The First Ten Focus Group Feedback for Sigfried’s Smelly Socks!
Because Sigfried’s Smelly Socks! 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
From the first glance at the cover of this book, I thought to myself, what an unappealing cover for a children's book! The review turned me off even more because it mentioned that the book contains some gross content. The sample, although error-free, confirmed this because the very first page had my head spinning. I could almost smell the rotten food and for this reason, I won't read the rest of the book. What I liked about it, however is that it paints a realistic picture of an outcome that readers will have to endure if they don't clean up.
First Ten review added on March 20, 2018, at 7:59 am by Mercelle.
Cjgarland89
Based on this cover and that it was a children’s book, I would have likely picked this up on my own if I saw it. My kids enjoy silly stories. Especially ones that contain gross things! After sampling I would definitely get this one to enjoy with them. There are a lot of gross images, but I think that if half the fun of the book. I wouldn’t change anything. The OBC reviews are overwhelmingly positive, but didn’t sway me either way. There weren’t any errors, so this was professionally edited.
First Ten review added on March 20, 2018, at 5:59 am by Cjgarland89.
N_R
I have read this book before and I think it is very cute. The illustrations in it are very different and the topic is quite alternative for a child's book. As I don't have children or any kids around me to share it with, I am not going to buy and read the whole book. However, I did enjoy the sample. The book does seem like it has been professionally edited and definitely had a professional do the illustrations. What I enjoyed most about this book was the odd topic as well as the gorgeous illustrations. I actually wish that I had a child in the family or work that I could share this with but I do not. I will keep this book in mind if I do come across someone who would enjoy it. The Online Book Club reviews for this book are very positive and I think that people with children to share this with would get the most from the book.
First Ten review added on March 19, 2018, at 1:45 am by N_R.
Haute_Coffee
I was a preschool teacher for many years and the cover is cute and got my attention. Little kids love gross subjects like smelly socks. However, I realized after reading it that it wouldn’t be appropriate to read in school because of the page with dog pee and the fact that kids would be trying to emulate him by putting their socks in the toilet. Sounds ridiculous, but not every book is appropriate for a school setting or something like a library storytime. I did love the illustrations. I don’t have kids of my own so I’ll have to pass.
First Ten review added on March 18, 2018, at 10:11 pm by Haute_Coffee.
JessNWheeler
This is the type of book I would have chosen because I read children’s books with my children. The Official Online Book Club review offered great insight into the plot. The blurb, editorial, and customer reviews furthered my interest. I immediately smiled as I read the first page. My original opinion was confirmed. I will buy and read the remainder of the book. My children and I will enjoy this colorful and silly story. There are no grammar errors within the text.
First Ten review added on March 18, 2018, at 8:03 pm by JessNWheeler.
RebeccasReading
This is not a book I would have normally read. I don't have any children so I don't have any need for a children's book. After reading the sample, my opinion is the same. It seems like a great book, but I don't personally have any use for it. I enjoyed the creative illustrations. I don't have any suggestions for improvement. It seems to be professionally edited.
First Ten review added on March 18, 2018, at 6:54 pm by RebeccasReading.
lavellan
I probably would have not read the sample of Sigfried's Smelly Socks! if it had not been a part of the First Ten program. While the Book of the Day review was positive, I'm not in the age-demographic that the book is geared toward. I thought that the illustrations were eye-catching. The book seemed like it was professionally edited and did not have any errors. I probably will not buy the book today because I am not a younger reader and I do not have any young children to read the book to. I would recommend the book for young readers and parents.
First Ten review added on March 18, 2018, at 6:43 pm by lavellan.
AA1495
Had I not sampled the book, I would not have read it, since the book is meant specifically for children. Having read the sample, I found it interesting. I liked the simple yet relevant illustrations on every page. Further, the large font and simple vocabulary would make the book very easy to read for children. I found no major issues or grammatical errors in the sample. Since I do not read the genre, I will not be reading the book further.
First Ten review added on March 18, 2018, at 4:47 pm by AA1495.
dhomespot
I would not have chosen to read the book if not for the first ten pages. I do not usually purchase children's books. I do not anticipate buying the book because my grandchildren do not live close enough to warrant it. The book looks to be professionally edited with no errors that I could see in the sample. I loved the illustrations and the way the sentences were small enough for a young child to read themselves. The book did have an official review.
First Ten review added on March 18, 2018, at 3:44 pm by dhomespot.
Cristina Chifane
First of all, I would not have chosen to sample this book based only on the title and cover. Secondly, the Amazon blurb is too short, yet the editorial review and the customer reviews are praising and recommending the book. In addition, the editorial review mentions the fact that Len Foley's book received Mom's Choice Award being evaluated by the analysis of multiple aspects (production quality, design, educational and entertainment value, originality, appeal and cost). Unfortunately, I do not think this book is a good choice for children. The sample did not convince me mainly because of the illustrations which were pretty schematic with Sigfried being portrayed like a rather dull character. I could not find a plausible explanation for the way in which words were highlighted in the rhyming paragraphs; at first, I thought that only smell-related words were written in bold, but this was not the case. Nevertheless, the fact that there were no typos or grammar errors is a plus. I liked the idea of little Sigfried's journey through the world of bad smells, but the author could have paid more attention to the off-putting words and images. Last but not least, the Official OnlineBookClub review is congratulatory to the author and seems to have attracted a large number of potential readers who prefer children to be aquainted with a realistic image of the world from an early age.
First Ten review added on March 18, 2018, at 12:45 pm by Cristina Chifane.
Emmanae
I really enjoyed reading this book a second time, I had read it when it was a BOTD previously, before I was part of the First Ten program. I already owned the book, so I won’t be buying it again this time around. My favorite part is the listing of all of the socks with what they smell like, and I’m not crazy about some of the gross imagery, but I think kids would love it. This book did have an official book club review, but I had read it before and it hasn’t swayed my thoughts about this book. I didn’t see any errors in the book, so I believe it to be professionally edited.
First Ten review added on March 18, 2018, at 9:16 am by Emmanae.
This book appears to have been Book of the Day more than once. Only responses from the most recent Book of the Day focus group are shown. Older responses have been hidden by default to avoid confusion. If you would like to also view the older first ten responses, you can unhide them by clicking the button below.
Total ~ 36%
Sigfried’s Smelly Socks! 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.
Go to main Bookshelves page for Sigfried’s Smelly Socks!
