The First Ten Focus Group Feedback for That Guy What Kill Topsy
Because That Guy What Kill Topsy 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.
Kelyn
If I had not been a member of this program, it is doubtful that the cover or title of this book would have prompted me to pick it up. The title makes it sound distinctly like a mystery, which is not one of the genres I prefer. The cover is vague. At first glance, it seems to be autumn leaves falling, which is very incongruous with the title. As I do love a good short story, the genre may have enticed me to give the book a look. The author is unknown to me, so that did not affect my decision. The blurb confirms the books to be short stories but reveals little else except how many stories there are so it would not have affected my decision either way. There were no customer reviews to consider. While reading the sample, I found that I quite enjoyed the author's way with dialects. However, the contents of the stories were somewhat undistinctive and failed to engage my interest. Given that, I decided not to continue reading the book. It did seem well-edited. I found no countable errors in the sample.
First Ten review added on January 28, 2020, at 4:25 am by Kelyn.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Vickie Noel
I wouldn't have read this book outside the program because I completely can't understand its title. The cover art looks just as random as the title, and I'd have spared myself the headache of trying to figure it out. I couldn't have been more wrong. The first story which bore the same name as the title was quite interesting and revealed the meaning of it; it was just colloquial mannerisms of language that brought it about. I felt a bit sorry for Lester whose remorse over accidentally killing Topsy really wasn't accepted by the family members, up to the point that the dead girl's brother used his partner to avenge his sister's death in such a heinous manner, pouring acid on Lester's face. But I couldn't understand why Topsy's father would leave his wife and family as a result of her death, at such a time when they needed to comfort and console each other the most. It's not like they're the ones responsible for it. I can't say I saw grammatical errors because what was obviously wrong was just how they communicated with each other; it was a general case of Concord errors, not a one-off occurrence. For example, "So, they gives you only seven years?" or "And Topsy were dead." These are cases of Subject-Verb disagreement, but I reckon it was a deliberate act. I'd like to read up the rest of the stories in the book. I must add that the OBC review also stimulated my interest in the book, but the sample did the bigger job of retaining it.
First Ten review added on January 28, 2020, at 4:14 am by Vickie Noel.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Cristina Chifane
Considering the unsual title and cover, I might have sampled this book even without the first ten program. I like reading short stories, and this collection is quite intriguing. There are no editorial or customer reviews, but the OBC reviewer recommends it for the variety of its topics and the author's sense of humor. The story that gives the title of the collection is well-written and has no editing errors. The dialogue between Lester and Duggie is a perfect introduction for the readers to get to know Lester and to learn more about the unfortunate car accident he was involved in. The scenes between Mrs. Turvey, Lester, and Tommy or between Lester and Rowena are also full of intensity. I expected a different kind of ending, maybe a less dramatic one. However, I enjoyed reading the story. I'll definitely add this collection to my reading list.
First Ten review added on January 28, 2020, at 2:25 am by Cristina Chifane.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Washboard
I normally don't read collections of short stories. The book title is a bit off-putting, as it is not grammatically correct, although it makes sense as you read the first story. The cover art is chaotic and makes the title hard to read. The official review makes the book sound appealing though. In beginning the first short story, the reader finds out where the book's title comes from as it dives into the prison experience of Lester after he accidentally kills his friend, Topsy, in a car crash. I noticed an error on page seven, when Starbucks was given an apostrophe when it shouldn't have had one. I won't be continuing to read this book, as I don't like collections of short stories.
First Ten review added on January 28, 2020, at 1:46 am by Washboard.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Jsovermyer
I'm not sure what the cover art represents. The title, That Guy What Kill Topsy, is interesting and a bit comical. It alone would make me interested in checking out this book. This book contains sixteen short stories and one longer novella set in different locales and with different characters in each. Some are funny, and some are serious. I like that each show a slice of life. The first was about a man, Lester, who causes a car wreck in which a young girl named Topsy is killed and another woman, Rowena, is crippled. He spends his time in prison waiting for Topsy's family to take their revenge. The story is good, but the ending felt flat to me. The official review rated this book highly, but I felt let down by the three stories I read. None of them made an emotional impact on me. I found no grammatical or spelling errors and believe this book has been professionally edited. Because of the ressons I already stated, I will not be finishing this book.
First Ten review added on January 28, 2020, at 12:37 am by Jsovermyer.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Annelore Trujillo
I would not have sampled this book based on the genre, blurb, OBC review, cover, and title. This collection of short stories set in different locations didn’t seem to be something I would enjoy. After reading the first ten pages, I won’t be finishing this book. I wasn’t a fan of the dialogue. There was quite a bit used to tell the story of how Topsy died. Some people will like the use of accents and dialect, but I found it difficult to read. I also didn’t really like the use of the present tense. The story was interesting, which I liked. It pulled out emotions right away by talking about the accident. However, the dialogue was just too much for me. It did seem to be professionally edited.
First Ten review added on January 28, 2020, at 12:35 am by Annelore Trujillo.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Juliana_Isabella
I wouldn't have chosen this book because I don't usually read collections of short stories, but I did see that it had a positive review. I didn't find any grammatical mistakes in the first ten pages, and I liked how the author snuck character development in without being obvious, like when Lester had to remind himself to speak "common". Despite these positive points, I just don't enjoy reading about prison or criminal proceedings, so I wasn't invested enough in the first story to purchase the book.
First Ten review added on January 27, 2020, at 11:39 pm by Juliana_Isabella.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Lorraine De Vos
I would have chosen to sample this book, as I have come to appreciate short stories a little more of late. The title confused me somewhat, but was quickly explained within the first story of the book. The writing style is excellent and I found myself stuck in the cell with Lester, trying to fit in by using the British common prison lingo and talking style. The book appears to be professionally edited, as I did not notice any errors. There is nothing I would recommend improving. The official OnlineBookClub review was very well written and confirmed My decision to add this book to my reading list.
First Ten review added on January 27, 2020, at 11:16 pm by Lorraine De Vos.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Fu Zaila
The cover seems all over the place and rather unattractive. The blurb was okay and the review wasn't very positive either. The writing seems to be edited professionally. The story was fine, with the mysterious element of why Lester killed Topsy. The name Topsy itself seemed rather weird, and its no surprise Douglas decided to ask Lester why. I was rather surprised that Lester might be very young, around seventeen as he had known Topsy since he was four. I liked that the setting is a prison cell and we get to see the prison manners. There was nothing to dislike, but I wasn't really interested in the characters, so I won't be reading further.
First Ten review added on January 27, 2020, at 10:04 pm by Fu Zaila.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Ekta Kumari
The book features a set of short stories with different themes ranging from different locations. The stories have at least 25 different characters. The themes are also quite diverse in nature according to the book's synopsis. I did like the concept. However, I wouldn't have read the book as I wasn't into reading short stories. Also, the cover page and title didn't intrigue me much. The thing I liked the most about the read is the use of dialect. As all the stories come from different locations, I admire the author's efforts in making each of them so personalized in terms of narrative. I also liked reading the first story, though the ending was a bit dark for my taste. As for the editing, I think the book is well edited as I didn't find any significant errors in the portion I sampled. I did see an official review for this read. Lastly, I wouldn't be reading the rest of the book as I don't think I'll enjoy reading it.
First Ten review added on January 27, 2020, at 8:52 pm by Ekta Kumari.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Jeremie Mondejar
The cover art simply conveys brokenness, which connects to the word "kill," however, the title sounds a bit weird to me. As I sampled the book, I struggled to read Lester's conversation with his cellmate. Lester was imprisoned by killing his childhood friend named Topsy through a car accident; Rowena was also in a bad shape, Topsy's bestfriend. The OBC review helps me understand about the slang language contents of the book. I did not find any errors in the bit I read. I also understand the slang language writing style of the author. It looks that the book is edited well. I appreciate Peter's tale because within a few pages, the plot of the story is well-done; I am satisfied with the outcome, however, slang language declined me to read the rest of the book.
First Ten review added on January 27, 2020, at 7:43 pm by Jeremie Mondejar.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
ritah
Based on the cover and genre, I would have sampled the book out of curiosity. I read the official review and then sampled the novel. I liked that the first narrative captured my attention from the beginning; I was disappointed by Lester's actions and his father seeming to care more about the car than his son's and the other two passengers safety. I did not spot any errors in the pages I read and I saw no areas that need improving. I will be reading the rest of the book for the reason mentioned above and because I appreciate short stories.
First Ten review added on January 27, 2020, at 5:21 pm by ritah.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Alice Heritage
The cover is quite abstract and probably wouldn't have drawn me in; the blurb on Amazon and OBC review made this sound quite intriguing, but I probably wouldn't have sampled this book without the programme as short stories aren't a high priority for me at the moment. I also won't buy this today (it didn't seem to be available on Kindle Unlimited) as the ending of the first story was a bit weird. I noticed the following errors: "standout" should read "stand out" and "Starbuck's" should probably read "Starbucks". I liked the reference to Lester getting bacon and eggs for breakfast on the day of his release because this was instead of the usual cold porridge, which reminded me of the TV prison sitcom "Porridge". One thing that seemed odd was the continuous alternating between tenses - now present, now past. I'm sure this was deliberate but it seemed confusing and I'm not sure it contributed anything - so a potential improvement might be to review this stylistic point.
First Ten review added on January 27, 2020, at 4:48 pm by Alice Heritage.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
unamilagra
Before sampling this book, I would not have picked it up. Although the OBC review is positive, I don't usually like short stories, and the title is offputting to me. In reading the first story about Lester, I felt for him and his guilt over killing the woman he was in love with. That said, I never really get into short stories because there is not enough scene-setting or character development for me. I don't plan to continue reading the book. As far as errors, on the first page, standout should be two words in the context it's used.
First Ten review added on January 27, 2020, at 3:37 pm by unamilagra.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Mary WhiteFace
I found the grammar used in the name of the book, That Guy What Kill Topsy, slightly disconcerting. I also didn't care for the cover graphics. Since I don't usually read collections of short stories, it would have been easy to pass on this one. The first ten program is the only reason that I would have for sampling it.
Reading the first ten pages revealed that the reasoning behind the wording of the title was that the characters in the first story spoke that way. I thought it was a little sad that Lester's father was more concerned about his car than his son after the car accident. I don't like reading about prison life, so the first ten pages did not hold my interest enough for me to want to read the rest of the book.
The book seemed to be professionally edited. I have no suggestions for improvements, as my decision was based on personal preference and not on the skills of the author. There was an OnlineBookClub review which did not convince me to change my mind. I will not be reading the whole book.
First Ten review added on January 27, 2020, at 3:28 pm by Mary WhiteFace.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Scerakor
From the cover, blurb, and review of this book, I wouldn’t have read it. The awkward title and non-specific topics for these short stories would have deterred 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 appreciated the author's attempt at presenting colloquial speech traits in written form, both from regular dialogue to nicknames that characters would use (like Rache - for Rachel). That being said, there just doesn't seem to be enough here to keep me interested. 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 January 27, 2020, at 2:14 pm by Scerakor.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
MarisaRose
Based on the confusing title and the minimalist blurb on Amazon, I wouldn't choose to purchase "That Guy What Kill Topsy" blindly. Other than the fact that the book is a collection of short stories, I didn't get enough of an idea of what the book was about to be able to make a judgment about purchasing it based on the blurb. An OBC review might sway my opinion about the book in this case, mostly because it might offer some additional insight about the content and tone of the work, which isn't offered in the blurb. However, after reading the initial information available for the book, I would not choose to purchase it blindly. After sampling the first ten pages of Cotterill's work, my opinion did not change. In the first ten pages, the reader is introduced to a jail-cell setting, and the characters are asking a new inmate if he was the man that killed a girl named Topsy. The characters speak using dialects which are written into the dialogue. I found this really difficult to interpret. It took me far longer than it should have to read the sample because I kept stumbling over words like "wot kilt" and trying to interpret their meaning. Further, I found I did not like any of the men introduced in this story and I didn't really care who killed Topsy. Other than the odd dialect used in the dialogue, I didn't notice any grammatical errors in the text. After completing the first ten pages, there wasn't much I liked about the sample, so I will not be purchasing the book today.
First Ten review added on January 27, 2020, at 9:04 am by MarisaRose.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
va2016
The cover and the title are not indicative of the theme of the book. There are no Amazon customer ratings. The Amazon summary gives a clear description of the content of the book. As I am not interested in short stories, I would have skipped sampling the book if not for the First Ten program. As I sampled through the book, I found the narration describing Lester getting shut into the jail in the story "That Guy What Kill Topsy". As I am not interested in short stories, I am not going to read this book in full. I found the sample professionally edited. There are no grammatical or mechanical errors. I didn't like anything specifically about the book. I do not have any suggestions for improvement of the book. Although I found one OBC review of the book, my decision to not to read the book in full is based on my own sampling.
First Ten review added on January 27, 2020, at 4:41 am by va2016.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Catherine Hsu
If I had not read the sample, I would not have read the book as I do not really read short stories. After reading the sample, I have not changed my mind. At first, I was very distracted by the accent in the first story, which was hard to get through in lines such as "Is youse d'guy wot kilt that gel call Topsy?". As I read on, however, it did not bother me as much. Overall, I still did not really think that the book was my style of writing. It seemed professionally edited, though there was a line "You ruined both us lives." that tripped me up; however, it might just be slang. I read the official review but I agree with it about how short stories provide little time to get into the characters and so I would prefer a full storyline.
First Ten review added on January 27, 2020, at 2:33 am by Catherine Hsu.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Sanju Lali
Had I not sampled the first ten pages, I would have never know what kind of sentences I would read in it.
The cover and the title looked somewhat strange, giving me the impression that it could be some secret code that the book reveals. After reading the official review, I got a hint that it is a collection of stories with the usage of local accents, and it impressed me. When I read the first ten pages, I found that the accent is amusing and fun to read. However, I found some narrating sentences like, for example, "Their gazes lock for what seems as age." appeared strange to me, and was grammatically incorrect. The proper sentence would be "Their gazes lock, for what seems like ages."
It is understandable when used in reported speech, but when used in the narration, it makes the reading a bit harder. Overall the book looks somewhat professionally edited. However, I suggest fixing such kind of errors by one more round of professional editing. I will not buy and read this book until I make sure that such errors are fixed by the next edition.
First Ten review added on January 27, 2020, at 12:19 am by Sanju Lali.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Shrabastee Chakraborty
The cover looks quirky yet beautiful. The official OBC review and the blurb made me interested in reading this book. The first ten pages, although written without errors, did not captivate me. Lester's accounts of why he killed his childhood love did not seem very intriguing. Based on this, I decided against reading the book.
First Ten review added on January 27, 2020, at 12:07 am by Shrabastee Chakraborty.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
AvidBibliophile
While I don't mind the chaotic confetti component to the cover art, the words themselves would be easier to read if the font color could contrast more against the background. The Amazon product description is broadly informative and certainly describes a title that will offer a wide reading range with: "a collection of 25 main characters, in 17 different settings, during the past 70 years, spanning locations from Zimbabwe to England". On page 1, the phrase: "so as not to standout" should have the final word separated into two (stand out). The reference to "Starbuck's" on page 5 should not have an apostrophe in the registered trademark name. This book appears to have been professionally edited. The one published official OBC review positively describes the vibe of this book in an easily comprehensible way, and I like that it mentions how the author employs local accents to further boost the authenticity of the dialogue throughout. However, I personally found the diction, syntax, and dialects challenging and a bit hard to connect with on an entertainment level. With no current Amazon user ratings or customer reviews to rely on additionally, any prospective readers must solely rely on the accessible sample in order to form a solid impression of whether or not to proceed with purchase. Since I am not generally inclined to seek out collections of short stories, I will be passing on this one, primarily based upon the sample portion and my lack of strong connection with the material.
First Ten review added on January 26, 2020, at 11:16 pm by AvidBibliophile.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
LV2R
The book cover was abstract with triangle shapes. The title bothered me because of the poor English used. The book seemed strange. The Amazon blurb described the book as a collection of short stories from Zimbabwe to England having 25 main characters and 17 different settings. I was not sure if I wanted to read the book or not. The sample began with Lester Perkiss entering a prison cell after speeding in his parent’s car, crashing into a tree, his friend Topsy died, and another friend, Rowena, was injured. He talks to his cellmate, Douglas Hurt. Three years later, Topsy’s mom visits Lester in prison. She has remarried and goes by Mrs. Robson, so at first, Lester did not know who was visiting him. I best liked that Lester’s cellmate asked about his killing Topsy right away, so the reader could understand the situation that happened to Lester. This made me think that Lester did not intentionally kill his friend, but that he was not among the brightest who could make good decisions in his life. The book seems to be edited well, even though the dialogues are full of grammar errors to reflect the characters’ way of talking. An error may be at location 99: “After another year, he even got a third job on Saturdays and Sundays: behind the second till in his local open-all-hours.” This sentence seems to mean that he got a job behind the second cash register at a 24-hour store. I think that it would be better to state that he got a job at a local 24-hour store. (Not “his” local open-all-hours.) However, I realize that British English may use different expressions and that this may not be considered an error. The OBC review mentioned that the book was well edited. The stories are quirky with unresolved issues leaving the readers to make conclusions. I do not want to read this book because I prefer reading one story that is complete.
First Ten review added on January 26, 2020, at 10:51 pm by LV2R.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Melchi Asuma
I will not read this novel to completion. This is mainly due to the title I can't quite understand and the cover page that is not quite attractive to me. It starts with a conversation between Lester and his cellmate talking about, what I presume is Topsy, and who killed her. However, it was also difficult to follow that conversation as well. It had an official review that provided a glowing recommendation but which was not enough for me. However, it was professionally edited as I did not notice any glaring grammatical errors.
First Ten review added on January 26, 2020, at 10:38 pm by Melchi Asuma.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Jennifer Donovan Smith
My first impression upon reading the title was, "what horrible grammar." This was an instant turn-off for me. I understand that the title adopts the slang of the characters in the first short story; however, as a reader approaching this book for the first time, the grammatical error is jarring and off-putting. The Online Book Club review was positive, though. The synopsis on Amazon doesn't give much information, which is understandable due to the great number of short stories in this book. I tried to read the entire first short story because it is only twelve pages long, but due to the numerous errors, I was very glad to stop reading at ten pages. The author shifts from present tense to past tense repeatedly, sometimes even within the same sentence, as in this excerpt from Loc. 128: "Lester glances at him, ready to say hello, but Tommy wouldn't look up." "Glances" is present tense (in keeping with the majority of the book), so the end of the sentence should read, "Tommy won't look up." Additional errors include the misspelling of the company name Starbucks at Loc. 100 and the misuse of the word "revenged" at Loc. 136 (the correct word would be "avenged"). I will not be finishing this book, and I highly recommend that the author submit the manuscript to an editor.
First Ten review added on January 26, 2020, at 10:13 pm by Jennifer Donovan Smith.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
cpru68
In the opening pages of this book, readers are introduced to Lester, a man sentenced to prison for causing an automobile accident that took the life of his long time friend Topsy. He answers questions posed to him by his cellmate, Duggie. They discuss the fact that Lester has been given seven years, but with good behavior, he could get out sooner. Lester thinks of Topsy’s mom finding him and killing him if she finds him free. Lester stole his parents car and smashed it into a tree, possibly from speeding and being under the influence.
I won’t be finishing this book. I do not prefer short stories, and this is a collection of them. In addition, the dialect spoken between characters was not something I enjoyed. In fact, the title of the book seemed weird until I began to read the first ten. The review, while insightful was good, it didn’t sway me to read the book further.
I did not see any errors in punctuation, spelling or grammar, so this seems to have been professionally edited. I appreciate the opportunity to have read the sample pages and will send it out on my social media for others to look into. I probably wouldn’t have found this without the online book club as I generally don’t read short stories.
First Ten review added on January 26, 2020, at 8:19 pm by cpru68.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Laura Lee
Although short stories are not something I typically enjoy, both the Amazon blurb and the OnLineBookClub review were well-done and interested me to try the sample pages. I LOVE the title. It's so unusual for a title that it grabs the attention. The cover, however, needs work. It's difficult to read the words when they're the same color as the pattern of whatever those shapes are on the cover.
The book looks professionally edited and I didn't find any typos in it. Grammatically speaking, however, it needs help. The majority of the stories appear to be written in present tense. This might be a literary device of the author, but I don't think so. It comes across lack of experience on the part of the writer rather than a literary device. One mistake I did find was when Duggie asked "What exactly happened?" In Lester's reply, the tense suddenly changed to past tense. If everything is written present tense, that should stay consistent with everything else. This switching of tenses happens several times and should be corrected. It would sound better, though, were everything written consistently in past tense.
The thing I liked best was the beginning: very vivid description of the cell and his cell mate.
I will not be finishing the book. Maybe I'm missing the point, but I couldn't see what the main point of the short stories (in the sample pages) were. They were like vignettes, but without a purpose. Also, the present tense (with occasional lapses into past tense) was annoying and distracting.
First Ten review added on January 26, 2020, at 8:08 pm by Laura Lee.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
HRichards
I normally wouldn't have picked this book up since I'm not really interested in short stories. Having read the sample I won't be continuing on with the book since I didn't really enjoy the content. The sample deals with Lester, who is in prison for accidentally killing a woman named Topsy with his reckless driving. His cellmate questions him about Topsy and how events transpired. The writing is fine and I didn't notice any grammar errors. Those who like short dramatic stories might like this book. I wasn't really interested in the first short story. I read the OBC review of the book and it didn't change my mind that I would find the rest of the book more to my liking.
First Ten review added on January 26, 2020, at 8:03 pm by HRichards.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Brenda Creech
From the book cover and title, I would not have checked out this one. After reading the official review, I was sure I would not be interested as I am not a short story fan. I read the sample to do this review, but the stories I read were not to my taste. They ended without an actual ending. There were no errors in the pages I read, so the book is well-edited. I have no suggestions for improvement in any part I read, except maybe closure to the stories. I don't intend to read the rest of the book as it is not one I feel I would enjoy based on what I have already read.
First Ten review added on January 26, 2020, at 7:16 pm by Brenda Creech.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
gen_g
I have come across a mainly positive review of this book, and it has piqued my interest. There are a couple of minor errors present. At 0% in the sample, "so as not to standout" should be "so as to not standout" (conjugation error). I would suggest more editing. The first story, "That Guy What Kill Topsy", certainly starts off with a bang, with Lester describing the car crash that he got into (with Topsy ending up dead and Rowena with a fractured pelvis) to his prison cell mates, and how his father seemed more concerned about the car that got wrecked than caring about his son. However, I will not be reading the rest of the book, as I'm currently not in the market for short story collections, and the errors are just slightly distracting.
First Ten review added on January 26, 2020, at 6:39 pm by gen_g.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Maria Esposito
Even if I did not read the first ten pages of this book, I do not think I would have chosen it. Firstly, I’m not the type of reader who enjoys short stories, since I prefer nonfiction or novels with an overarching plot. Secondly, the cover did not catch my interest: it is very generic and says nothing about the book. Thirdly, the blurb does not go into specifics about what exactly the short stories are going to be about; it just mentions a couple of themes and locations. There are no customer reviews on the Amazon page, which contributed to my initial impression of not being interested in reading the book. Reading the first ten pages did not change my mind. The book opens with Lester being thrown into a prison cell, where he meets his cellmate Duggie. The dialogues and the writing style are engaging and the first ten pages are a promising start of the plot, but that did not divert my initial intentions. In fact, while I know I might be interested in the prison story that begins in the first ten pages, the blurb does not mention what the other short stories are about.
The book seems to be professionally edited, as I did not come across any typos. The writing is quite captivating as well. I liked the incipit of the short story I read in the first ten pages since I am fascinated by prison stories. I did not feel like anything could be improved in the first ten pages: the author did a good job of capturing the reader’s attention through the dialogues and the setting of the story. I like the author’s writing style, and I would consider buying the book had he been more specific about its contents. I only came across one review of the book from an Online Book Club reviewer, who wrote positively about the book. However, that did not affect my decision.
First Ten review added on January 26, 2020, at 5:23 pm by Maria Esposito.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Chelsy Scherba
The book is well-written and the characters are also well-developed. Lester is an interesting guy because he’s in jail for killing Topsy in a car accident, or so he says, and appears to be higher class than his bunk mate because he disguises it by adopting common speech. I’m also now curious to know why she was called Topsy. The review was very positive, but I’m not a huge fan of short stories so I’ll probably skip this book. The cover is interesting and I didn’t see any errors that weren’t intentional.
First Ten review added on January 26, 2020, at 4:28 pm by Chelsy Scherba.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Emy Katherine
I am not interested in reading an anthology that contains one novella and sixteen short stories following the adventures and misadventures of several characters from different countries. In all honesty, I would not have read the book without The First Ten program; reading the sample and the OBC review did not change my mind. The sample includes three short stories, and I particularly enjoyed the first one. The main character was relatable, the writing style was descriptive, and the ending was totally unexpected. Plus, I did not find any typos or grammatical errors; the book seemed to be professionally edited. Unfortunately, I am not the target audience; however, fans of the genre should give it a try.
First Ten review added on January 26, 2020, at 3:53 pm by Emy Katherine.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Laura Ungureanu
I had no interest in the title or the cover. However, the review presented the book in a positive light. The book starts with Duggie asking Lester about how he killed Topsy and why was she named like that. I didn't like the way they talked. I'm not one who enjoys that kind of language. I was caught by the story, but the mystery part of this book isn't for me. It's professionally edited.
First Ten review added on January 26, 2020, at 3:28 pm by Laura Ungureanu.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Sarah_Khan
At first glance, I would not have picked this up because I am not a fan of short stories. The title is okay, but I do not like the cover. I think the cover looks a little unprofessional and the font should be a different color. The first ten pages seem well edited. While I understand that sometimes a character's dialogue must reflect their personality, I found it a little distracting and difficult to understand Roundface. After reading the OBC review and getting a little more information on the stories, I have to admit, I do not think the stories are interesting enough. Therefore, I will not be reading the rest. My suggestion to the author would be to change the cover of the book.
First Ten review added on January 26, 2020, at 2:48 pm by Sarah_Khan.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Kaylee Elmer
I like reading collections of short stories, so this is a book I would normally want to read. The odd title caught my eye right away, too. After reading the first ten pages I definitely want to read more. The first story sucked me in right away and I need to know how it ends. It was a good choice for a starting story. The review I read gave the book high praise. The reviewer enjoyed almost all the stories, which further adds to my interest. I didn't notice any errors so the book was most likely professionally edited. I'll be reading this book!
First Ten review added on January 26, 2020, at 2:46 pm by Kaylee Elmer.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
LeDiplomatique
The title, 'That Guy What Kill Topsy' raised curiosity in me, wondering how an author could make a grammatic mistake in a title. This was until I realized that is Peter Wood's style. This title and cover illustration drew my attention to the book. After reading the first ten pages, I realized this is a book I would read to the end because the first story is intriguing. I was eager to know what Lester had to do with Marina and how he had inspired so much hatred as to deserve a splash of acid in the face. I came across an error in location 199 - They are agony (I believe the author meant to say 'They are in agony or They are As much as Lester tried it in order to fit in,agonizing). I loved most the prison's common language. It was apparent that this was not Lester's cup of tea as much as he tried it in order to fit in. I did not see anything to improve because the book was outstanding. I came across an official review by MsH2k and I enjoyed the overview. The review convinced me that reading the stories in the book would be like opening seventeen wonderful gifts from the author. I took this to mean that all the stories included in this book are literary gems.
First Ten review added on January 26, 2020, at 2:04 pm by LeDiplomatique.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda
I never would've chosen to read this book just from my first impressions. With all due respect, the cover doesn't have a professional look and it doesn't reveal at all what the reader can expect from the book. The blurb is too vague and the book lacks reviews. The first ten pages, however enjoyable, didn't change my mind. The author shows a mastery of the English language in the way he portrays the different accents and how he makes the manner of speaking another trait to give life to the characters. I had a bit of trouble understanding Lester's and Duggie's dialogues because of it (and probably because I'm not a native speaker so I learned much more bookish English) but I find the ability of the author to switch the narrative tone commendable. The author also manages to invest the reader in the story in very few pages, at least it worked with me, and I wonder if Topsy's "murder" was an accident. Amidst the witty dialogues and apparent lightheartedness, there are tidbits of thought-provoking questions, such as the lack of purpose in the prison's activities instead of something that encourages rehabilitation. Even with all these praise-worthy assets I still don't find what common thread, if any, unites this collection of stories and why (even if I enjoyed sampling it) I should continue reading it. I didn't find any editing mistakes, although, of course, there are many "improprieties" in the dialogues that are clearly intentional. The book has a very enthusiastic official review but it didn't change my mind. The cover needs improvement, the color of the font makes some parts hard to read and it doesn't convey at all what the book is about. The blurb should show a bit more for the reader to know why (or if) he should pick up this book and what to expect from it.
First Ten review added on January 26, 2020, at 1:10 pm by María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Total ~ 13%
That Guy What Kill Topsy earned a score of 13%.
In other words, out of the top-level reviewers who read at least the first 10 pages of this book, 13% 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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