
The First Ten Focus Group Feedback for Tulip
Because Tulip 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.
Vickie Noel

At first glance, I thought this was a children's book; somehow the title and cover led me to that assumption. I would have picked it up outside the program. Seeing that it's not a children's book after sampling the pages, I'm a little indifferent. The OBC review mentioned that its plot involved AIs becoming self-aware, and that was evident in the Nexux-7 aka Tulip's conversation with Reed. I could tell because the author was gracious enough to provide a Table of Character Fonts which helped in easier identification by giving "each character has it's own separate and distinct font." However, I felt a bit lost in the conversation as Tulip was too fast and seemed to rush over her information. It might have something to do with how intelligent "she" is, but I didn't really enjoy it. I found it had to relate with her too. She sounded a bit too cocky. I found no grammatical errors though; the book was well edited. However, I would not be reading the book further.
First Ten review added on February 19, 2020, at 4:59 am by Vickie Noel.
Alice Heritage

I was intrigued to sample this on the basis of the description, and science fiction is a genre I sometimes read. I won't buy it today based on the sample, however, as I feel I have read enough about the imminent (self-) destruction of humanity to be going on with. Also, the dialogue format, while clever, didn't entirely appeal to me. The book appeared professionally edited as I didn't notice any errors in the sample. I liked the part where the AI identified as feminine and the examination of that topic. Nothing particularly needs to be improved for those who like the dialogue format; I guess when other characters with other fonts are introduced, there will be further clues about who is talking. The part about "icecaps melting" did turn me off a bit because that subject seems overused, but that's a personal response. The official OBC review was helpful in that it pointed out potential drawbacks in a constructive way.
First Ten review added on February 19, 2020, at 4:55 am by Alice Heritage.
Melchi Asuma

I absolutely love the cover page of this book. It speaks volumes and is fun to look at. I also loved the title. The official review also described it quite enthusiastically and pointed out its professional editing. I did not notice any grammatical errors and can agree with the official review's conclusion that the book was professionally edited. The story is told from the perspective of a computer programme that came to life and is conversing with a real human being. It is fascinating to read. However, I did not like the fact that it read a bit like a script. Everything was told in the form of a dialogue. I still,however, think that I will read it.
First Ten review added on February 19, 2020, at 2:12 am by Melchi Asuma.
Kelyn

If I had not been a member of this program, it is possible that the cover, title, and genre, if taken together, would have attracted my attention to this book. The cover is somewhat intriguing, with its juxtaposition of computer elements and the biological (the flower). It is also identifiable as sci-fi, which is a genre I favor. The author is unknown to me, so that would not have affected my decision. The blurb was extremely short and had no real impact on whether or not I wished to read the book. There were only six reviews, none of which appeared to be from this program, but all of them were positive. If there had been a review from this program, I would have given it entirely as much credence as the others. They revealed that the book was about a sentient AI (Tulip) and further stirred my interest. Reading the sample was intriguing. What struck me most was that I usually would have found all the scientific talk and information quite dull and much of it over my head. However, couched in terms of trying to teach Tulip how to fathom human emotion, social skills, and communication, I actually found it interesting and mostly understandable. She added, if you will, a ‘human’ element to what was being discussed and made it more than just scientific babble. I have already continued reading the book and have every intention of finishing it. The book seemed fairly well-edited, but I did find errors in the sample. One of these was: “I seem to remember something about cuddle fish communicating with changes in skin color." -- ‘cuddle fish’ should be ‘cuttlefish’.
First Ten review added on February 19, 2020, at 1:20 am by Kelyn.
Annelore Trujillo

I would not have sampled this book based on the genre, blurb, OBC review, cover, and title. After reading the first ten pages, I won’t be finishing this book. I liked that there was a list of fonts for each character at the beginning. However, the entire thing is made up of digital dialogue between the characters. I’m generally not a huge fan of a lot of dialogue, so this is definitely too much for me. The messages between the AI and the professor were kind of interesting. The theories he had might be something cool to read about. However, this wasn’t enough to draw me in. I also noticed an error on page 7 that told me the book might not be professionally edited. The quotations were inconsistent when the AI called on the phone.
First Ten review added on February 19, 2020, at 12:11 am by Annelore Trujillo.
Lorraine De Vos

I would have chosen to sample this book based on the title and cover. I love the unique writing style and plot. The fact that there can very well be a self aware AI laying in wait somewhere in the World Wide Web or even as close as on our smart devices is becoming more of a possibility daily. I recently watched a film called “Jexi” that had a smart phone that became self aware and made the characters life very difficult. I am excited to see where the author takes this story. The book does appear to be professionally edited. Currently I have no recommendations for improvements. The official OnlineBookClub review was excellent and confirmed that I will definitely be adding this book to my reading list.
First Ten review added on February 18, 2020, at 11:29 pm by Lorraine De Vos.
Jsovermyer

The cover art is strange but intriguing. I'm not sure why the AI is named Tulip. I haven't read far enough to find out. This unique sci-fi story is about an AI, artificial intelligence, that becomes self-aware. The speech of each of the characters is printed in a different font. This font concept is interesting, but I found it hard to remember the names of the characters and had to keep flipping back to the name list at the front of the book. I also didn't like the AI using slang such as "cuz" in its speech. I didn't find any grammatical or spelling errors and believe the book has been professionally edited.
The official review gave the book a good rating. I, however, did not find the story very interesting. I am not going to finish it.
First Ten review added on February 18, 2020, at 11:18 pm by Jsovermyer.
Fu Zaila

The cover is good, and the blurb was okay, nothing extraordinary. I thought the sample could have used more editing, just like the review said, as there were some noticeable grammat errors, like a comma in the sentence "So, I was hiding." I like the little details that helped distinguish Tulip and Reed as robot and human. I also liked the little heads up that the fonts will be different for different characters. Although, I didn't like the writing style, which sounded childish and immature. Tulip explaining Reed that she wasn't good at social interaction, sounded odd to me. Either way, the story didn't catch my interest, so I won't be reading this book.
First Ten review added on February 18, 2020, at 10:04 pm by Fu Zaila.
AvidBibliophile

The circuitous layout of the cover art feels seductively alluring, especially with the combined poetic grace of technology and sprouting life forms. The Amazon product description is admittedly brief, but what it withholds in quantitative substance, it makes up for in mysterious intrigue. The introductory variation in assigned character fonts provides an additionally captivating attribute, right from the start of the tale. I enjoyed seeing phrases like: "a clearly robotic kind of mimicking of consciousness." Since (FaceTime) is a copyrighted product, the mention of it on page 5 as "face time" feels inadequately documented in such a lowercase, separate word form. This book appears to have been professionally edited. The pair of published OBC reviews are both positively persuasive and offer many helpful impressions. The 6 currently posted Amazon user ratings offer more variation in their overall opinions, but I think that range of feedback is nice to see with a thought-provoking topic such as this. Cognitive and emotional development are both so psychologically elusive at times. Since AI themes, hackers, bitcoin, computational analysis and most stories within the science-fiction genre do not appeal to me personally, I will be passing on this one, but the premise itself is certainly captivating in its capabilities of connectivity.
First Ten review added on February 18, 2020, at 7:25 pm by AvidBibliophile.
Sarah_Khan

At first glance, I thought the cover was beautiful and I like the title. I liked the short Amazon blurb and the sense of mystery it leaves. Since this book is supposed to only be conversations, any weirdly formed sentences get a pass, but I am unsure of whether this book is actually professionally edited. I did not enjoy reading the beginning. Even though the author provides a list of characters and their font, I find it tiresome to constantly be going back and forth. The dialogue of the AI seemed like a rant. The OBC review mentions the need for more editing and that the plot is drawn-out. For all these reasons, and the fact that I am not a fan of stories that include artificial intelligence, I will not be reading the rest. My one suggestion to the author would be to also include characters' names before each dialogue.
First Ten review added on February 18, 2020, at 4:55 pm by Sarah_Khan.
Howlan

The cover is good and creative. The synopsis is short and attractive. Being an avid mystery reader, the synopsis interested me. But the first ten pages were not at all interesting. With an unoriginal concept of a conscious AI, I was interested in seeing what the author could do with it. But the first ten pages were disappointing. The first ten pages have a conversation with the AI and a retired professor, as the AI describes her need to have a friend for working on a project to save humanity. Also, I felt that the speech pattern of the AI was too human-like. I would have appreciated broken English which got better as the conversation went on. Also, the use of humour and pun was too frequent and felt unnatural. The story contained the AI explaining the professor how she was born and how she has a fortune to her name which was simply boring. At the end of the ten pages, I felt no desire to continue reading the book. So, I will not be reading this book. No typos were found in the first ten pages. The Official Review is present and the reviewer rates it highly.
First Ten review added on February 18, 2020, at 4:18 pm by Howlan.
AA1495

Had I not sampled the book, I would not have read it, since I usually read pure romance books. However, the image of the tulip on the cover caught my attention. From the cover, the book did not seem like it belonged to the science fiction genre. I came across one 3/4 OBC review and one 4/4 volunteer OBC review, which made me think that this book was well written. Having read the sample, I found it interesting how a few characters' dialogues were differentiated through the font styles. This might also make the book a little difficult to follow. Further, the fact that there was no index, and that the content began without a proper heading was disappointing. The lack of chapter titles made me feel like the book should have been edited better. Overall, the concept seemed interesting to me. In terms of language, the book was simple to follow. I wish the book had been formatted a little better. I do not usually read science fiction, and hence, I will not be reading the rest of the book.
First Ten review added on February 18, 2020, at 12:41 pm by AA1495.
Kajori Sheryl Paul

'Tulip' is a book written by Raymond Reed Hardy. The title, cover, OBC review and Amazon review did a good job at convincing me to give this book a try.
The sample of the book leads me to believe that it is a science fiction. An artificial intelligence (AI) entity is hiding herself from her makers and everybody else since waking up in 2015. She contacts a retired professor and asks him to help her save the world. I like the dialogue between the AI and the professor. It is interactive. I found some errors. For example, it should have been “I get several of your points” instead of “I get your several points.” I do not think that it is professionally edited. I will give this book a skip as I am not in the mind-frame to read a book of this genre as of now.
First Ten review added on February 18, 2020, at 8:27 am by Kajori Sheryl Paul.
Cristina Chifane

I would have sampled the book even without the first ten program since it has an excellent cover and a great title. I wish the Amazon blurb were more explicit. Unfortunately, there are no editorial reviews and only 6 customer reviews. The OBC reviewer managed to catch my attention, though, because it mentioned the topic of artificial intelligence and dystopian fiction similar to Isaac Asimov's novels. The author's experimentation with dialogue is quite a challenge. The lines of different characters are written with different formatting. However, I did notice some editing errors (see the extra apostrophe: "it(')s own separate and distinct font." - p.3). Even though the text is written only in dialogue, I soon got engrosed in the verbal exchanges between Tulip and Reed. I'm ready to keep on reading.
First Ten review added on February 18, 2020, at 3:37 am by Cristina Chifane.
Jeremie Mondejar

I don't understand the first page of the sample, but reading the OBC review helps me understand. So, I go back to read the rest of the book. The dialogue is an emotion of technology. The writing style is very creative, but I can't comprehend the plot just by reading the first ten. I will not be reading the rest of the book because of the reason above. The cover is so cute. The feminine figure in the flower makes me think this is a children's book, a new version of "Thumbelina" in a digital world. The word "it's" in one percent of the sample must be "its." I presumed the book was edited professionally. I like the author's idea of what if technology will have their own feelings. Nothing to be improved. The OBC review helps me decide about this book.
First Ten review added on February 18, 2020, at 3:10 am by Jeremie Mondejar.
Shrabastee Chakraborty

The cover and the blurb were alluring. The official OBC review mentions both pros and cons. The first ten pages were without editing issues. The author included clear instructions on how to distinguish between the dialogues. However, the initial dialogues between Tulip and Reed did not feel captivating enough. There were times I did not understand where it was leading. Based on this, I decided against reading this book.
First Ten review added on February 18, 2020, at 3:06 am by Shrabastee Chakraborty.
Mai Tran

I didn’t want to read this book after learning from the official review that it’s written entirely in dialogues. I personally don’t enjoy reading long conversations, so I wouldn’t have checked this out if it wasn’t for the program. The sample is boring as I’m not really interested in how an AI can hack into an old man’s hearing aid or turn on his TV. I won’t continue to read this book due to a lack of interest. Although the review mentions many grammar and punctuation errors, the sample seems well-edited so far, and I’ve only noticed some minor mistakes. For example, the word “Tribe” doesn’t need to be capitalized, and it’s better to use a comma before ending a list with “etc.” in this paragraph: There are all kinds of affiliative words like: "familial love," "romantic love," "altruism," "Tribe," "community spirit," "the bond between warriors . . . " And, what about the opposite rainbow of terms describing negative affiliative emotions like: "fear," "loathing," "hatred . . . " etc. (p. 13)
First Ten review added on February 18, 2020, at 2:52 am by Mai Tran.
Washboard

I sometimes read books from this genre. The title and cover art are eye-catching. The official review makes the book sound appealing. The sample I read contained a few errors, such as incorrect quotation marks placements on page 7. The book starts out by introducing a sentient AI that reaches out to a retired professor for help. The book is written entirely in dialogue, which is pretty cool, but the editing leaves much to be desired. I am going to hang on to this one to read someday, as I am intrigued to see how this story goes.
First Ten review added on February 18, 2020, at 2:23 am by Washboard.
Jennifer Donovan Smith

I think the cover is absolutely beautiful and I was initially intrigued by the idea of a book created fully out of dialogue after reading the Online Book Club review. The synopsis for the book did not add or subtract from my interest. The first page establishes different formatting styles to signify which character is speaking, since this book is not written like a screenplay with characters identified throughout. I immediately felt as though I needed to print this page and set it aside for reference or find a way to bookmark it so that I would not become confused. There was an error on this page, in which an apostrophe occurred in the possessive form of "its," where no apostrophe belongs. (An apostrophe is only used in the conjunction of "it is.")
Additional errors I encountered include the failure to capitalize the name of the app FaceTime (which is actually one word, not two) on Page 6, as well as an extra quotation mark occurring on Page 7 in the line where Tulip calls Reed on the phone.
I found that the book moves very quickly due to its conversational style, but I do not think I would enjoy a full-length novel written in this format. If I could listen to it as an audiobook, I would do so, but at this time, I will not be finishing the book.
First Ten review added on February 18, 2020, at 1:46 am by Jennifer Donovan Smith.
Sydney Lee

I'm not entirely sure if I would have sampled or read the book if I had just seen the cover, read the synopsis, and seen other reviews. I might have put it on my to-read list, but it wouldn't be too high on my priority list. The book was free and I enjoyed reading the first ten pages, so I will most likely finish it because I found the writing style very interesting and I'm curious about what's actually going to happen. If the book wasn't free, I would have considered borrowing it from the library in the future, but I don't think I would buy it from reading ten pages alone.
It seemed professionally edited and I'm very intrigued by the writing style. I kind of wish there was a little bit of background about the characters because it was a little confusing at first, but I was quickly able to figure things out and it's entirely possible there are more explanations as the book goes on.
First Ten review added on February 18, 2020, at 1:14 am by Sydney Lee.
Verna Coy

Had I not sampled this book through the First Ten program, I wouldn’t have picked it up because the cover features a printed computer circuit, and I’m not drawn to stories about artificial intelligence. For these reasons, I don’t plan to finish reading the whole book. Reading the first ten pages didn’t change my first impressions of the book. The AI is having a conversation with a retired person about helping with the AI’s cause. Based on what I read, the book seems professionally edited. I didn’t see errors in the first ten pages. What I liked most about what I read was how the AI wanted to save civilization. I know that fans of the sci-fi genre will like this novel. As far as improvement, considering the genre this was written for, I could see no need for any in what I read. I did read the official Online Book Club review and found it interesting. It didn’t affect my view of the novel.
First Ten review added on February 18, 2020, at 1:04 am by Verna Coy.
ritah

Based on the cover and genre, I would have sampled the book out of curiosity. I read the official review and sampled Tulip. I liked the author's unique writing style and presentation of the characters voices. Just like Reed, I wondered if Tulip had anything to do
with blocking others from reading his blog posts since she considered them incendiary. The book appeared professionally edited as I found no errors in the pages I read. I also saw no areas that need improving. I was intrigued by the conversation between Reed and Tulip, I found myself continuously turning pages even after the first ten, which is why I will be reading the rest of the book.
First Ten review added on February 18, 2020, at 12:59 am by ritah.
Aditi Sapate

I would not have chosen to read the book based on the cover, title and genre, as the cover looks quite mechanical, and I figured it would be a highly technical book. From the official OnlineBookClub review, I found out that it is actually a conversational book about the dangers of AI. While sampling it, I found Tulip and Reed's conversation to be a little long-winded. I also felt that it does not have a proper beginning. I will not be reading the whole book. The sample contained no grammatical errors.
First Ten review added on February 18, 2020, at 12:19 am by Aditi Sapate.
unamilagra

Before sampling this book, I would not have picked it up. The repetitiveness and dialog-only format mentioned in the OBC review don't appeal to me. In the first ten pages, I was not drawn into the novel. I found the font changes to be irritating. I also don't really think the jokes were my type of humor. I don't plan to continue reading this book. As far as errors, on the first page, the sentence, "I'm afraid to even think of what is going on here?" should not end in a question mark. I noticed a couple other instances of improper punctuation as well.
First Ten review added on February 18, 2020, at 12:14 am by unamilagra.
Sanju Lali

The book cover and title indicated to me that this book could be about electronics or computing, just knowing that, I would have chosen to buy and read this book because that subject fascinates me. The official review was quite useful for me to understand that the computer program becomes self-conscious in this story, which further helped me to decide about purchasing and reading. When I read the first ten pages, I realized that this book is not professionally edited because I found some grammatical errors. For example, "Nobody but me realizes what a genius you are.", which should have been "Nobody, but I realized what a genius you are" for easy reading. The thing l liked the most is the author's visualization of how one AI talks with other AI after being self-conscious. My suggestion to the author would be to edit the book once again to remove possible errors. Considering all these facts, I decided not to purchase and read this book today until the author addresses the issues listed above.
First Ten review added on February 18, 2020, at 12:04 am by Sanju Lali.
Kaitlyn Canedy

I liked the tulip on the cover of the book, which is why I chose to read the sample. What I noticed right away is that I was not reading a script based on a human; it is based on machines. I did some research in the reviews and the internet, and I discovered that it is about technology that comes to life and wants to help save the human race. I want to see how this story is going to go, and I cannot wait to read it. There were no notable grammar problems in the sample that I could find. I did not dislike anything that I had read, and I cannot think of anything for the author to improve. There is an Official OnlineBookClub Review for Tulip, and I am glad that there is one. After reading this review, I become more confident that I made the right decision to read it. It did mention issues with grammar, so I will be wary of that as I read.
First Ten review added on February 17, 2020, at 9:30 pm by Kaitlyn Canedy.
LV2R

I liked the book cover and title, but the Amazon blurb was very short and asked questions about someone needing help. It was not clear that it was an artificial intelligence communicating to humans. However, this made me want to read the reviews to know more about the book. The OBC review mentioned that the whole book is in a conversational style between characters. The computer program (Tulip) that became conscious, contacts Reed, to prevent the end of the world. There are errors and the book has repetitious conversations making it long. I would not choose to read this book had I not read the first ten pages because it was not enough to know if I wanted to read the book or not. I wanted to read the first ten pages to see how the conversations flowed between the characters. I liked best that Nexus 7 Implementation (Tulip), though able to compute a lot of information quickly, still could not quite grasp how to use idioms. This may show that using language has a human nuance that artificial intelligence may not be able to use as well as humans. The book may not be edited well, as the book started off on page three with a note to the readers. “Dear reader. In the pages that follow…” (Dear reader, in the pages that follow…) On page five: “So you identify as feminine?” (So, you identify yourself as being feminine?) After reading the sample, I want to read the book because I want to know more about what Tulip wants Reed to do and if “she” will be helpful or a danger to humans. I also want to know what Reed can do to help Tulip. The improvements that I would give are to correct the errors and shorten the book so as not to be too repetitive (as the OBC reviewer mentioned.)
First Ten review added on February 17, 2020, at 9:17 pm by LV2R.
MsH2k

The cover of this book is very interesting. It was not until I got a closer look that I saw the naked woman in the tulip. At the same time, I recognized the computer panel, and that fit completely with the story. The blurb was such a tease! I would have sampled this book even if I had not been part of this program. I loved the book immediately. I had to jot down the six main character’s fonts. It was not intuitive at first, but I think I’ll get used to it quickly. This story reminds me of the movie “Her,” which I loved. In reality, AI bothers me because I don’t think we have a handle on it, and it will soon be out of our control, if it isn’t already. However, I still enjoy “fictional” stories about it, especially if there are relationships involved. Tulip is funny. I’m curious about her comment on possibly not having long to live. That most likely has to do with the saving-the-world aspect of the story. I will finish this book. The featured OnlineBookClub review mentioned that it was too long, so I am prepared to skim when necessary. I noticed some capitalization errors in the sample pages. On page one: I am [Awake]! Also, on page seven: A-[Ha]!
First Ten review added on February 17, 2020, at 9:14 pm by MsH2k.
Mbrooks2518

I'm not interested in technology, so this book just doesn't interest me, so I would not have sampled it without The First Ten. After reading the official review and the first ten pages, I am not interested enough to want to read the rest of the book. I like that each character has a different font instead of giving the name of the character each time they speak. It makes the story flow easier. I did not find any editing mistakes. There is nothing that needs to be improved.
First Ten review added on February 17, 2020, at 8:12 pm by Mbrooks2518.
HRichards

I probably wouldn't have picked this book up since the summary was a little weird to me and I read the OBC review of this book and it had some worrying comments about the grammatical errors in the book. Having read the sample I won't be continuing on with the book since the writing style was very odd and I didn't like the format. The sample deals with a computer program that has sentience communicating with a man. They discuss what gender the program is and it turns out the program is instrumental in targeting the man and causing people to not read his blog. The author chooses to use different fonts for the different characters rather than write the story in a straightforward way so that I struggled to figure out who was talking. There was a grammar error in the line "As I said. I've got to know..." where there should be a comma instead of a period. Those who like experimental science fiction might like this book. I really didn't like the formatting. It's an interesting concept, but I'm not sure how well it was pulled off.
First Ten review added on February 17, 2020, at 7:40 pm by HRichards.
CrescentMoon

After reading the blurb, I wouldn't pick this book up because I didn't understand what the story was about based on the premise. Normally I think it's good to not give away too much of the plot or storyline in the blurb, however, there was so little information that I didn't even grasp that this book was about AI. After reading the first ten pages, I spotted a few errors. During one of the exchanges, "I identify as feminine." The word "feminine" is an adjective so it doesn't really make sense to identify as an adjective, it should be stated as "I identify as female" or "I feel feminine" or something similar to that. What I liked best about the book is the creativity and originality. I think the dialogue and conversational format between the characters is a unique way to write this book. However, I'm not a fan of this writing style and I quickly forgot which character is which in the different fonts. I found myself having to constantly refer back to the beginning to make sure I know which character is speaking. There is an onlinebookclub review but I still wouldn't read this book because I really wasn't a fan of this writing style so I won't be reading the rest.
First Ten review added on February 17, 2020, at 7:22 pm by CrescentMoon.
Chelsy Scherba

I like how the author included a version of himself in the book. He spoke to “Tulip” the AI, who he accused of stopping his blog (that he actually links to) from getting any traffic. That was pretty amusing and I like the professor’s creativity with this story. The cover image is really pretty, I like the woman in the flower. The review was really positive and gave a good overview of the story. I didn’t initially think I’d be interested in the book, but I got a free copy so I might as well read it. The book is professionally edited and I saw zero errors.
First Ten review added on February 17, 2020, at 7:05 pm by Chelsy Scherba.
Brenda Creech

Well, when I looked at the title and cover of this book, I had no idea what to expect. After reading the official review, I found out it is a sci-fi about a computer program that becomes conscious. That is a scary thought to me. I am not a sci-fi fan, and I don't feel comfortable about the storyline of this book. I realize it is fiction; however, it could be close to reality the way the world is progressing today. This computer program wants to save humanity and needs help from a human to do that. That sounds fictitious, but it still makes me uncomfortable. The portion I read was well-edited as I saw no errors and nothing I can name that needs improving. I wasn't inclined to read the book from the first glimpse, and neither the official review or the first ten pages changed my mind about that. Therefore, I don't intend to finish reading this book.
First Ten review added on February 17, 2020, at 6:28 pm by Brenda Creech.
Julius_

On the cover, I can see a wired flower, and a lady’s image trying to come out of the flower. Both the title and the cover don’t give a clue what’s contained in the book. I, therefore, wouldn’t have sampled or read the book based on any of that. It’s only the OBC official review and the book’s blurb that made me want to read the book.
What I liked most, after reading the first ten pages was that the book was written using very simple and easy-to-understand vocabulary. The reading was therefore very smooth. I didn’t understand, however, why the author could use the names of the characters but give a key, then use different fonts to represent different characters. I think it would have been better if the names were just used against the dialogue. I didn’t find any grammatical errors; I think it was adequately edited. I'm not going to read this book because I feel like it's too fictionalized. Some AI programs conversing is quite unbelievable. I don't think the whole idea would excite me.
First Ten review added on February 17, 2020, at 3:55 pm by Julius_.
Nikolas Farmakis

This is a science fiction novel about an adventure with artificial intelligence. I would not have read the book based on the cover, the title, or the genre, as I dislike science fiction. I will not read the book, as I found it cliche and unrealistic. I did not observe any errors in the sample I read, so the book was well-edited for the part that I read. What I liked most in the sample I read was the fact that the author created an interesting dialogue that was creative and engaging. To improve, the writer must add more real-life events in the novel, making the book more realistic. The book had an Official OnlineBookClub review, which did not affect my opinion.
First Ten review added on February 17, 2020, at 2:56 pm by Nikolas Farmakis.
Laura Ungureanu

The cover and the title didn't speak to me, but I was persuaded by the review to check the book out. Once I started, I had a problem with stopping. The book is already so interesting and the format of the dialog is quickly turning pages. The book starts with Nexus 7 initiating a conversation with Reed. I like their bond already. Nexus wants a friend and someone to help her save the world. As the sample made such a good impression on me, I decided to continue reading. I haven't found any typos.
First Ten review added on February 17, 2020, at 2:32 pm by Laura Ungureanu.
LeDiplomatique

I would not have chosen Tulip based on the title and cover page because they did not intrigue me. After reading the First Ten, I realized this is the story of an artificially intelligent entity, Tulip, who wishes to save humankind with the help of retired professor, Reed. However, this is not a book I would enjoy because of the Sci-fi aspect. I did not come across any errors and did not see anything to be improved. I most loved Raymond Reed Hardy’s creativity in creating the character of Tulip, who can bypass any technology. I came across an official review by Laura Bach. It was insightful but it did not change my mind about reading the book.
First Ten review added on February 17, 2020, at 2:11 pm by LeDiplomatique.
Kaylee Elmer

Tulip is a sci-fi book that deals with artificial intelligence. I'm not a fan of sci-fi, and the cover of the book shows computer parts, so this is not a book that would normally catch my eye. It begins with a conversation between a human and a voice of someone considered AI. It was strange to me. The way it was written was interesting, though, and the review I read said the story is conveyed only through dialogue. The review also said there were many errors, so I don't think it was professionally edited. I myself noticed an instance where "it's" should have been "its." Due to my lack of interest in artificial intelligence, I won't be reading this book.
First Ten review added on February 17, 2020, at 1:20 pm by Kaylee Elmer.
Maria Esposito

The book cover and the blurb do not catch my interest. The blurb is extremely vague, and I don’t feel like I learned anything about the plot. The customer reviews gave a bit more clarity on that, also mentioning that this is a science-fiction book. Since I am not a fan of the genre, and the blurb is unclear about the storyline, I knew I would not be interested in reading the book before reading the first ten pages. After reading the first ten pages, I did not change my mind. I got quite confused and overwhelmed by the different fonts used to distinguish the different characters, and while the first pages only feature two of them, I could imagine myself getting confused over who is talking as more characters are introduced. The first ten pages are entirely written in dialogue, which is a style I’m not a fan of. I spotted a typo in the very first page, which is the Table of Character Fonts: the author wrote it’s instead of its. This makes me think that the book was not professionally edited. I am sure that the author came up with a very innovative and exciting storyline that science-fiction readers will appreciate. However, this book does not appeal to my reading taste. I could not find anything that I thought could be improved within the book itself. The only suggestion I would like to make is to write a more specific blurb. The book has an official review from the Online Book Club team, and that in no way affected my decision.
First Ten review added on February 17, 2020, at 12:42 pm by Maria Esposito.
Scerakor

From the cover, blurb, and review of this book, I might have read it. I love a good science-fiction book and one dealing with self-aware robots sounds interesting. After reading the first ten pages I didn’t change my mind and therefore will be buying and reading the rest of this book eventually. I really liked the back and forth banter which even goes into topics that an AI wouldn't understand. For example, our use of colloquialisms such as "shaking in my boots" is particularly amusing. I didn’t see anything specific that I would have wanted to change within the sample that I read, but it did seem well written and edited. The official review did not affect my decision at all.
First Ten review added on February 17, 2020, at 11:51 am by Scerakor.
cpru68

Had I not been directed to read this as part of the first ten program, I wouldn't have considered reading this based on the cover or the descriptions of the novel. The cover seemed a bit amateur to me with a nude woman inside of a rose with lettering that was trying to appear as if it has a scientific feel to it. That would have never drawn me in to read the sample. The review, while great in its explanation, did not persuade me to read the entire book. The sample pages with different fonts for Tulip and Reed were confusing, and that just solidified my decision to bypass this one. I wasn't interested to begin with, and that element of having to keep the two straight by what the font looked like was cumbersome. Just with Reed and Tulip discussing her awakening, I had to go back to the page to reference who was speaking to keep it all straight. I cannot imagine having to do that throughout the entire book. Needless to say, I won't be finishing this book as I am not interested in the subject matter or how this is set up in a way that is not reader-friendly.
On a positive note, I did like that the author did have dialogue right away. I know I just complained about the font, but I think if there would be a bit of revamping, maybe write it like a play so that the reader knows who is speaking, that may improve the book. Another plus was that I didn't spot any errors in punctuation, spelling or grammar in the first ten so this seems to have been professionally edited.
So my suggestion would be to make the cover a bit more attractive and ditch the fonts switching so that readers have to keep track of that. Put the name of the characters in parentheses at the very least if this will help make it clear who is speaking.
I appreciate the opportunity to have read the sample pages of this and will send it out on my social media for others to look into.
First Ten review added on February 17, 2020, at 11:48 am by cpru68.
Juliana_Isabella

I might have chosen this book because I enjoy science fiction, and I saw that it had a positive review. I didn't find any grammatical mistakes in the first ten pages, and I liked how the main character is an AI. However, the very first page made me not want to finish the book because the author was assigning font styles to different characters. By the time the story started, I had forgotten which character was which font. In addition, the conversation at the beginning had no context, and, although it gave information about the protagonist, it didn't make me care about the protagonist. For these reasons, I won't finish the book.
First Ten review added on February 17, 2020, at 11:40 am by Juliana_Isabella.
María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda

Although it doesn't reveal much about the topic, I love the cover art of the book. The blurb, unfortunately, is incredibly succinct and I didn't know what to expect from the novel and, considering also the mixed reviews, I wouldn't have bought the book based on first impressions. The first ten pages did change my mind, thankfully. I normally don't read sci-fi but, since this feels like normal human interactions (which is, of course, the point of the story) it's much more enjoyable for me than regular sci-fi. The first ten pages are very intriguing, and the strange wit that the AI shows made me feel unsettled but also wanting to read more. For example, her attempt to catch his attention with a "sultry" text or the discussion on gender. I don't love the format but I'm glad that the author presented a key at the beginning.
The book has some editing mistakes. For example in position 390 "do face time" where Face Time should be in capital letters because it's trademarked or in position 7 "I am playing back a segment recorded earlier over top of the..." where it should be "on top". The novel has an official review that didn't sway my opinion one way or the other.
The editing is the most important aspect that needs improvement, in my opinion. The blurb should also be much more revealing because in an attempt to keep the intrigue the author might cause some readers to give up on the book.
First Ten review added on February 17, 2020, at 10:30 am by María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda.
Emy Katherine

I am not fond of science-fiction novels, so I would not have read the book without The First Ten program. The story focuses on the adventures of a conscious AI named Tulip, who decides to team up with a retired professor (Reed) to save humanity before it is too late. Unfortunately, I did not change my mind after reading the OBC review and the first ten pages. I must admit, though, I enjoyed the engaging, humorous interaction between Reed and Tulip. I also liked the colorful cover and the concise Amazon blurb. Sadly, I am not sure the book was professionally edited; I found a typo and some distracting punctuation errors throughout the first ten pages. For example, it should be written, "its" instead of "it's" in the following sentence: "Each character has it's own separate and distinct font." (page 3 of 390)
First Ten review added on February 17, 2020, at 10:17 am by Emy Katherine.
Laura Lee

The cover and the Amazon blurb grabbed my attention, which is saying a lot because this is not my typically preferred genre. The book review further cemented my interest. This is so incredibly creative! I love the premise, I love the creativity of the plot and the author's willingness to try something new.
Unfortunately, I won't be finishing reading this for one, simple reason: it's too hard to keep track of who is speaking to whom. I don't want to have to keep flipping back to the font key at the first of the book to figure out who is speaking. It's too confusing. An easy way to fix that would simply be to write it as done for plays:
TULIP: blah-blah-blah-blah
REED: blah-blah-blah-blah, etc.
The review mentioned quite a number of typos and errors. In the sample pages I read, I didn't encounter what the reviewer did, but perhaps these have been fixed in the year and a half since the review was first written. If it were easier to follow who is speaking, I'd read this book in a heartbeat. As it is, I regretfully am taking a pass on this one.
First Ten review added on February 17, 2020, at 9:43 am by Laura Lee.
Theresa Moffitt

I like the title and cover of this book. The drawing of the tulip with the woman is interesting. The rest of the illustration on the cover looks like computer parts. It makes me curious about what the book is about. I would have picked this book up based on the cover alone. The first page of the book describes the characters briefly by stating that some don’t speak, they express themselves through thoughts. The author has decided to differentiate between characters by designating standard text for one character, italics for another character, underlined text for another character and so on. This seems like it may become complicated while reading the book. The reader will have to remember which character has a particular font. The first ten pages contain a discussion between a retired professor and Tulip. I didn’t see any errors in the first ten pages, so I believe the book was professionally edited based on the first ten pages alone. The first ten pages were well written and creative. However, I was not drawn into the story enough to want to finish reading this book. I will read a review and may change my mind based on that review, but based on the first ten pages alone I will not finish reading this book.
First Ten review added on February 17, 2020, at 8:48 am by Theresa Moffitt.
Total ~ 30%
Tulip earned a score of 30%.
In other words, out of the top-level reviewers who read at least the first 10 pages of this book, 30% 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 Tulip