Cover for Magical house for sale

The First Ten Focus Group Feedback for Magical house for sale

Because Magical house for sale 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.

Ekta Kumari

896308
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I would have read this as I found the concept very interesting after reading its official review. I mean how often do we read books with a talking and walking house, and I liked how the author managed to make it so believable for readers. I would say the plot is silly but amusing. I think the book is well edited according to the portion I read. This seems to be a very short children's book. In spite of its unusual premise, I'm pleased with the imaginative concept. I'll read the whole book for its engaging premise.

First Ten review added on April 6, 2019, at 4:33 am by Ekta Kumari.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Vickie Noel

249577
I would have sampled this book outside the program for the fact that it's a colorful children's book. While checking out the sample, I discovered it was short and decided that I'd conclude it. Nevertheless, I wasn't particularly psyched up about it, maybe because it employed more passive voice than active in relating the story. Still, I could imagine reading it with deliberate enthusiasm and exaggeration to three to four-year-olds who may be blown away by a talking house. I wasn't also impressed to see errors in such a short book like, "I maybe the only one..." instead of "may be" or failure to capitalize the "n" in "New York." The punctuation style was also inconsistent as I noticed a sentence using British punctuation style of commas outside quotation marks as against the American style predominant in the book. The sentence, "“I don't think I should go back”, I thought." is guilty of this error. The OBC review, however, did a good job of stimulating my interest in the book.

First Ten review added on April 6, 2019, at 3:57 am by Vickie Noel.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Bianka Walter

502647
This is not a book that I would have sampled without the first ten program. I am not a child, nor do I have children, therefore, I have no need to read children's books. The sample was too short to get a good grasp of the book. The one thing that I didn't like was that the book included the word 'hate' (as in 'some people hate me'). Children shouldn't learn words like this that promote negativity. Maybe further on it's explained, but I know that I wouldn't want my child to learn negative thoughts like that from the book they were reading. From the small bit I read, I found no grammatical or spelling errors. I will not be reading this book further. As mentioned before, it does not pertain to me.

First Ten review added on April 6, 2019, at 3:50 am by Bianka Walter.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Gravy

60847
I enjoy some children's fiction, but this is a little young for me. As such, I would not have sampled it, and the sample did not change my mind.
I find the idea of a sentient house looking for new owners to be adorable. I find the reference to weight in the description less so. In fact, this alone would prevent me reading or recommending this book. I would urge the author to reconsider this line. It is not helpful, and can actually be very harmful, regardless of a child's weight.
I didn't notice any errors within the sample, and what there was of it was cute. If not for the weight thing, I would most likely recommend this.
That said, I will implore the author again, to please think about changing this. It is a small thing to change it, but could mean a world of difference to a child who reads it.
There was a review for this book, but my opinion would be the same without one.
As I don't read books aimed quite this young, I won't be reading it, but the previously stated issues would prevent it anyway.

First Ten review added on April 6, 2019, at 2:04 am by Gravy.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Annelore Trujillo

97769
I would have sampled this book based on the genre, blurb, OBC review, cover and title. It seemed like a cute book. After reading the first ten pages, I will be finishing this book. I loved the personality of the house. I even found myself feeling bad as person after person couldn’t afford the house. I want to continue reading to see if someone is able to buy the house. The book did seem to be professionally edited, and there isn’t anything I disliked so far.

First Ten review added on April 6, 2019, at 1:05 am by Annelore Trujillo.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Fu Zaila

878840
The cover illustration is heart-touching. I liked how there was a page that said "This book belongs to: " which would make kids happy to write their names and give them a sense of ownership. I liked the concept of introducing the house as Charlie who is calling for its owners. The illustration on cover made sense with that concept. There wasn't anything to dislike, but I won't be reading further because it is meant for children. The writing is edited professionally so far in the sample.

First Ten review added on April 6, 2019, at 12:08 am by Fu Zaila.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Heidi M Simone

76506
If it wasn't for this program, I would not have sampled this read. Reading about a house who is looking for its rightful owner isn't something that I'm interested in reading about. Due to this, the cover, title, genre, and blurb are not of interest to me. The positive OBC and customer ratings do not affect my opinion of the book. Based on what I read, the book could use another round of editing. For instance, the phrase, "half built house", is missing a hyphen between the words, "half built". The sample is fairly short as this is a short book, but I did like how conversational Charlie, the house, is as he explains his situation of how he was left alone. I also like how the author brings up the general issues of how some people are quick to judge outward appearance rather than looking at the person (or house, in this case) as a whole. On the other hand, the situation the book is presenting, though cute, isn't something that I'm interested in reading. Therefore, I do not plan on finishing the rest of the book.

First Ten review added on April 5, 2019, at 8:53 pm by Heidi M Simone.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

micoleon13

97247
This is not really a cover page which got my attention or appealed to me. I would not choose this book to read. The OnlineBookClub review was very complementary and outlined a story which would really appeal to children. They can easily imagine a house like Charlie having a life and personality. While it sounds like a great story, I think it would be more for children than for me. The pages which I read were well written and edited and the story is told from the viewpoint of Charlie the house. I liked how they illustrations were somewhat childish in nature, such as the house running down the road, and the bad hairdresser, which I think would appeal to children. However, this is not a book that I would continue to read. I have no ideas for improvement.

First Ten review added on April 5, 2019, at 6:59 pm by micoleon13.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Juliana_Isabella

1210914
I wouldn't have picked this book based on the cover because it seems to be for a younger demographic than me. Although the review I read was positive, I found the sample disappointing. I liked the premise of the story, but the actual writing was simplistic and disorganized, so I won't be buying the book. In addition, I found one grammatical error (lack of end punctuation for the sentence after "hello!").

First Ten review added on April 5, 2019, at 4:55 pm by Juliana_Isabella.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

ritah

236447
Based on the cover and genre, I wouldn't have sampled the book unless I was specifically looking for a children's book. After reading the official review, I sampled Magical house for sale. I liked reading the different experiences the house aka Charles had with different prospective buyers. It was unfortunate for Charles that the only family (the Packer's) he liked in a long time couldn't afford him. I did not find any errors in the pages I read. Though I think this is an imaginative and entertaining read for kids, I won't be reading the rest of the book because the content is not for me.

First Ten review added on April 5, 2019, at 2:21 pm by ritah.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

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 the woes of an old house in need of a new owner. When I read the sample, I liked that Charlie admitted that he hates kids with toys who ruin homes. Since I noticed no errors, I will conclude that the text underwent professional editing, and I will read the rest of the book because it is relatively short. As it is, there's nothing I would change about the bit I read.

First Ten review added on April 5, 2019, at 9:55 am by Mercelle.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Emy Katherine

94929
"Magical House for Sale" by Sathvik Jarajapu is a short story about Charlie, an old house. Charlie is tired of being alone and decides to find a new owner. As I enjoy reading children's books, I would have read the book based on the genre. Also, both the title and the cover caught my attention. I did not change my mind after sampling the book. I liked both the colorful illustrations and the humorous writing style. However, the book did not seem to be professionally edited as I found typos and grammatical errors. For example, "I maybe the only one that..." It should be "I may be the only one that..." All in all, it is an entertaining story based on the OBC review; therefore, I will read it.

First Ten review added on April 5, 2019, at 8:22 am by Emy Katherine.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Christina O Phillips

127531
The title and cover are cute. The summary sounded like a unique children's book. However, since I do not have kids I don't normally read this genre so without this program I would have skipped this sample. There were no errors that I noticed. The sample was short but I could tell that the language was level appropriate and the art fit the story. I will tell my friends with kids about this book but I will not read it myself.

First Ten review added on April 5, 2019, at 7:42 am by Christina O Phillips.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

desantismt_17

604219
This book’s title and description caught my interest. I love the concept of a story told from a house’s perspective. Before sampling, I wanted to read this. After sampling, I still do. The book appears professionally edited. I noticed no errors. I was hooked from the first few sentences. This is absolutely adorable. I love how Charlie starts the story from when he was born as a “half built house.” I also love how he doesn’t like how heavy the first family that looks at him is, so he kind of nudges them to go away. I got swept up in the house perspective from the beginning, and that didn’t falter. I have no improvements to suggest. The OnlineBookClub.org review was glowing and only made me want to read this more.

First Ten review added on April 5, 2019, at 7:37 am by desantismt_17.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Alice Heritage

173569
I might have sampled this without the programme because the cover illustration reminds me of a cartoon I once drew about a haunted house. I will read the rest of it on the basis of the sample because, although I learned that the house is not haunted, the story still appealed to me. The OnllineBookClub review I saw mentioned that the errors were not many or serious - I did see a few. One example is: 'I said, "hello!" ' The "hello" should be capitalized; it is important that children learning about grammar see correct examples. I liked the house's ingenious tricks best - for example, it turned up the thermostat to get rid of unwanted guests. The editing could still be improved a tad because as I say, this is particularly important for a young audience. The OBC review contributed slightly to my decision because it included information about the illustrations.

First Ten review added on April 5, 2019, at 7:04 am by Alice Heritage.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

briellejee

309975
Based on the cover and title, I think I would have sampled the book. I mean, at first glance it doesn't look like a children's book, and the words "Magical House" was a bit eerie yet intriguing. I was expecting some scary story, but when I read the first few pages, I actually found it amusing that Charlie is the "magical house". To be honest, I read children stories just for fun, especially when they're short and interesting. Having it told in Charlie's perspective was downright the greatest thing in this book. I found his personality engaging and funny, especially when he talked about his first family. Although, it would have been even more appealing if it had lots of illustrations. Even just simple ones that can work as a background. With that said, I think I will be reading the rest of the book. Charlie's quest to find a family is exciting and fun, even though I'm an adult. The author's writing style is superb, easy to read and understand, and engaging - an aspect important in a children's book. I found no noticeable errors and the official OBC review was good and persuasive enough to tell me to sample it.

First Ten review added on April 5, 2019, at 5:06 am by briellejee.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Sonya Nicolaidis

1005818
Without Kindle Unlimited, I couldn’t read as much of this little book as I would have liked but what I did see was quite charming. Children’s books hold a special appeal for me, and this one was no exception. The cover was positively adorable, and the title apt and eye catching. I think the ‘Hello’ coming from the house should be in a dialogue box (like a cartoon) and smaller, so as not to confuse it with the title, but apart from that I loved the look of this book from the outset. Especially engaging was that this house could speak and had a mind of its own! Reviews were all highly positive and hailed this new young author for his work. The whole story was most appealing and seemed to be well written from the short sample I read. There were no grammatical concerns, and the illustrations were wonderful. All in all, a great children’s book and I would definitely read it, just for fun!

First Ten review added on April 5, 2019, at 3:14 am by Sonya Nicolaidis.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Cristina Chifane

418146
If it hadn't been for the first ten program, I wouldn't have sampled this book. The cover could have been more colorful, but I like the title and the idea of a magical house that can talk and is looking for its owners. The seven customer reviewers thought the same as they gave the book only 5 stars. Sadly, I noticed some grammar mistakes in the sample (see the misspelled word "may be" instead of "maybe" or the lack of grammar agreement: "May be there (is-are) more people like them who would like me." - loc. 48 of 111). Similarly, the word "people" is unnecessarily capitalized in the middle of a sentence: "Once again, People just walked all around me [...]" (loc. 56 of 111). To be honest, I didn't like the story despite the idea. I found it too strange and confusing for children. I thought it would be funnier. It also lacked more illustrations. Although the OBC reviewer dismisses the minor grammar mistakes, I consider that a children's book should be flawless. I won't be recommending it to people with children because it needs major changes first. I'll mark it as read, though, because I've already read the free copy.

First Ten review added on April 5, 2019, at 3:01 am by Cristina Chifane.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Lorraine De Vos

140922
I would have read this book based on the title; it grabs your attention immediately and makes you wonder what about this house is so magical. I read the whole book and was slightly disappointed at how few illustrations there were; it is a children's book after all. There were some issues with grammar and I kept feeling that the tense of the book was slightly off. There were no spelling errors that I noticed. What I enjoyed most was the originality of the house being alive and walking about. I do however have some reservations that the concept might be slightly frightening to young children. The OnlineBookClub review was very well written, but did not affect my decision as I had already read the book before reading the review.

First Ten review added on April 5, 2019, at 1:53 am by Lorraine De Vos.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

unamilagra

1197956
Before sampling the book, I would probably have checked this out for my daughter, who is in first grade. This is the type of book she really likes to read. Upon sampling the book, I realized it was written by a child, but one who has a lot of talent. I liked the story about the house who can think, talk, and even call his own real estate agent. I did notice a few punctuation errors in the section I read, such as the quotation marks inside the period in Loc 34 of the Kindle version. I enjoyed the part that I read, and plan to read it with my daughter.

First Ten review added on April 5, 2019, at 12:40 am by unamilagra.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Sahani Nimandra

385393
Magical house for sale by Sathvik Jarajapu is an unusual children's read about a house seeking a good owner to live in it. Comical as it sounds the official review was very attractive. I love the illustrations. They support the story very well. Written in the first person's perspective, the house narrated his story. The emotions touched in very well. Very descriptive. Very exciting. The story spoke of a house seeking a good owner to love, protect, and preserve him. Humorous. Lovable. I didn't encounter any grammatical hindrances while reading, and honestly, while writing this short review I finished reading the book.

First Ten review added on April 5, 2019, at 12:31 am by Sahani Nimandra.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

LV2R

708077
The book cover and title are cute. The Amazon Blurb had a nice summary of Charlie, the house, who could talk. He waits for the right owner but may need to take matters on his own and find the right owner himself. This made me want to read the sample. Charlie, the house, in the first ten pages, described people who visited him. I best liked when Mrs. Parker whispered to the house, Charlie said “Hello” and it scared everyone from coming to visit anymore. I liked it because Charlie was just trying to be friendly and people took him wrongly. I do not think the book was edited well because I noticed several errors in the sample. One error is found on location 45: “May be” (Maybe) and another error on location 56: “Once again, People just walked …” (People should not be capitalized.) The OBC review mentioned that the story had lessons of determination, the importance of family, and having a comfortable home. I want to read this short, free, children’s story because it sounds cute that a house can talk and calls himself Charlie.

First Ten review added on April 5, 2019, at 12:10 am by LV2R.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

R Lawrence

1225857
Normally I would not read a book like this because I don't find the cover or title very creative and this is a children's book which is not a genre I am interested in. I did not realize how short this book was so I ended up reading the whole thing, but if it had been longer I would not have finished. I found the book to be confusing because it was so fast-paced. I was also confused about the relationship between the house and the realtor, Peter. I did not like how unrealistic this book was, even though it is a work of fiction. There was nothing about this book that I strongly liked. I did not find any typos or grammatical errors but I don't think this book is the result of professional editing. It seemed like something a teenager could have written. The Official OnlineBookClub review had no impact on my opinions of this book.

First Ten review added on April 4, 2019, at 11:26 pm by R Lawrence.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

revna01

587493
The first ten pages were about an old house that named himself Charlie. He hasn't had an owner for a long time and is looking to change that. He spooks away folks he doesn't like and one time cried so much he caused a flood. People complain about his price and the former owners were obese and exhausting to hold up. Charlie even got up and moved to be closer to the Packers. There were illustrations that I can't say I cared for, but the simple storyline is quite child appropriate, to the author's credit. The OBC reviewer looked the characters and the illustrations and noted a few minor errors. I noticed a hefty amount of errors, including: "The wives were busy shielding kids from destroying my Chandeliers..." in the 5th paragraph. Chandeliers should not be capitalized. I am not a fan of the title or cover, and combined with the troublesome errors, I will not be reading this book.

First Ten review added on April 4, 2019, at 11:25 pm by revna01.
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. Further, this book is meant for children. However, the cover (with the image of a house speaking) caught my attention. I found the plot of the book (a house looking for owners) interesting and unique. The illustrations used were also eye catching. I did not find any major grammatical errors, however, I felt like some sentences should have been worded better. For example, I felt like the sentence "This is the story of how.." (paragraph 1 of the introduction)should have been "This is a story of..". Since I liked the plot, I think I will read the rest of the book.

First Ten review added on April 4, 2019, at 10:31 pm by AA1495.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Catherine Hsu

104096
If I had not read the sample, I would not have read the book as I do not read children's books. After reading the official sample, I have not changed my mind for the same reason. The cover art is really great and I love the humor from it, but there was not much of the book to go off of. It was professionally edited, but I think saying "I didn't take it as an insult" would have flowed a lot smoother than "I did not take it as an insult" and would have felt more conversational. I did not read the official review but that did not affect my decision.

First Ten review added on April 4, 2019, at 8:03 pm by Catherine Hsu.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

NuelUkah

842399
The cover and title are lovely. I love the concept of a house with some human abilities like talking, moving, and thinking. The part where Charlie (the house) described the Dumbarton family was quite amusing. But I was disappointed to notice several errors in such a lovely, short story. Like in page two, "Boy, was I happy !" The space between 'happy' and 'the exclamation mark' is wrong. There were other errors like that too. Notwithstanding, it's a good read. I got a copy and I have read it.

First Ten review added on April 4, 2019, at 7:13 pm by NuelUkah.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

sarahmarlowe randomeducator

812327
The cover is cute, and I probably would have picked it up. I didn't enjoy the sample, though. While the illustrations are fun, there really should be more to help the story. The story is okay, but it's not really solid. For instance, the part about the bad barber named Charlie seemed out of place to me. There are some editing issues, too. One is at Location 51: "When I reach..." should be "When I reached...." Although I read the whole book prior to writing this blurb, I won't be reading it again. I have not read an OBC review.

First Ten review added on April 4, 2019, at 6:35 pm by sarahmarlowe randomeducator.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

CinWin

717915
"Magical House For Sale" by Sathvik Jarajapu is a children's story about a talking house. In the first 10 pages, we discover that he has been left empty for so long because he is too expensive. Not only can this wonderful house talk, but he can also walk! I found this book very entertaining for young children It has a degree of fantasy that appeals to young readers. However, I would hold back on the question marks. There are too many, in my opinion. There were no typos. I did find a sentence that ended in a '?!' I looked to see if that was correct and came up with mixed messages. I liked the cover; it told exactly what the book would be about. I am not planning on finishing the story because it is a children's book and I have no children in my life. There was an onlinebookclub review.

First Ten review added on April 4, 2019, at 6:24 pm by CinWin.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Chelsy Scherba

75151
I love the idea for this book. Charlie is a lonely house who wants to find his perfect “family”. So cute! I really like the illustrations. The watercolor is so pretty and Charlie looks cute and creepy at the same time. I like the moral that you shouldn’t judge something based on outward appearances. The review was very positive and I can see nothing wrong with the editing. I like the title as well. I don’t have kids unfortunately, but I would consider recommending this book to friends that do.

First Ten review added on April 4, 2019, at 6:06 pm by Chelsy Scherba.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

britt13

360292
The official review made this sound like an adorable book. I thought that by personifying the house in an endearing way Jarajapu could help children that are afraid to move. I was excited to read the first ten. Jarajapu gives Charlie an amazing voice. He is witty in a way that children would love. I also like that not everyone likes him, and he is okay with that. It is a good lesson for children to realize they are great but not everyone always likes everyone. The pictures are also very interesting. I found no grammatical errors (though I know the official review said there are a few in the entirety) and think the writing is really great! While this is a children's book, I will actually keep on reading to see if it is something that my niece would like!

First Ten review added on April 4, 2019, at 5:12 pm by britt13.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

CataclysmicKnight

67089
I was definitely interested in what exactly a magical house was so I would've looked into this book even if it wasn't the book of the day.

Because it was so short, I just went ahead and read the whole thing. It said 15 pages on Amazon, but it felt the same length (or even less!) as what I read every day for these first ten reviews anyway. There are minimal images in the book and it's mostly text, but even then it's a very silly children's story that jumps all over the place. The home isn't sold so it moves itself somewhere else, it can talk, it mentions its parents and more. The narrative is wild, and so is the editing: I found a total of 13 errors, although the majority were spacing issues with punctuation like "where Mr. & Mrs. Packer lived ?!"

As I said, I already read the book, so my answer to whether I'd read the rest or not is clear. But if I rated this book out of 4 stars, it would get 2.

First Ten review added on April 4, 2019, at 4:24 pm by CataclysmicKnight.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

HRichards

741384
I normally wouldn't have picked this book up as it appears to be written for younger readers. Having read the sample I won't be continuing with the book as it is not very interesting for my age range. The sample deals with a house who is distraught because no one will live in it. Several different families leave the house after living in it for various reasons and the house becomes lonely. The writing is pretty good and I didn't notice any grammar errors. I wasn't very interested in the content of the story, but younger readers might like the story. I have not read any other reviews of this book.

First Ten review added on April 4, 2019, at 4:06 pm by HRichards.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Kajori Sheryl Paul

997537
'Magical House For Sale' is a book written by Satvik Jarajapu. The title, cover, OBC review, and Amazon review did a good job at convincing me to give this book a try.

The book leads me to believe that it is a children's book. It revolves around a talking house named Charlie. Charlie is looking for an owner. After several dismal attempts, he hired an agent named Peter who thought that he was a human. Finally Peter helped sell Charlie. I liked the illustrations. I found some errors. For example, the author had written, “May be there is more people like them who would like me!” instead of “May be there are more people like them who would like me!” Hence, I do not consider it to be professionally edited. I already finished reading the book as it is pretty short, and the author provided a free copy.

First Ten review added on April 4, 2019, at 3:06 pm by Kajori Sheryl Paul.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Laura Ungureanu

620179
I was really excited when I saw the title of this book and I was ready to hop on this new adventure. However, I didn't expect it to be a children's book. I liked the personification of the house, aka Charlie. I imagined reading this book to a child from a family that is about to move. I think the idea of a talking and walking house is original and children would love it. I would've read it if I was a child, but since I am not, I won't continue reading it. The word "maybe" is misspelled in "May be there is more people like them" and in "I maybe the only one".

First Ten review added on April 4, 2019, at 3:05 pm by Laura Ungureanu.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Scerakor

45879
From the cover, blurb, and review of this book, I wouldn’t have read it. I'm very particular about the children's books I buy and read to my kids and this one didn't look overly special to me. After reading the first ten pages I didn’t change my mind and therefore will not be buying and reading the rest of this book. I liked the homemade pictures within the book. Specifically the horrified house walking in the middle of the street realizing that he was the only one that was alive. That being said, I really didn't like the writing style and this is not something that I will be giving to my kids to read as it didn't have anything particularly outstanding in it. 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 April 4, 2019, at 2:27 pm by Scerakor.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Jessacardinal

1130932
This is the first time I have crossed paths with this book. I have not seen any prior reviews for the book, but this does not affect my desire to read or not read a book.

The illustrations on the cover initially cause me to believe the book is reaching out to a younger audience. The title holds an air of enchantment and hope. Based on the title alone, I would probably look into this book upon seeing it on a bookshelf. I have never before seen an autobiographical account from the point of view of a house before. While I give points for originality, there is nothing I inherently care for in the plot provided within the sample pages. The book appears to require additional editing. I noticed a misspelled word and wrong verb tense used in the following example: "May be there is more people like them who would like me!" While I like the title of the book, the only suggestion for improvement I am able to make is to seek the counsel of a professional editor. Due to a lackluster plot, I do not plan to purchase or read this book in the future.

First Ten review added on April 4, 2019, at 12:49 pm by Jessacardinal.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Sarah_Khan

89585
At first glance, I would not have picked up this book because I am not the intended audience. I like the cover art and the title is fun. I thought the idea of a house that can speak was interesting. The first ten pages seem well-edited. I was not fond of the blue font. I thought there was a lot of text and not enough pictures for a children's book. Overall, this book is not for me. I do not intend to read the rest and I did not feel the need to read any OBC review.

First Ten review added on April 4, 2019, at 12:17 pm by Sarah_Khan.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Jsovermyer

1045410
The cover art and title, Magical House For Sale, are great for children and should draw their attention to this book. This book has a fun and unique storyline. I like the idea that the house named itself Charlie and is trying to sell itself because it is so lonely. The official review rated this book highly, and I would agree that it is a very cute book. However, I found several grammatical and spelling errors in it. For example, at location 24, "half built house" should be "half-built house" and at location 50, "may be" should be "maybe". Since I was able to download the book for free, I already finished reading the whole thing. Even if it had not been free, I would have purchased it.

First Ten review added on April 4, 2019, at 12:17 pm by Jsovermyer.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Mai Tran

1025684
A book about a talking house trying to find its ideal owner sounds like fun. I would have checked out this book even without the program. In fact, I’ve already finished reading my free copy as it’s a short but interesting read. The illustrations are lovely, and the book seems professionally edited. However, the ending seems a bit rush, and I wonder if Charlie is satisfied with his owner.

First Ten review added on April 4, 2019, at 12:14 pm by Mai Tran.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

cpru68

517613
Charlie is on the look out for a nice family to buy him. He has had various people trample through, but none of them have been to his liking except for Mr. and Mrs. Packard. But, they can’t afford him. Because of his sadness over being vacant, he starts to look old and people surmise that he is haunted. He moves himself one night and places a call to a realtor to help solve his dilemma.

I thought that the idea of a house trying to sell himself was imaginative. However, I won’t be finishing this book. I generally do like children’s books, but the writing wasn’t that great. I felt like it dragged on in places in the sample. It just seemed like too much explanation was given, and this made it difficult for me to discern what age group this would appeal to the most.

While the review gave this 4 stars and said editing was good, I found punctuation errors such as this: What could I do ?!

This is from location 24. The punctuation is spaced too far from the word “do”.

In location 29, the word chandelier does not need to be capitalized:
...Chandeliers with their toy drones.

Location 51 has a grammatical error: I
maybe the only one that is 60 years old and still
alive! “Maybe” should be may be.

I found more than this in the first ten pages, so this needs professional editing especially if it’s geared for children, and I would suggest revamping the book to making it more reader friendly for younger ages. I like the silliness of the story, but I’m not sure kids are going to understand some of it.

I appreciate the opportunity to have read the sample pages of this book. Without the online book club, I probably wouldn’t have found this one on my own search because I generally read a lot of non-fiction and wouldn’t have looked for a book in this genre. I think this story has the potential to be better with some changes made to be more appealing.

First Ten review added on April 4, 2019, at 11:25 am by cpru68.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Delaney35

1181892
Since this is a children's book I would not have normally picked it up. It did have an official review and the reviewer had quite a lot of good things to say. After reading the first few pages, the cover art, and pictures throughout, really stood out to me. It was a cute story idea, and if I had children I would most likely read this one to them. I did not notice any grammatical issues either. The only think I didn't like was the text color. The light blue on a white background was a little hard to read. I will not be finishing this one. However, I would recommend it to those with children.

First Ten review added on April 4, 2019, at 10:49 am by Delaney35.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Renu G

1230512
The length of the entire book is only 15 pages. Had I not seen a sample, I would have still bought it because the description on Amazon is very good. It has a beautiful cover page. It is very attractive and seems professionally edited because I did not find any spelling or grammatical errors. I liked the concept of a talking house. It's innovative. There's nothing I disliked.

First Ten review added on April 4, 2019, at 10:31 am by Renu G.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Theresa Moffitt

857578
I like the cover of this book. It conveys the fact that it is a book for young readers. The title would also draw the attention of young readers. I would have picked the book up based on the cover. I haven’t read a review of this book yet. The book is unique because the main character is the house. The house has thoughts and feelings. It can also communicate with people. The house is trying to find the right family to buy it and live in it. The story was entertaining based on the first ten pages. I don’t believe this book was professionally edited. I found a few errors in the first ten pages. An example of an error I found was on page ten. “So, I had to tell them that I was I’m putting my pants on”. There we other similar errors in the first ten pages. Since this is a children’s book, I will not finish reading this book.

First Ten review added on April 4, 2019, at 9:45 am by Theresa Moffitt.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

gali

50066
I wouldn't have sampled the book on my own, as I am not the target audience. As the sample was too short, and the book was free, I downloaded it to my kindle and started to read it. Before I noticed, I have reached its end. I love the original premise of a magical house that not only talks but also looks for the right owners. I also like the illustrations, though they weren't too many of them. The book could use another round of editing. I noticed a couple of errors. Ex: the sentence on loc 102: "No I won't be sold" (should be a comma after "no"); "May be" on Loc 46 should be written as "Maybe". I have read the book and found it sweet, though I found the ending a bit abrupt. The official review further convinced me to read the book.

First Ten review added on April 4, 2019, at 9:14 am by gali.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Total ~ 56%

Magical house for sale earned a score of 56%.

In other words, out of the top-level reviewers who read at least the first 10 pages of this book, 56% 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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