The First Ten Focus Group Feedback for Working At The Warehouse
Because Working At The Warehouse 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
The book aims to highlight the fallacy of religious organisations and their immoral actions through the portrayal of people who use religion as a means to gain power and dominance. The book uses different characters to bring forth the message of using religion to acquire power and financial advantage. I wouldn't have read the book as I wasn't into the genre and the themes of religion and faith. However, I can say this is an engaging read based on my sampling so far. The thing I liked the most while sampling is that the author has done a good job at characterizing Mr. Lew Thompson. I also like that there are many characters in the book to highlight different sentiments. One notable thing is also the use of language and words according to the characters and their culture. As for the editing, I saw a grammatical error in this sentence, "Workers of the district got out of their cars and visited with one another; sharing a moment as individuals versus warehouseman, secretary, or salesman." I think there should be a comma instead of a semicolon before the word 'sharing'. I would suggest another round of proofreading. While I didn't see an official OBC review, I saw a volunteer review for this book. As I'm not into the themes, I won't be reading the whole book. I would have really liked the chapters to be divided into shorter segments as some sections were quite long-winded. So, I would recommend the author to divide the chapters into shorter sections if that's possible.
First Ten review added on January 9, 2022, at 5:32 am by Ekta Kumari.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Jeremie Mondejar
At first glance, I thought this book was all about business. I sampled it based on the cover photo. I like how the author boosted his character, Lew. Lew is known as Mr. Get-it-done. The flow of the narrative looks good, but a bit monotonous for me. The scene with the train, trailer and others are quite boring. This scene must be developed into something eye-catching. The book has an OBC review, but it doesn't affect my decision. The editing looks fine, but it needs another round of editing to polish some flaws like, "Three blocks down Main left onto Porter..." The word "Main" must not in the capital position. I recommend fixing some flaws. I will not read this book because the genre isn't my thing.
First Ten review added on January 9, 2022, at 5:00 am by Jeremie Mondejar.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Manang Muyang
The title and the cover seem to have nothing to do with the blurb that speaks about religion. Come to think of it, the cover and the title also do not seem related. These disparities would have made me curious enough to sample the book outside of the program. This being a Jerry Greenberg book, I was expecting the same erroneous sentence in the dedication (all his previous books had the same sentence). And there it was again: "I want to thank, my editor, Gary Smailes at Bubblecow for teaching me how to be a better writer." The first comma wasn't needed, but one was needed after "Bubblecow." There were other errors, some of which follow: At 3% of the sample, "they were the behind the scenes genesis of all local commerce" should have used "behind-the-scenes." At 12%, "The Right and Righteous Distributors of all of Salvations Tools" seemed to need "Salvation's." At 21%, "Billy answered matter-of-factly" didn't have end punctuation. "The crew foreman, Ahmad asked" at 23% should have used a lower-case "the" since this was a dialogue tag; a comma was also needed after "Ahmad." I liked the satire employed by the author in describing the religious products of the warehouse. I also enjoyed the motley of characters with clever names, like "The Angel" and "Fatima." The poor editing discouraged me from reading further, though. I think the author needs Gary Smailes' help. The featured OBC reviewer gave the best rating, noting that the book was well edited. I guess they read a different version of the book.
First Ten review added on January 9, 2022, at 4:38 am by Manang Muyang.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Asma Aisha Ansari
Based on the genre, the blurb, and the OBC review, I wouldn't have picked this book up because I'm not interested in reading books on religion right now. But I found the cover and the title intriguing. There are no Amazon reviews for the book yet. As for the sample, I liked the writing style in it. However, the sample didn't entice me enough to read more, as there were no interesting characters to look forward to. Most characters like Lew, Evangeline, and Louis sounded very cliched.
I found instances of a missing period, quotation marks and hyphens in the sample. Moreover, there's another error in the 'Dedication' section of the book. Here it is: His contribution to my writing education is immense and I feel made all the difference in the quality of the final product. In this sentence, the word 'it' before the word 'made' is missing. I suggest that the book be edited once for such errors. I'm not going to read the rest of the book because of the genre and the lack of interesting characters.
First Ten review added on January 9, 2022, at 4:10 am by Asma Aisha Ansari.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Dzejn_Crvena
I wouldn't have sampled this book based on the blurb because I'm not interested in religious stuff. The OBC review and the sample didn't convince me to buy or read it. It is about a warehouse managed by a guy named Lew. They stock and distribute religious items that they call "salvation tools". I like the distinct personalities of the warehouse workers that makes it easy to identify them. The book needs another round of editing because I found an error (Location 69): “'Morning Lew and God bless,' smiled the plain-looking no makeup wearing woman." There should be a hyphen between "makeup" and "wearing".
First Ten review added on January 9, 2022, at 3:51 am by Dzejn_Crvena.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Eunice Geres
I would not have picked to read the sample of this book wasn't on BOTD. I'm not a fan of the genre or the plot. The official review included a very detailed summary, and I'm just not hooked. I will not continue to read this as I'm not too fond of the genre. Even will all of that said, the sample is actually great. The setting is explained enough to the readers, and the gloomy city vibe I get is actually well done. I can already tell that Lew is a well-written character. I think people who like plots like this would certainly enjoy this. I didn't find any grammatical mistakes. And I don't have anything to recommend. I think this is a well-written book, but I'm not into the story so I won't be reading this.
First Ten review added on January 9, 2022, at 3:47 am by Eunice Geres.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Shrabastee Chakraborty
Although I like the genre, from the official OBC review, I realized there are many religion-related elements in this book. Hence, I wasn't inclined to read it. I could not find any error in the first ten pages. The pages described Lew's day as he drove his wagon to the warehouse and interacted with the other employees. I didn't find anything that interested me. The author shifted randomly between past and present tense, something I would suggest changing. Based on my reading experience, I would not read the entire book.
First Ten review added on January 9, 2022, at 3:22 am by Shrabastee Chakraborty.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Sou Hi
The cover and the ratings on Amazon are alright. Since the blurb's promising, I decided to give the sample a try. It features Lew Thompson and his colleagues, who all work for the RDST warehouse.
Frankly, I don't really like anything in the sample. The premise is very vague, and the editing is messy. I would suggest another round of editing. Since I'm not interested in the story, I won't buy it. There is only one volunteer review on OBC, but the lack of an official review from OBC didn't affect my decision.
Error example: "It's printed on your shirt," Billy answered matter-of-factly -> There should be a period at the end of the sentence.
First Ten review added on January 9, 2022, at 3:12 am by Sou Hi.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Mercy Bolo
This book's cover didn't entice me to read it. The OBC review dissuaded me when it mentioned that the author narrates the story of a secret organization that wants to unite the world under one religion and one God. That storyline doesn't appeal to me, so I won't read the rest of the book. When I read the first ten pages, I liked that the author iterated that Lew was a results-oriented action man who wasted no time thinking about the job. I spotted no errors in the text, so I will conclude that it underwent professional editing. There's nothing I disliked about the bit I read, so I wouldn't change anything about it.
First Ten review added on January 9, 2022, at 2:36 am by Mercy Bolo.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Joseph Mutuku 1
Reading non-fiction or memoirs presents me with an opportunity to learn from other peoples’ stories. This often comes with encouragement, enlightenment, or inspiration. Dave Letterfly Knoderer’s story is glowing with insights and a riveting storyline. I enjoyed reading through his life story: his love for the circus and deep love for animals and the lessons he gleaned from his interaction with animals. Sincerely, the book’s title is catchy; moreover, the cover page is also well designed. I didn’t spot any objective error in the pages I read—this is an indication that this book was professionally edited. Reading the first ten pages convinced me to finish reading it; I love well-written stories, and this one sounds just like one. The book had a positive official Online Book Club review, and it was insightful enough to answer most of the questions I would have before selecting this book. However, I usually sample a few pages before buying any book. After checking all that makes a good beginning of a memoir, I have no advice for the author of this book.
First Ten review added on January 9, 2022, at 2:35 am by Joseph Mutuku 1.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
evraealtana
I don't like books about religion, so I wouldn't have chosen this one based on the official OBC review. I was a little confused, based on the review alone, whether the book was intended to be fiction or non-fiction; the plot seemed fictional, but the review claimed that the book would "influence [my] religious beliefs", a far-fetched claim for a novel. The story's tense kept shifting between present and past, as in "The Smile was waiting for him... He's leaning against the counter... Lew snorts as he whisked past him". This constant shifting is such a sloppy mistake; the author needs to choose whether he is telling the story in the present or the past and stick with it. Switching multiple times in one paragraph for no discernible reason is eye-rollingly lazy storytelling. I found it implausible that a majority of the characters would be widely known by their (excessively dramatic) epithets. Think of the people in your life; do you call them all things like "The Smile" or "The Angel"? Not a chance. It felt like the members of the Warehouse were living in one universe, where religion is derided, and the rest of the cast were living in another, where religion is taken seriously. I can't really tell what kind of world the book is supposed to be set in, which makes it hard to get into the story. Honestly, I didn't like one single thing about the sample, and I'm thrilled to stop reading. I found many, many errors in the first ten pages: a missing comma in "Three blocks down Main a left onto Porter, and a right hook into his reserved space (comma needed after "Main"); missing hyphens in a compound adjective in "the plain-looking, no makeup wearing woman" (no-makeup-wearing); a missing question mark at the end of a question in "'Hey, dude, how'd you know my name,' the driver asked" ("my name?' the driver asked"); and several others. This book is in desperate need of a professional editor.
First Ten review added on January 9, 2022, at 2:20 am by evraealtana.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Gabrielle Sigaki
Working At The Warehouse by Jerry A. Greenberg is a book that talks about corruption inside religious organizations and about God's existence. If I didn't sample this book, I wouldn't read it based on its Official OnlineBookClub since the main themes of the book are related to religion, which didn't interest me. After sampling it, I didn't change my mind and I won't read the entire book because of the reason I stated before. However, the book seems professionally edited, there's nothing to be improved in it, and I liked the fact that the author's style is concise and straightforward, making the book sound more dynamic.
First Ten review added on January 8, 2022, at 10:05 pm by Gabrielle Sigaki.
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. I don’t usually read books with religious aspects to them. After reading the first ten pages, I won’t be finishing this book. Right away there was the hint of religion with the sign over the door. The sign said “The Right and Righteous Distributors of all Salvations Tools.” This aspect isn’t for me. I also noticed that the editing needs improvement as the book didn’t seem to be professionally edited. For example, the tense kept switching from past to present. One sentence said “Lew snorts as he whisked past him.” This had both tenses in one sentence. I don’t purchase and read books that aren’t professionally edited. There wasn’t anything specific I liked so far.
First Ten review added on January 8, 2022, at 9:50 pm by Annelore Trujillo.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Jorge Leon Salazar
The cover and title are eye-catching and creative but do not convey a clear idea of what the content of the book can be. I think it might not appeal to the entire target audience. In general, I like readings that explore religious themes. The blurb comments that the book is about simplifying religion to one man, one God, without conflict over the interpretation of beliefs. Also, it signs the book promotes the elimination of the financial burdens of maintaining those worship systems. Plus, it expresses the book includes fantasy, humor, terrorism, intrigue, and adventure. The customer reviews are very flattering. Based on these elements, I could give this book a try. The first ten pages feature Lew Thompson as the main character and focus on the activity in the warehouse RDST. Several characters that work there are described. In addition, they tell how is the interaction in the office between those characters. I was struck by the insinuation that the religious material they sell is used to manipulate the congregants, such as the one requested by Reverend Davon. I was perplexed about the distant relationship between the characters in the office. Moreover, the suspicion that several have about the driver Jim Bob causes some intrigue. The official OnlineBookClub review indicates the story focuses on an organization that was founded on faith but turned into an evil one. Also, it presents intrinsic criticisms of what can happen around religions. The editing looks outstanding as I didn't see any details to comment on. Overall I did not see anything that I believe could be improved. The first pages center on the introduction of characters and do not show progress in the plot so it did not completely capture me. In summary, I will not read the rest of the book.
First Ten review added on January 8, 2022, at 9:26 pm by Jorge Leon Salazar.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Sarah_Khan
The cover of this book definitely catches the eye. The title is average. After reading the Amazon blurb, I would not have sampled this because I do not read books that involve religion. The first few pages were well edited. The idea of grown men exiting Delores' office with an erection was hilarious. The OBC review was positive, but it did not change my mind. Overall, religious stories are not my cup of tea. So, I will not be reading the rest. I do not have any suggestions for the author.
First Ten review added on January 8, 2022, at 6:42 pm by Sarah_Khan.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Kirsi Cultrera
The cover and the title of this book left me clueless. I also did not make much out of the blurb or other available information at Amazon. I do not think I would have sampled or bought this book based on those since they did not explain the content of this book understandably. I decided to read the Official OnlineBookClub review next, and it revealed that this book must be a religious satire. However, the review made the book sound too exaggerating, and I would not have considered buying this book after reading the review. The sample pages did not change my mind about this story. I did not find the genuine holy robes, books on the worldwide sightings of Mary, or cases of holy water hilarious. The story was written with flowing text, which was the only positive feature I could find. Other than that, I did not manage to find much to cheer for from this book. The author had definitely managed to pull out all the sad features of religions, but I could not understand his point in writing this book. I am not against criticism, but I did not find anything constructive from this story. In the end, my decision against reading this book did not change. What comes to editing, something kept bothering me as I read on. I could not say exactly what it was, but it left me unsure about the editing level of this book.
Error example: He really wasn't quite certain what the desk actually looks like anymore, and frankly doesn't care. I found a faulty tense sequence and some comma issues from this sentence. A better option would be: He really wasn't quite certain what the desk actually looked like anymore, and frankly, he didn't care.
First Ten review added on January 8, 2022, at 2:58 pm by Kirsi Cultrera.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Rosemary Owolabi
The front page design is an interesting one. Thankfully, I am able to sample it on OnlineBookClub. This is so cool.
It is downloadable for free on Amazon using Kindle Unlimited. Thank you. Reading the first ten pages changed my mind about the original guess. I would like to read this book because it was just starting and I didn't know what the story was about yet. After reading the first ten pages, it seemed the book was professionally edited. I didn't notice any typos/errors.
I like Lew Thompson's work ethic as the General Manager of the warehouse. What I know is that Lew is on his way to the workplace, and other workers at the warehouse are heading to their workstations in the morning from different directions. I also noticed some workers are introduced early in the book because it seems to me like a busy warehouse. They take promptness seriously. Lew Thompson is described as an "action man"; he focuses solely on results. He is a man of few words, commonly known as Mr. Get-it-done. I feel he is the central character of the book, but it is too early to tell.
The online book reviews and ratings are fantastic.
First Ten review added on January 8, 2022, at 1:21 pm by Rosemary Owolabi.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Sanju Lali
Working at the warehouse meant many things to me, so I could not guess anything about this book. I read the OBC volunteer review to know more about the contents of this book. The OBC volunteer review gave me the impression that this is a religion-based book, which highlights the immoral actions of religious organizations. As a result, I read the sample before purchasing the book. When I read the first ten pages, I realized that this book was not professionally edited because I found some grammatical errors in the sample. For example, the sentence, "Evangeline Jones’s primary public irritant was that she was an over-the-top fundamental, bible-thumping, believer in the Lord." The sentence could have been as follows. "Evangeline Jones’s primary public irritant was that she was an over-the-top fundamental, bible-thumping, a believer in the Lord." What I liked the most in this book is Lew's dedication to his duty and his efficiency in his works. I loved the way he spoke to the customers. Sadly, the focus of the narrative was shifting very quickly between the different characters and between the different topics. It was like a mental exercise for me to keep track of what was going on very rapidly. Due to all these issues, I lost interest in reading this book. I suggest the author for a round of professional editing and look at my problems as described above. After looking at all these aspects, I decided not to purchase and read this book today. I will wait until the author looks at my suggestions so that while reading the book, I can clearly understand the important messages in this book.
First Ten review added on January 8, 2022, at 12:49 pm by Sanju Lali.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Michelle Menezes
From the title and cover, I thought the book was a non-fiction novel related to business. The blurb did not interest me, but the Official OnlineBookClub review had good things to say about it. I don't read editorial or customer reviews, as I don't want to get influenced by them and would like to form my own opinions. Based on all the above things, I didn't want to read it. After reading the first ten pages, I have decided to stick to my original decision and not continue with it. The beginning introduced me to various characters like Lew, Billy, Ahmad, etc. who worked at the RDST warehouse and gave a few details regarding their personalities. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything to like about the book. I found a few punctuation errors and inconsistent tenses in the book, so it does not seem professionally edited. For example, "“It’s printed on your shirt,” Billy answered matter-of-factly" There's a full stop missing after "factly." In terms of improvement, I think the writer could start the book with an interesting scene rather than introducing so many people at once. I couldn't understand where exactly the book was going.
First Ten review added on January 8, 2022, at 10:38 am by Michelle Menezes.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Diana Lowery
The title and the cover confused me because I did not think there was a connection between a thick wad of money and working in a warehouse. I was shocked to learn from the Amazon blurb that the book was about religion and that made me reluctant to read the book. Reading the OBC review convinced me that I did not want to read the book. I liked the writing style as it was very descriptive and made it easy to visualize the setting. There was an apostrophe error at 23%. The word Tools' does not need an apostrophe. I did not like the title and suggest that the author get a title that better reflects what the book is about. I am not going to finish reading the book because it seems very inflammatory.
First Ten review added on January 8, 2022, at 9:34 am by Diana Lowery.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Rodel Barnachea
Following my reading the title’s OnlineBookClub review and Amazon page, I opted not to acquire the book. The entire premise of the novel failed to intrigue or fascinate me. I am not interested in learning how the characters will act after their plan, which is to fool the people into believing that Mr. Thompson is the Messiah and then kill him afterward, failed. Sampling the book did not change my mind. I would not acquire it because nothing in the sample drew me in or compelled me to peruse the remaining chapters of the title. It is also because the story is not my cup of tea. The first ten pages contain the first chapter. What I liked most is when Evangeline admitted that she slept on Lew's couch. I identified one error in the Amazon sample:
1 — In the sentence “...they were the behind the scenes genesis...” “behind the scenes” should be one word (”behind-the-scene”) because this word act as an adjective describing the noun “genesis.”
The book still seems professionally edited to me because the error I noted above is minor. I have nothing to suggest to the author.
First Ten review added on January 8, 2022, at 7:24 am by Rodel Barnachea.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Kajori Sheryl Paul
'Working At The Warehouse' is a book written by Jerry A. Greenberg. Lewis Thompson is the general manager at The Right and Righteous Distributors of all of Salvation Tools. He is a focused person who likes to get things done. Louis Mahon is the outside salesman of the business. It seems that they do not get along much. Evangeline Jones is the office manager and bookkeeper. She is an extremely religious woman. I like the way the author portrays the characters of Lew, Louis, and Evangeline. The editing is good. There is nothing in need of an improvement. The OBC review is informative. I would skip this book based on the cover, title, genre, blurb, editorial reviews, and customer reviews as the blurb did not catch my attention. l will give this book a skip as I did not get much invested in the plot.
First Ten review added on January 8, 2022, at 6:50 am by Kajori Sheryl Paul.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
gen_g
After reading the Amazon blurb, it is clear that the book has a strong religious overtone (which is not apparent from the title and cover illustration). I am not looking for books with themes of religion, so I would not have sampled it – even coming across a positive OBC review of the book (which I did) would not change my mind because of the genre mismatch. However, after sampling, I have spotted a very high number of errors present, and I suggest more editing to improve book quality. For example, at 0% in the sample, there is a missing comma to separate clauses: "...lumbered through the area(,) literally vibrating the buildings...". However, there are definitely a few good points. One of them would be the author's decision to give the reader more information about various characters' personalities – these details flesh out the character and helps to increase the reader's immersion. To illustrate, we learn that Lew does not talk much, and one of his nicknames (that the author has given him) is "Mr. Get-it-done". In other words, Lew does not talk much, but he still completes whatever he has to do; getting it done is more important. We also learn little details like how Lew is five feet eight, and he weighs 200 pounds. Other than the need for more editing, I do not have other suggestions for improvement. However, I will not be buying the book today, as I am not in the market for books with themes of religion.
First Ten review added on January 8, 2022, at 5:47 am by gen_g.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Brenda Creech
I would not have checked this book out on the title and cover because the title didn't sound like a book I would be interested in reading. I like the book's cover, but that in itself would not have enticed me to check it out. After reading the OBC review, I still wasn't convinced I would like the book. As I read the first ten pages, I did not find any errors or anything that needed improvement. The portion I read was well written and well-edited. The first ten pages were primarily the introduction of the characters, their personalities, and their job titles at the 'The Right and Righteous Distributors of all of Salvations Tools,' which was my favorite part. I liked how the author gave an overall description of each character, including their appearance, job titles, good qualities, and irritating ones. They weren't long drawn-out descriptions, just matter-of-fact information. I was able to visualize each character in my mind from the descriptions. As far as the book's storyline, there wasn't much in the first ten pages to cause me to want to continue reading. Based on what I read, the character development was exceptional but not enough to make me want to continue reading to discover what happened to each one. Therefore, I have decided not to continue reading the book.
First Ten review added on January 8, 2022, at 5:34 am by Brenda Creech.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Hazel Arnaiz
Outside the program, I will skip this book. Based on the cover and title, I am clueless about the genre. I suggest considering a book cover that hints at what the story is about to attract the target audience. The blurb sounds like it is religious-themed fiction, which I seldom read. Customer reviews are positive. Sampling changed my mind. I like the bold satirical commentary about organized religions, which piqued my curiosity. It is intriguing to see how the story plays out. Hence, I will read the book. There are some editing issues. Here are examples.
Location 43. Spelling. Consider adding hyphens.
Even though the buildings were old and ramshackle, they were the behind the scenes genesis of all local commerce.
Even though the buildings were old and ramshackle, they were the [behind-the-scenes] genesis of all local commerce.
Location 133. Punctuation. Missing comma and opening quotation mark.
“Gee, I just don’t know,” lamented Lashonda and, uh, the Reverend Davon Johnson isn’t here right now.”
“Gee, I just don’t know,” lamented Lashonda[,"] and, uh, the Reverend Davon Johnson isn’t here right now.”
The featured volunteer review from the OnlineBookClub has helpful additional information about the book.
First Ten review added on January 8, 2022, at 5:18 am by Hazel Arnaiz.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Mutai Marshal
I wouldn't have read this book outside the First Ten program. This is because I couldn't relate to either the cover page or the title. The initial pages of this book appear fast-paced. However, there was nothing that I liked from the pages I sampled. It wasn't exceptionally edited because I came across a grammatical error ("He had a Cheshire cat grin spread across his face and a twinke in his eye as if to say, 'I beat you." The closing quotation mark should come after the full stop). Having read the OBC review and sampled it, I will not buy this book because I don't like books containing religious beliefs. Lastly, there are no suggestions for improvement that I can offer.
First Ten review added on January 8, 2022, at 3:11 am by Mutai Marshal.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Gabriella H
The title made me a little curious, and the book cover is okay. However, from the official book of the day review by OnlineBookClub, it didn’t seem like a book I'd want to read. I have read the first ten pages, and my mind wasn’t changed. The topic isn’t attractive to me, and some parts of the writing seemed all over the place. I was also confused while reading. The plot of the book doesn’t seem interesting enough to me or like something I want to get into. If I weren’t part of this program, I wouldn’t read this book. Therefore, I will not be completing this book. Concerning errors, I saw three errors while reading this book. One of them being, “He really wasn’t quite certain what the desk actually looks like anymore, and frankly doesn’t care.”- Location 78. The wrong tenses were used, and the comma after anymore shouldn't be there. Looks should be looked and doesn't should be didn't.
First Ten review added on January 8, 2022, at 2:26 am by Gabriella H.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Verna Coy
Initially, the title of this book didn’t grab my attention, although the cover is interesting. I don’t plan to purchase the book and read the whole thing because the plot seems a bit over the top for me regarding religion and false religions. What I liked best about what I read today is how the character of Lew seemed to be a nice guy in spite of his outward appearance of gruffness. I know that readers who like characters like that will enjoy this work. I saw no needs for improvements to what I read. The story comes across and the writing style is straightforward. I didn’t find errors in the sample and felt that it was professionally edited. I enjoyed reading the Online Book Club review, a 4-star review, nice job!
First Ten review added on January 8, 2022, at 2:16 am by Verna Coy.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Ari Martinez
If it wasn't for the First Ten program, I wouldn't sample this book based on its title, cover, or Official OnlineBookClub review because I don't like books about religion. After reading the sample, I will not read the whole book because of the same reason mentioned previously - I always try to stay away from religious topics in books. The characters were my favorite part of the sample. They all seemed like unique and colorful characters. I can't think of any way to improve the book. In Location 82, there is a missing period mark (“It’s printed on your shirt,” Billy answered matter-of-factly).
First Ten review added on January 8, 2022, at 12:58 am by Ari Martinez.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Jennifer Garcia 555
This book has a eye catching cover. I was interested in finding out what the book was about. After reading the sample pages and an official Online Book Club review, this book has to do with religion. I found only one missing period, so this book seems professionally edited. I like how the characters battle to beat each other to work. This book seems to include some humor. I don’t have any suggestions for improvement. People who enjoy book that deal with religious ideas may enjoy this book. This book did not catch my attention enough to continue reading it. I will not buy or finish this book.
First Ten review added on January 7, 2022, at 11:42 pm by Jennifer Garcia 555.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Kaitlyn Canedy
Even if Working At The Warehouse hadn't been the OnlineBookClub's book of the day, I would have read the sample of it. I recognize the author's name from some of his other books, which is what made me want to check it out. The customer reviews did not affect my decision, but the description caught my interest immediately. I enjoyed the satire present in the sample. Even though I am a Christian, the truth within these pages spoke to me personally. The products in the warehouse are original and humorous. As such, I will be reading the rest of the book. Although I do not think any improvements need to be made to this title, I noticed a grammatical error in the 18% section of the sample. It is a missing period- "It's printed on your shirt," Billy stated matter-of-factly(.) There is an official OnlineBookClub review for this title, but I did not need to read it to make a decision. Readers who enjoy satirical books and do not mind the religious side of Working At The Warehouse may like this book.
First Ten review added on January 7, 2022, at 7:40 pm by Kaitlyn Canedy.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Catherine Hsu
I'm really confused about what this book is talking about; the blurb makes this book seem like a religious novel and a spy thriller, while the cover looks more like a financial novel. For that reason, I would not have read the book without reading the sample. After reading the sample, I have not changed my mind. Although I did like the narrative style and how much we were in Lew's head, I noticed a few grammatical errors. For example, "sharing a moment as individuals versus warehouseman, secretary, or salesman" was put after a semi-colon but it is a sentence fragment. Therefore, perhaps another round of editing is necessary and after that I would be more open to reading this book. I did not see an official review but that didn't affect my decision.
First Ten review added on January 7, 2022, at 7:07 pm by Catherine Hsu.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Timothy Rucinski
The cover is nicely done and intriguing. Seeing it on a table at a bookstore would have led me to check out the blurb on the back. However, the Volunteer OBC Review was dreadful, and, as far as I could tell, outlined the entire plot of the book, including the ending. The Review was not sufficient to prompt me to want to read the book. I read no other reviews or blurbs other than the OBC Volunteer Review. The faith-based genre of books is also not one of my favorites. Unfortunately, from the pages that I read, there really wasn't anything that I liked. What I enjoyed most was the cover, which is much more professional than the writing. What I disliked was the plethora of grammatical errors, including missing punctuation and sentence fragments, that peppered the first ten pages. This was distracting to the point that I didn't wish to continue, and therefore, won't. The book was not professionally edited. As a suggestion for improvement, I recommend that the author seek the services of a professional proofreader. As with Mr. Greenberg's other books, there are errors even in the Dedication: "I want to thank, my editor, Gary Smailes at Bubblecow for teaching me how to be a better writer." There should not be a comma after the word "thank," and a comma added after "Bubblecow." On page 1, there is an unnecessary comma after "four-thirty" in the following sentence: "This was about as quiet and relaxed as any day got before four-thirty, when he made the return trip home to his two beers, dinner, and a bit of reading before bed at nine-thirty." On page 2, the semi-colon used in the following sentence should be replaced by a comma: "Workers of the district got out of their cars and visited with one another; sharing a moment as individuals versus warehouseman, secretary, or salesman." On page 3, the semi-colon in the following sentence should be replaced with a colon: "Her figure was pear-shaped; too small at the top and too large at the bottom."
First Ten review added on January 7, 2022, at 6:07 pm by Timothy Rucinski.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
MsH2k
The cover didn’t mean anything to me and the title was nondescript, but I recognized the author from previous BOTDs, and after reading the blurb, I would have sampled this book even if I were not part of this program. The other fiction genre had no bearing on my interest in the book—that genre doesn’t really tell me anything about the type of story. The sample pages did a good job of introducing characters, both physically and temperament wise, but the descriptions felt judgmental and intolerant. After reading the first ten pages, I could not tell the direction the story was going, and I didn’t connect with what I had read, so I will not buy this book. I do not think it was professionally edited. There were many grammatical errors in the first ten pages. Here are some of them. The hyphenation is missing in the phrasal adjective “behind the scenes” at loc 44: “they were the behind the scenes genesis of all local commerce.” The hyphenation was also missing in the phrasal adjective “all too messed up” at loc 68: “the company’s all too messed up bookkeeper and office manager.” Again, hyphenation was missing in the compound adjective “vagabond looking” at loc 80: “He was a tall, thin, vagabond looking man.” The grammatical errors were numerous and distracting. I would recommend another round of editing. The featured OnlineBookClub review had no bearing on my decision. I was having difficulty getting the gist of the story, so I read a few other OBC reviews; they did not convince me to pursue the read. Other editorial reviews and customer reviews had no bearing on my decision.
First Ten review added on January 7, 2022, at 5:47 pm by MsH2k.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Yvonne Monique
The book cover has a great design but does not reveal what the book is about. As an improvement, I would suggest to add a subtitle, explaining the book's content. As I like to know what to expect from a book, I would not pick this book up if I would see it in a bookstore. The blurb and OBC review give a good description of the book, although they convinced me that this book is not for me. The sample is well edited, but I did not find the writing style very engaging. I found it difficult to keep my attention, and I did not empathise with the protagonist, Lew. As I do not read books related to religion or faith, I will not read this book.
First Ten review added on January 7, 2022, at 4:35 pm by Yvonne Monique.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Stephanie Runyon
I like the writing style of the author and have enjoyed other books he has written. I would have sampled the book based solely on my previous experiences with this author. Greenberg's ability to make well-developed characters that are easy to envision is my favorite aspect of the book. I did encounter an error in punctuation. I would change nothing about this story. The OBC review was intriguing but held less influence on my choice to finish the book than the sample. I will finish reading this book.
Error: Primarily the company kept her on in case they needed someone to speak God-talk since none of the others were multi-lingual, nor could speak in any other fundamental religious way.
There should be a comma after Primarily, and multilingual does not have a hyphen.
First Ten review added on January 7, 2022, at 4:28 pm by Stephanie Runyon.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Mariana Figueira
Before reading the book's first pages, I wasn't interested in it because nothing on the cover or the title got my attention. After sampling the book, I don't want to continue reading it because the story didn't captivate me. I didn't like that the story was progressing incredibly slow because by the first ten pages I would expect to see something that gave away anything about the plot, and instead, Lew just got to work and received a call, that was it; perhaps this could use some improvement. This book seems professionally edited and it doesn't have an official Online BookClub review but that didn't affect my decision not to read it. There was nothing I saw that I particularly enjoyed. Neither the blurb, customer reviews, nor editorial reviews affect my decision not to read the book.
First Ten review added on January 7, 2022, at 4:04 pm by Mariana Figueira.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
AntonelaMaria
This book doesn't sound like a book for me. I realized that by reading the blurb and other reviews. After reading the sample, I haven't changed my mind. I applaud the author's approach and the idea behind the book, but the challenging and thought-provoking religious topics are not my reading choice. Extremism is never good, and the book emphasizes that well. I like the cynical writing tone the best. The writing style is also excellent, and I'm interested in some other books by this author. This book seems like it was professionally edited. I didn't notice any errors. There is an Official Onlinebookclub review of this book. I wouldn't change anything about the book. It is not a book for me, but I'm sure other readers will appreciate it.
First Ten review added on January 7, 2022, at 3:30 pm by AntonelaMaria.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
markodim721
I would choose to read a sample of this book because of the cover and title. I also read the blurb, editorial reviews, and customer reviews but they did not influence my decision. The title of the book is both direct and intriguing. The cover of the book is very intuitively designed to unite the silhouette of bundles of money and superhuman power. I’m not going to read the book because it’s not the genre I prefer. While reading the sample I did notice three typos ( 1) missing period at the end of the sentence:… answered matter-of-factly it should be: …answered matter-of-factly. 2) missing quotation marks at the beginning of quotation: …lamented Lashonda and, uh, the Reverend… it should be: …lamented Lashonda “and, uh, the Reverend… 3) extra letter in the word: …pissed offf people… it should be: …pissed off people…) and the book does not seem like it is professionally edited. Reading the sample didn’t change my mind from my original guess. I like how Lew Thompson’s character is described both when it comes to his looks and when it comes to his character because he looks very authentic. I don't think anything needs to be improved in the book. The book has an Official OnlineBookClub review, I read it but it also did not influence my decision.
First Ten review added on January 7, 2022, at 3:25 pm by markodim721.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Laura Ungureanu
This book's appearance made me think this was a non-fiction book about money or business. However, upon checking the Amazon description and OBC review, I was surprised to see that it's about religion. The customer reviews were very positive, so that made me think it was a good book. However, I'm not a religious person, so I only sampled the book because of the program. The sample presented Lew's working space and colleagues in a detailed manner. I wasn't interested in it because it seemed to miss any action. My suggestion for improvement would be to add some intrigue from the start. Although it doesn't touch the subject of religion yet, I still refuse to read this book because of its genre and subject. Also, the sample wasn't appealing to me. I noticed a number of missing commas in the text, like "Stop doing that it creeps me out." This example disturbed my reading flow enough to note it, so the editing is not perfect.
First Ten review added on January 7, 2022, at 2:57 pm by Laura Ungureanu.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Chelsy Scherba
The story does a good job of setting up the ins and outs of running a religious organization: phones ringing, managing deliveries, etc. The chaos was recognizable in a lot of churches, especially big mega ones. I like the cover image and how it depicts the love of money as being the god. The OBC review was lacking for me in that it seemed to be more exposition than review and basically gave away much of the plot. I’m not exactly sure how I feel about the book anyway, since I tend to avoid books that heavily criticize faith outside of the program. I don’t think I’ll be reading this book today based on the content. It was a little hard for me to tell if the book is well-edited or not; some of the sentence structure read a little awkward for me. “Arabic looking, but he could be somebody else,...” just sounded a little weird to me, but maybe it’s correct. I have no suggestions for improvements.
First Ten review added on January 7, 2022, at 2:42 pm by Chelsy Scherba.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Astral Magi
I was attracted to the cover and title. I would have chosen the book based on these if I hadn't read the first ten pages. After reading the official OBC review, as well as the first ten pages, I realized that it wasn't for me. The customer and volunteer reviews confirmed this. I do not like religious fiction, even though this book seems to showcase how corrupt some of the religious organizations are. I didn't spot any errors and nothing needs to be improved. The book was professionally edited.
First Ten review added on January 7, 2022, at 2:06 pm by Astral Magi.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Emy Katherine
The story follows the general manager of the RDST warehouse, Lew Thompson, who finds himself in a life-threatening situation after being taken advantage of by one of his co-workers, Ahmad, a ruthless and greedy man who will stop at nothing to achieve his goals. As I am not interested in reading stories that contain religious elements, I would not have read the book based on the genre. I did not change my mind after reading the OBC review and the first ten pages. However, the dialogue was quite realistic, and I especially liked how well the author introduced the characters. The book had editing issues, though; therefore, I would suggest another round of editing. For example, I noticed a missing period at the end of the following sentence: "'It’s printed on your shirt,' Billy answered matter-of-factly" (page 4) I noticed a missing opening quotation mark before "and" in the following sentence: "'Gee, I just don’t know,' lamented Lashonda and, uh, the Reverend Davon Johnson isn’t here right now.'" (page 7) There should be a comma after "life" in the following sentence: "Ironically, Aunt Sally, with her biting sarcasm and generally negative outlook on life was a very successful inside salesperson." (page 6)
First Ten review added on January 7, 2022, at 1:22 pm by Emy Katherine.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Bertha Jackson
I would not have checked this book out because the cover and title made me think it was about performance in the workplace, and I do not enjoy reading those types of books, even if they are fiction. The blurb, customer reviews, editorial review, and OnlineBookClub review did not change my mind. I liked the flow of the first ten pages, and I am curious about the truck driver and why they are suspicious of him. I have no recommendations for the author as the book appears to have been edited by a professional editor. I did find one small error on Page 8 in the sentence, “You be sure he pays cash at the [will call] (will-call) window.” Although this error is in dialogue, it is evident that it is an error because the author had previously typed it correctly. I did download the free copy of the book, but I will probably not finish reading it because I am not interested in the topic.
First Ten review added on January 7, 2022, at 12:15 pm by Bertha Jackson.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda
I didn't know what to make of the cover. Honestly, I thought this was a self-help book about making more money. Though I agree with the basic premise of the blurb, this is too succinct for me to decide to read the book. The author didn't present the characters or even a sliver of the plot, just a vague main idea. Therefore, despite the high ratings, I wouldn't have bought the book based on my first impressions.
What I liked the most about the first ten pages was the cynical narrative tone. This can be funny, such as the following sentence "A man of few words, Lew was Mr. Get-it-done. No problem was too great to solve, and if we don’t have it, we’ll get it for you." But, even if they're not that funny, I enjoy the bluntness of sentences such as how they kept Evangeline in the warehouse "in case they needed someone to speak God-talk since none of the others were multi-lingual." Unfortunately, the book has some editing mistakes. For example, on position 85 there's a missing full stop at the end of the sentence: “It’s printed on your shirt,” Billy answered matter-of-factly"
What made me decide to read the book was the official OBC review, which explains the plot with much more clarity than the blurb. I suggest fixing the cover to reflect more about the plot but, most of all, expanding the blurb to talk about not only the philosophical ideas behind the story but about the story in itself. Also, I recommend a second round of proofreading, with special attention to punctuation.
First Ten review added on January 7, 2022, at 11:49 am by María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
asteel18
The cover art is interesting and the title is fairly basic, but not in a bad way. The OBC reviewer gave it a perfect score and it's highly rated on Amazon, but there are only 6 reviews there. I would have chosen to read it based on that and the interesting blurb. After sampling the first ten pages I'd have to say that I wouldn't finish reading this book. The one thing I did like was that Lew seemed like an interesting character. Other than that, the writing was very jumbled. There were some inconsistencies (writing 6:55 then four-thirty), missing comma (Three blocks down Main ()left on Porter, and a right hook...)and the changes between past tense and present were very jarring. I'd suggest more editing.
First Ten review added on January 7, 2022, at 11:37 am by asteel18.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Total ~ 13%
Working At The Warehouse 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.
Go to main Bookshelves page for Working At The Warehouse
