't going to read this book, but the OBC review urged me on when it mentioned that the author narrates his experience as an immigrant in Israel. When I read the first ten pages, I liked that the author stated that in Morocco he was the life of the party, while in Israel he was an outsider. Since I noticed no errors, I will conclude that the text underwent professional editing, and I will read the rest of the book because the poems appeal to me. As it is, there's nothing I would change about the bit I read.

First Ten review added on February 15, 2019, at 4:59 am by Mercelle.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

briellejee

309975
Based on the title and cover, I think I wouldn't have sampled the book. I felt I won't be able to relate to it since I am not an immigrant, and also, I am not keen on reading non-fiction books. As for the first few pages, the emotions evoked by the two poems in the sample is both heartwarming and heartbreaking. Moshe's travels since when he was twelve, going in and out of countries, discovering parts of himself was truly inspirational. The author is a skilled poet, not really aiming for writing rhymes but he carefully chose his words that can move the soul. However, my interest wasn't captured enough by the sample to decide to read until the end. Thus, I will not be buying the book. If only it could have shown another poem, then maybe I would have known whether I would really want to read it. I found no noticeable errors and the official review is persuasive enough to help me decide to sample it.

First Ten review added on February 15, 2019, at 4:20 am by briellejee.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Dolor

363055
I wouldn't have chosen to read this book without The First Ten program because poetry is not my cup of tea. The cover looks gloomy and fits to its title. The sample is a freestyle poem. There were no punctuations (comma and period) in the poem sample. The topic was based on the life of Moshe. These are from the book:

Moshe the immigrant
Moshe looking for redemption Moshe disappointed
Moshe crying
Moshe becoming religious
Moshe a half-year atheist Moshe who doesn’t get along with girls Moshe believing in reincarnation Moshe studying mathematics Moshe studying literature
Moshe wanting to be a poet
Moshe running after literary editors Moshe editing a literary review

There were wrong grammars like the words (like: Moshe crying and Moshe disappointed), but I just ignored this the way I ignored the wrong grammar in the song lyrics. Of course, it would have been better if the poems had been error-free and well-edited. I enjoyed reading the official OBC review, but it failed to make me decide to read on. The Immigrant's Lament by Mois Benarroch contains fifty-three poems that chronicle the author's childhood in Morocco, the subsequent migration of his family to Israel, their stay in Jerusalem, and how their Israeli dream quickly became a mirage. The poems depict themes of culture, freedom, injustice, love, politics, trust, and war.

#Poetry #Anthology #Immigrants #Culture #DiscountedBook

First Ten review added on February 15, 2019, at 1:55 am by Dolor.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Fu Zaila

878840
I loved the cover and the sample was really good. I can't comment on the editing since the book is a poetry book, but it was well-written without any errors. Moshe's story was really touching. I loved how the author develops his character as an immigrant to an artist - a writer, a poet. Moshe loving literature and buying a Van Morrison spoke of his character growth and personality in very few words. There wasn't anything to dislike. I won't be buying this book though, since I don't really enjoy stories as poetry.

First Ten review added on February 14, 2019, at 9:59 pm by Fu Zaila.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

KRay93

554551
While the illustration on the cover is appropriate for the theme raised by the blurb, the final montage could have used some extra work around the title and the name of the author. The first ten pages revolve around the first poem, which deals with a man traveling to different cities in the world throughout his life and some specific situations he went through when he was in high school and university, always dreaming of returning to Israel. The prose of the verses is fluid and well constructed, while the editing work looks acceptable. The lack of an official review does not affect in the slightest my decision not to continue reading this book. After all, I have never been an avid reader of poetry, and the story told by the author is not of my particular interest.

First Ten review added on February 14, 2019, at 8:12 pm by KRay93.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

AA1495

104697
Had I not sampled the book, I would not have read it. I usually read pure romance books. However, the cover caught my attention (specially the image of a window with the shadow of a tree on it). The title revealed that the book would include stories about differences between two countries. Having read the sample, I found the first poem short and easy to read. However, the second poem was rather long and could not hold my attention. I did not find any major grammatical errors. However, at times, I was left wondering why a sentence was broken into three lines. Since I do not read the genre usually, I will not be buying the book.

First Ten review added on February 14, 2019, at 6:52 pm by AA1495.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Gravy

60847
I don't really go looking for poetry, so I would not have sampled this. The sample did not change my mind about it.
I believe that whatever grammatical errors there are are stylistic, but I am confused by the formatting of the poems. It seems that the sample contains one full poem and part of another, I assumed this based on the style, formatting, and appearance, but the table of contents shows that only one poem is introduced? This leaves me with one of two possibilities: either there are two poems and the second just isn't introduced in the text, or the first poem makes an abrupt change that makes me like it a lot less than I otherwise would.
There was a review for this book, but I did not read it, and it having one does not affect my opinion.
I won't be reading this for a few reasons: it not being of particular interest to me, the issues I mentioned above, and being familiar with other of the author's works and thus wary of the translation.

First Ten review added on February 14, 2019, at 4:25 am by Gravy.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Sonya Nicolaidis

1005818
The fact that this is an anthology of verse is not outwardly apparent from the front cover of this book. In fact, it could be mistaken for a novel, apparently about an immigrant and his plight. The cover illustration is quite nondescript and lends no clue as to what lies within. Had it been up to me, I probably would not have given this book a second glance. I think, after reading the sample, if I were to recommend any changes, it would have to be to make the cover more attractive and the title of the book bolder. The wonderful OBC review, however, was quite clear about its content, praising this author’s writing skills highly and strongly recommending this book. I am not a fan of poetry; I find it far too abstract to be of any interest to me and I usually avoid it. In this instance, I was even more certain I would not enjoy this book, as it is largely about the social injustices felt by immigrants and their feelings of isolation and homelessness. I started to read the sample and was pleasantly surprised: it was easy to read and follow the author’s intention, at least in the first couple of poems, and I enjoyed reading them. From what I could tell, there were no errors in the sample, although I did notice very few punctuation marks being used. However, in the context of the poems, this could be intentional. The verses were very abstract, reading almost like prose, which actually made it easier to follow. I cannot say that I could read this book through to the end, but I can tell from the reviews that clearly there is great depth and meaning to be gained by understanding this kind of poetry fully. I wish I did, however I cannot to profess to any level of understanding, and so prefer to leave such books to fans of the genre. Hence, I will not read any more of this book.

First Ten review added on February 14, 2019, at 3:09 am by Sonya Nicolaidis.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Cristina Chifane

418146
I'm interested in both poetry and the immigration experience, so I would have probably sampled this book even without the first ten program. I love the closed window and the game of shadows on the cover. Besides, the title of the collection is representative of all the struggle of immigrants around the world. The book has no editorial reviews and only 9 customer reviews. Since the poems are written in free verse and the poet uses the enjambment, the lack of punctuation is not a problem. I didn't notice any other editing errors. The lines I've read in the sample reveal a poet who is not afraid to express his emotions and feelings. I especially liked the metaphor of both the immigrant and the poet as outsiders. However, the lack of punctuation makes the poems a little difficult to read. I felt I had no time to breathe or think of its meanings more. The OBC reviewer convinced me to continue reading the book by referring to the variety of themes in the book and the poet's versatility.

First Ten review added on February 14, 2019, at 2:41 am by Cristina Chifane.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

revna01

587493
I like the cover of this book and think the title is very catchy. The first ten pages were error free. The first poem talks about Mois as the life of the party in Morocco, followed by his decent into being un-noteworthy in his new home. The second poem is dedicated to his friend Moshe, who tries so hard to have people love him, but has lived a difficult life, including difficulty in school, with his mother and father, and at work with overflowing toilets. I liked the freestyle verse, but found the poetry unengaging and not poignant, which surprised me. The Online Book Club reviewer gave this book four stars for its ability to shine a light on relevant world issues. Based on the sample's inability to stir emotion in me, I will not be reading this book.

First Ten review added on February 14, 2019, at 12:52 am by revna01.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Jsovermyer

1045410
The cover art is interesting and I like the title. Both would cause me to give this book a second look. The poetry in this book is moving and thought-provoking. The first poem, The Immigrants' Lament, tells of a 12 year old boy being made to immigrate from Moracco, where he is comfortable and feels he is the center of his world, to Israel, where he is an outsider. It is powerful. My only negative would be that I don't usually read poetry. The book seems to be professionally edited and I found no grammatical or spelling errors. The official reviewer gave this book the highest score. This book should appeal to people who read poetry. Since I do not, I will not be finishing this book.

First Ten review added on February 13, 2019, at 11:27 pm by Jsovermyer.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

LV2R

708077
There are two different book covers that are OK, but not compelling. I am not attracted to the title because of the word “lament” that sounds sad and regretful. The Amazon Blurb mentioned that the book was first published in Hebrew and now translated into 12 languages. I read the sample to find out more about the poems. I best liked that Moshe wanted to be a poet, studied literature and wrote thousands of poems because he did what he wanted to do. The book seemed to be edited well, as I did not notice any errors. The OBC review summarized the 53 poems as covering themes of politics, love, freedom, injustice, war, trust, and culture with the use of different literary devices. I do not want to read the book because I am not interested in poetry, but I could see how some may like this book.

First Ten review added on February 13, 2019, at 11:15 pm by LV2R.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

ladycraic

356160
I would not have chosen to sample The Immigrant's Lament apart from First Ten due to my lack of interest in the cover and title. Though the blurb provided little to no insight into the content of this book, I did find the favorable reviews of The Immigrant's Lament quite convincing. In all honesty, I was a bit skeptical when I discovered this book was a compilation of poems. Though I enjoy poetry and writing my own, I feel that poetry can be very subjective and completely tailored to the author's own understanding. For me, that can mean a difficult and hard-to-read poem. I quite enjoyed the first few pages! The writing was very simplistic, passionate, and easy for me to understand for the most part. The poems felt like ones I could read over and over, just to catch a deeper meaning. I plan on reading the rest! This book seemed professionally edited and I didn't notice any grammatical errors.

First Ten review added on February 13, 2019, at 10:46 pm by ladycraic.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Kristy Khem

533451
The cover design and title of this book were not captivating to me. I read the blurb and found out it was a book of poems, but I don’t usually read poetry. There were mixed reviews on Amazon. Altogether, these features didn’t appeal to me so I would not have picked this book to read. The sample consisted of two poems which I read. Surprisingly, the second poem was rather interesting. It evoked heart-wrenching emotions especially when I read the line, ‘I see you Moshe and my heart goes out to you’. Moshe’s struggles through life were depicted really well. He became religious, then atheist for half a year, he studied math and literature, then became a poet, but was always trying to be loved by people. At one point, I thought perhaps the poet was talking to himself in the poem. I saw one error in this line ‘when will forgive’. It should be ‘when will you forgive’. Initially, I would not have chosen to read this, but I changed my mind after reading the sample. I will buy and read the book.

First Ten review added on February 13, 2019, at 9:28 pm by Kristy Khem.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

MsTri

255145
When I saw this book, I could tell from both the cover and the title that this book wouldn't be of a genre that I like. Reading the Amazon synopsis and OBC review (the only one I read) confirmed my suspicions; I don't think I'd like these poems, based on their themes [of immigration] and backdrops. With that being said, I was glad that the sample contained no glaring errors, indicating that the book had been professionally edited insofar as poems can really be "edited." I also liked the latter half of the poem titled "I can see you," where the author began every sentence with Moshe's name. Even though I will not finish reading this book, I have no suggestions for changes because it's written very well for its genre. Plus, how can one really critique poetry and someone else's feelings and thoughts?

First Ten review added on February 13, 2019, at 5:48 pm by MsTri.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Chelsy Scherba

75151
These poems are very sad, lonely, and melancholy. They definitely portray the feeling of isolation foreigners have when they immigrate to a new land. I’m sad that he felt like this and I hope he eventually made friends. The poetry is quite lovely and picturesque, but I generally don’t look for poetry books because I’m not really a fan of the genre. However, I would consider reading this book if I ever decided I wanted to read poetry. The cover is striking, but also sad. I thought the childish excitement Moshe felt when he first came to Israel and kissed the pavement was sweet, but sadly short lived. The pressure he felt to succeed by his mother was hard to read. Overall, this book is very well edited with no noticeable errors.

First Ten review added on February 13, 2019, at 5:42 pm by Chelsy Scherba.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

HRichards

741384
I normally wouldn't have picked up this book since I'm not very interested in poetry. Having read the sample, I won't be continuing with the book since the poetry didn't really appeal to me. The sample poems deal with the author's childhood and particularly a friend who seems to have gone through an unpleasant experience in life. The poetry is good and those interested in the medium might like this book. I just don't like poetry that much. I didn't notice any grammar errors because poetry takes a lot of liberties with punctuation and the sample seems formatted correctly. I have not read any other reviews of this book.

First Ten review added on February 13, 2019, at 4:20 pm by HRichards.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

BelleReadsNietzsche

1183617
While I was struck by the relevance of the book’s title to the happenings around the world today, I went into today’s Book of the Day’s sample intending not to read it. I don’t consider myself a poetry reader. Additionally, I found the cover to be blurry and give the book an amateurish vibe.

The sample of the book revealed poetry that was not too complex or opaque for me to “get.” It left me thinking about the brief story told or alluded to in each poem long after I had finished it. I can’t think of a better word to describe these poems than “evocative.” The glowing official OBC review sealed the deal for me. It highlighted elements of the book that jumped out to me in the sample, like the timeliness of the immigration themes of the book, while breaking down what makes the poetry of the book so strong. I may not be a “poetry reader,” whatever that means, but I will be making an exception for this book.

First Ten review added on February 13, 2019, at 3:45 pm by BelleReadsNietzsche.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Laura Ungureanu

620179
"The Immigrant's Lament" is a poetry collection about the immigration experience. The poems are not intricate puzzles, the language is simple and easy for everyone to understand. I like how well it describes the feeling of being an outsider, a stranger, someone lost in an unknown place. Poems are not really for me, so I won't continue reading this book, but I would have tried it just to see how the author writes about the feeling of being an immigrant. The sample was professionally edited.

First Ten review added on February 13, 2019, at 3:45 pm by Laura Ungureanu.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Kajori Sheryl Paul

997537
'The Immigrant's Lament' is a book written by Mois benarroch. The title, blurb, the OBC review, and the customer reviews in Amazon did a good job of convincing me to give the book a try.

The sample of the book leads me to believe that it is a collection of poems. I like the away in immigrant’s plight is addressed in the sample I read. I did not find any error. This leads me to believe that it is professionally edited. However, I will skip this book for now as I am not in the mood to read a book of this genre as of now.

First Ten review added on February 13, 2019, at 3:34 pm by Kajori Sheryl Paul.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

cpru68

517613
Readers are introduced to Moshe a young 12 1/2 year old boy who moves with his family to Israel. He has to fit into a new culture, and at this age, the author writes about the emotions that he stuffed down just to get through it. Being moved from a boarding school after crying non-stop and expressing that his mother was always pushing him into something were written about. The repetition of “I love you” conveys a message that perhaps self hatred has been vanquished as spirit and mind have come together in harmony or perhaps saying words to a younger self that were longed for. I liked how the author chose words to convey such strong word pictures riddled with emotions. I saw by the end of the sample that the adolescent boy and his older self had fused into being one. It was like a self acceptance had taken place.

I didn’t see any errors in punctuation, spelling or grammar. I don’t have any recommendations for improvement as the sample seemed very professionally written and edited.

I won’t be finishing this one as I usually don’t read poetry. I find myself getting lost or not fully understanding it which isn’t enjoyable to me. I read a lot of non-fiction and memoirs which I prefer to poems about one’s life story. So, without the book club I probably wouldn’t have found this one on my own search. I appreciate the opportunity to have read the sample pages and will send it out on my social media for others to look into as well.

First Ten review added on February 13, 2019, at 3:22 pm by cpru68.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Mai Tran

1025684
This book does grab my attention, but I couldn’t tell that it’s a poetry book without looking at the descriptions. I’ve had a bad experience with another poetry collection by an immigrant recent, so I wouldn’t have read this book if it wasn’t for the program. The poems are straightforward and easy to understand. Although most of the sample is about the poet’s childhood friend, Moshe, I would guess that the poet’s experience as an immigrant was probably similar. The book seems professionally edited. I don’t have anything to say against this book, but I won’t read it due to the lack of time and interest.

First Ten review added on February 13, 2019, at 11:37 am by Mai Tran.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Camille Turner

553069
I would have sampled this book even without the program because it's clear from the title, cover, and Amazon blurb that it's a book of poems centered around the subject of immigration and place, and I love both those subjects as well as poetry. After reading the first ten pages, I'm not sure if it was professionally edited because you can never know if certain grammatical "errors" are actually conscientious choices when it comes to poetry. For example, I saw one spot where the poem read "see you in a hired taxi" when all the other repeated lines were "I see you" with the subject, so I wonder if that wasn't a mistake. My impression has stayed the same as I still think it's an interesting set of poems. I really liked the first, shorter poem because it showed a big emotion (feeling like an outsider in a new place) through a small scene (going to a party). I wouldn't improve anything necessarily because everyone has different tastes in poetry, and I'm sure many people will love these poems, but I wasn't quite pulled in enough by the second long poem to actually purchase the book even if I found it relatively interesting. In the end, I prefer poems that focus on one scene rather than a long list of scenes strung together.

First Ten review added on February 13, 2019, at 8:39 am by Camille Turner.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

desantismt_17

604219
This book’s title made me chuckle. The description dissolved my notion that this was meant to be funny and told me this was a poetry collection. I’m not much for poetry, and before sampling, I wasn’t thinking about reading. After sampling, I’ll pass. The book appears professionally edited. I noticed no errors. I know little about poetry, so I can’t comment to form, but the emotion definitely comes across here. The title poem, “The Immigrants Lament,” does exactly what the title says. It laments, and I felt the sorrow, the desire to do anything other than what was being done. The feeling of not belonging is universal, and the author captures that perfectly with the party metaphor—going from the center of parties in Morocco to being in the corner in Israel. It was quite moving and led into more emotional content. I have no improvements to suggest. The OnlineBookClub.org review I saw was glowing. This just isn’t my kind of book.

First Ten review added on February 13, 2019, at 8:29 am by desantismt_17.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

sarahmarlowe randomeducator

812327
The cover wouldn’t have caught my attention. The title design could have been more clear, and the illustration is not attractive. However, if the author’s purpose was to give an impression of darkness, he succeeded. The sample was interesting. It is obvious that the author is writing from personal experiences — and they sound soul-crushing. The poems were conversational, and I found no errors. I will be reading this book. I don’t often read poetry, but this author caught my attention. I’d like to know more. I have not read an OBC review of this book.

First Ten review added on February 13, 2019, at 7:02 am by sarahmarlowe randomeducator.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

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Total ~ 24%

The Immigrant's Lament earned a score of 24%.

In other words, out of the top-level reviewers who read at least the first 10 pages of this book, 24% 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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