The First Ten Focus Group Feedback for Speaks for Itself: A Commodity of Musings from My Life

Because Speaks for Itself was Book of the Day, some of our most trusted members have carefully looked over the cover, the description, and other aspects of this book as a part of purchase-intent focus group. We then asked each participant in the focus group if they planned to buy and read the book, and why they planned to buy and read the book or not. Their answer to that question and reasons are displayed below. We call this awesome feature The First Ten Focus Group.

Keep in mind, the responses from the members are not reviews. This is purchase-intent focus group which means the participants are people who have NOT yet bought or read your book. A purchase-intent focus group is an important and extremely useful marketing tool for any product, not just books. For other products, you might walk on the street and show people an item in a package and poll them about whether they would buy if or $X or not. These kind of focus groups are one of the ways big marketing companies find the ideal price points for products and test the effectiveness of different packaging. The focus group can help you identify your market so you how to target ads of your book, and it can (but may not) provide you new useful info about your "packaging" (e.g. your book cover, your book synopsis on Amazon, etc.). The point of the focus group comments is to give you information from people who have not bought or read your book about why they plan to buy your book which will help you in marketing the book. These are not reviews or critiques of your book because they are not from people have read the book. This is a marketing tool, not reviews. The trick of book marketing and book advertising is that you have to convince people who have not read your book yet that your book is worth buying and reading. For marketing, it doesn't matter much if people love your book after reading it if you cannot convince potential buyers before they read it that they will love it.

IMPORTANT: Any score over 10% is considered very good. And any score above 0% is acceptable. This is because we only poll about 20 or so readers, and all readers have to say "no" to almost all books. Over a million books are published each year. Even a very active reader cannot come close to even reading 1% of books out there.

This is also why publishing books is such a tough industry.

Vickie Noel

I wouldn't have read this book outside the program because of its cover; I don't find it attracting. My opinion didn't change after reading the sample. I found it a bit difficult to relate with the poems as none of them actually caught my heart. I tried to understand what was said in the poem, "Death": "A compliment is something of a tease; a sort of lifeline for those who don't believe." I tried to correlate it to everyday life, but it just didn't blend in. I didn't find any errors though; the book is professionally edited. I have no recommendations for improvement. I saw an OBC review, but it didn't influence my decision.

First Ten review added on November 26, 2021, at 4:51 am by Vickie Noel.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

xsquare

I’m not a fan of poetry, so I wouldn’t have sampled this book if it hadn’t been part of the First Ten program. The official OBC review did not convince me. I liked the imagery that the poems evoked, and I did not see any typos. I don’t think that there was anything else that the author could’ve done better. However, I did not find the sample compelling enough to change my mind – I won’t be reading the rest of the book.

First Ten review added on November 26, 2021, at 4:30 am by xsquare.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Asma Aisha Ansari

I rarely read poetry. So, the First Ten Program was the only reason that I sampled this collection. Unfortunately, I didn't understand the 2 poems provided in the sample even after reading each of them at least 3 times. It was evident that this collection of poems is not for me.

The table of contents looked promising, and I liked that the author has included poems on such different topics and themes. People interested in poetry will find something to their liking because of this reason. I, however, didn't like the cover. It probably goes with the theme of this collection but I found it scary and disturbing. Nonetheless, it's not something that can be changed or improved upon, as there are probably good reasons for choosing this cover. I didn't find any editing errors in the sample. I've no suggestions for improvement. There is an official OBC review and many Amazon reviews praising the book. However, they didn't affect my decision about reading this book. Finally, I've decided to not read this book.

First Ten review added on November 26, 2021, at 3:49 am by Asma Aisha Ansari.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

va2016

The title "Speaks for itself" and the cover with the lamp posts do not convey the theme of the book. There are 14 Amazon customer ratings, which is a good enough number for me to sample the book. The Amazon summary clearly states that the book contains poetry. As I am generally not interested in poetry books, I would have skipped sampling the book if not for the First Ten program. As I sampled through the book, I found the narration containing poems titled 'Snow' and 'Death'. As I am not interested in poetry books, I am not going to read this book in full. I found the sample professionally edited. There were no grammatical or mechanical errors in the sampled. I didn't like anything specifically about the book. I don't have any recommendations for the improvement of the book. Although I found 3 OBC reviews of the book, my decision to not to read the book in full is based on my own sampling.

First Ten review added on November 26, 2021, at 3:39 am by va2016.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Jeremie Mondejar

The cover photo looks funny and magical in the glowing street corner. I sample the book and it's a poem. I rarely read poetry because I can't easily understand in the author's point of view. I like the poem about freedom, especially when somebody is talking a negative words. The sample is pretty good in format and the editing seems flawless, so I assume this book is professionally edited. I see an OBC review, but it doesn't convince me either. Lastly, there's nothing I see that needs improvement.

First Ten review added on November 26, 2021, at 3:34 am by Jeremie Mondejar.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Sou Hi

If it's not for this program, I wouldn't read this. The official review from OnlineBookClub and Amazon's blurb look alright, but poems are not my cup of tea. The sample features the first two verses named Snow and Death.

To be frank, I don't really like anything in the sample. I don't understand the author's messages. The editing is good, but I think the cover is quite creepy, so the author should consider a new one. I'm not interested in poetry, so I won't buy this book.

Error example: Martyrslaughter -> I think a space is needed between "Martyr" and "slaughter"

First Ten review added on November 26, 2021, at 2:54 am by Sou Hi.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Dzejn_Crvena

I wanted to read this book when I saw the cover because I thought it's a comedy book. The OBC review convinced me to read it when I learned that it's a collection of poems. The sample has only two pages, but it didn't change my decision. It contains the author's musings in life. The first two poems talk about snow and death. I like the issues addressed in the poems, especially on being resilient against the haters. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the poems in this book. It seems professionally edited, and I don't have suggestions for improvements.

First Ten review added on November 26, 2021, at 2:43 am by Dzejn_Crvena.

Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Mutai Marshal

I felt that the cover page and title suggested that this is a fantasy book. Since I don't love the genre, I wouldn't have read it outside the First Ten program. I liked the simple and straightforward language deployed by the author. They make the poems easy to comprehend. However, I won't buy this book because I don't relish poetry. It seems exceptionally edited. I only recommend encompassing page numbers in the table of contents because most poems seem to address unique themes.

First Ten review added on November 26, 2021, at 2:00 am by Mutai Marshal.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Chelsy Scherba

I liked the way the author compared snow and isolation. That was interesting imagery. I generally don’t read any poetry though because I’m not that interested in it, so I would not have picked this book outside of the program. The cover is very artistic and weird, but many people, including the one who wrote the OBC review, do not seem to like it. I think it’s creative, so I don’t personally have a problem with it. I didn’t see any errors in the text, so everything appears to be professionally edited. I have no suggestions for improvements.

First Ten review added on November 26, 2021, at 1:52 am by Chelsy Scherba.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Mercy Bolo

This book's cover didn't entice me to read it, and the OBC review dissuaded me when it mentioned that the author pens poetry to capture various life situations. I'm not a fan of poetry, so I won't read the rest of the book. When I read the first ten pages, I liked that the author highlighted isolation in the poem "To the Exclusion of Others." He mentioned that although we're in the same boat, it feels as though he's alone in the midst of a storm. That is a relatable situation that many have been in. 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 November 26, 2021, at 12:45 am by Mercy Bolo.

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’m not a huge fan of poetry. After reading the sample, I won’t be finishing this book. I liked that the author wrote the poems with proper grammar and that they seemed professionally edited. So many poetry authors use a lot more poetic license than necessary. This author didn’t do that. However, I wasn’t really into the poems or their lack of rhythm. I tend to like poetry that rhymes or has a set flow, which this collection doesn’t really have. There isn’t anything specific that needs improvement. This just isn’t the poetry collection for me.

First Ten review added on November 26, 2021, at 12:21 am by Annelore Trujillo.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Howlan

I do not think that I would have read this book without the program, as I do not enjoy reading poems. In the first ten pages, we have five poems, each related to some emotion. The first poem called, "Snow" speaks about isolation. Then we get a poem about death, something about loneliness, and something about affection, and finally, we have a poem about freedom. I do not enjoy reading poetry, so I am not the target audience of this book. I prefer reading fast-paced mystery thrillers, so this genre does not interest me. So, I will not buy and read this book as I am not interested in the content. No typos were found in the first ten pages. I found nothing to improve in the first ten pages. The official OBC review is present, and the reviewer rates it highly.

First Ten review added on November 25, 2021, at 11:32 pm by Howlan.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Manang Muyang

That cover certainly catches attention, but the featured official OBC reviewer doesn't find it in line with what the book offers. Nonetheless, knowing that this is a book of short poems and being a wannabe poet myself, I would have peeked into the book outside of the program. I noted that the titles were clever. Those I found particularly intriguing were "Silence by Proxy," "The Luxury of Complacency," and "The Role of Scapegoat." However, of the five poems in the sample, only the first one, "Snow," resonated with me. I was unsure about the messages of the other four. Thus, I didn't think the poet's work was for me. I also did not find the paronomasias mentioned by another OBC reviewer. I could not pinpoint any improvement to the poems; I also did not see any grammatical flaws. I only noticed a couple of mistakes in the front matter. On the copyright page, "Any resemblance to actual events or locals" should have used "locales." On the About the Author page, "Jeffrey is a Worcester, Massachusetts resident" needed a comma before "resident." As to the cover, maybe the author can use something less bizarre.

First Ten review added on November 25, 2021, at 11:26 pm by Manang Muyang.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

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 read it because poetry is not really my favorite genre. I liked the poem titled "To The Exclusion of Others." This book seems professionally edited and has an official Online Bookclub review. There was nothing I saw that needed improvement.

First Ten review added on November 25, 2021, at 7:51 pm by Mariana Figueira.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Tori_J

I would not have guessed that this book was a compilation of poems. I wish the author had given a little more information on the book cover to let readers know what to expect. I liked the poems I read. They were error-free and creative. I would love to listen to the audio version of it. Judging by the book cover, I would not have picked this book, nor would I have picked it based on the book title. The book reviews I read seem interesting, and it does make me curious. I will be reading this book because the creativity of the poems gets to me.

First Ten review added on November 25, 2021, at 6:26 pm by Tori_J.

Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Jorge Leon Salazar

The cover is bizarre and funny. I think that together with the title they form a combination that should appeal to the target audience, especially those who enjoy thoughtful poetry. I am not a fan of poetry, but I am open to trying one that captures my attention. The blurb mentions that this work breaks the literary mold and that some moments often have no words. Plus, it indicates the author's poetry embodies the notion that we are more than the sum of our experiences. Most customer reviews are favorable. Based on these elements, I could try this book of poems. The sample covers the first five poems. In general, they have no rhymes. The poems are short and address reflective themes. In "Snow", the first, I perceive an association between snow with the habit of loitering, of letting time pass without doing something relevant. Likewise, in the poem "Death" there is a kind of satire on the attitude of playing dead like in a fictitious shooting. There seems to be an analogy with nonsensical attitudes, like when visiting an emporium. The following poems also explore existential topics like relationships with others. For example, the feeling of all sinking into the same boat, the relationship with teachers, and the impact of their words. The official OnlineBookClub review reaffirms that the book mainly contemplates topics that are reflections on existential aspects of life with a sardonic and optimistic nuance. The editing looks professional as I didn't see any details to comment on. Overall, I didn't see anything that I believe could be improved. The sampled poems seemed thought-provoking to me, but I am not a fan of poetry since I feel that the messages they convey do not reach me easily. Therefore, I think I will not read the rest of the book in the near future.

First Ten review added on November 25, 2021, at 2:40 pm by Jorge Leon Salazar.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

MsH2k

The cover was interesting—I’m not sure I would say I liked it, but it was eye catching. I enjoy reading poetry books occasionally, and I would have sampled this book even if I were not part of this program. The table of contents listed an intriguing set of titles. After reading the two poems in the sample pages, I decided to pass on this book. I did not connect with the style and feel of the writing. I have no suggestions for improvement, and I did not notice any grammatical errors. The featured OnlineBookClub review was thorough and positive, but it had no bearing on my decision.

First Ten review added on November 25, 2021, at 1:44 pm by MsH2k.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Michelle Menezes

I couldn't guess the content of the book based on the title. The blurb did not interest me, as I rarely read poetry. I decided not to read the book even though the Official OnlineBookClub review had good things to say about it. After reading the first ten pages, I can say that I'll be sticking to my original decision and not continuing with it. I had some difficulty connecting with the poems, but I liked a few lines from "To The Exclusion of Others." The writer talks about how we're all in the same sinking ship and yet he feels like he is all alone, and that part resonated with me. I did not find any errors, so it seems professionally edited. I don't think the book needs any improvement.

First Ten review added on November 25, 2021, at 12:38 pm by Michelle Menezes.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

gen_g

From the title and Amazon blurb, the book is a poetry book. I am not looking for poetry books now, so I would not have sampled it, even if I came across an OBC review of the book (which I did, and the OBC review was also a positive one). After sampling, I did find at least an instance of a lack of clarity due to a redundant preposition. At 8% in the sample, the phrase "and other of life's milestones" is extremely awkward and is not clear. The clause in question is "...collabrate on custom prose for weddings and other of life's milestones..." – the phrase "other life milestones" (instead of other of life's milestones) would be much clearer. Also, frankly speaking, the preposition "of" (and subsequently the possessive tagged to the word "life") is redundant and only adds to confusion. I suggest rigorous editing to improve book quality. Additionally, another suggestion to improve book quality would be to adjust the font design of the title and author's name – the colours can be adjusted to make the title and author stand out even more, rather than to run the risk of having the title and author's name blend in with the background due to the similar colours used. Still, I must say that some of the lines evoke powerful images, which may emotionally affect the reader and hence deepen immersion – this is commendable. For example, in "Death", images of chaos and ringing gunfire are easily brought to the forefront of the reader's mind with one single line: "Gunfire on the crowded steps of an emporium in this dream". I am not in the market for poetry books, so I will not be buying the book today.

First Ten review added on November 25, 2021, at 11:28 am by gen_g.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

brooke oakes

This book may have been one that I would have chosen to sample on my own. The cover of this book looks interesting but does not reveal much about it. The title also interests me. I like to read books that contain the perspective of the author and their thoughts about life. For this reason, I would have sampled the book. After reading the reviews and the first ten pages, it appears to contain some great poetry with philosophy, humor, and a little romance. It looks people have enjoyed the author's perspective on different life situations. As a teacher myself, I found the poem about the teacher's pet entertaining. I didn't notice any errors, and it appears professionally edited.

First Ten review added on November 25, 2021, at 10:05 am by brooke oakes.

Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

evraealtana

I don't usually like reading poetry, so based on the official OBC review, I would have skipped this one (although the cover is certainly eye-catching). I don't usually get much out of poetry -- which is why I never read it -- and sure enough, I was baffled by this book too. I couldn't make any sense of the poem "Death" in particular; "They are playing dead / to save our lives?" What is that supposed to mean? I actually sort of liked the poem "To the Exclusion of Others", which is about celebrating the small moments of life rather than allowing them to slip away. The title, though, doesn't really fit the meaning. Maybe it would make sense if I were more poetically minded. The overall impression that I got from this book, like most poetry, is a lot of words with no meaning behind them, spoken just to give the author the pleasure of playing with words. And since this is "modern" poetry, there's not even an entertaining rhyme scheme. Therefore, I will not continue reading. I found no obvious errors in the first ten pages, although with poetry the line between "mistake" and "style choice" is blurred to nonexistent.

First Ten review added on November 25, 2021, at 9:50 am by evraealtana.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Rodel Barnachea

Following my going over the title's Amazon page and official OnlineBookClub review, I decided not to acquire the poetry book. I did not find myself intrigued by what the author thinks or feels about the different aspects of life. I believe this poetry book is not my cup of tea. Readings its Amazon sample did not change my mind. I would not purchase it because I am not engaged by the poems included in the preview. The first ten pages contain the poem "Snow" and a few verses of the poem "Death." My favorite part is the usage of periods in the first poem because most poems I have read before do not make use of periods. I did not identify any errors in the sample; I believe the book is professionally edited. I have no advice to offer to the author.

First Ten review added on November 25, 2021, at 6:05 am by Rodel Barnachea.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Sanju Lali

Speaks for Itself meant many things to me, so I could not guess anything about this book. I read the OBC official review to know about its contents. The OBC official review gave me the idea that this book is a collection of poems featuring the author's outlook on various aspects of life. This information motivated me to read the sample of the book before purchasing it. When I read the first ten pages, I realized that this book is not professionally edited because I found some grammatical errors in the sample. For example, the sentence, "Excuses already delayed, Your mind's made up anyway." The sentence could have been as follows; "Excuses already delayed, Your minds made up anyway." What I liked most in this book is the author’s art of looking at human life closely and drawing real meaning out of it. Sadly, some sentences meant more than one thing to me, so I could not decipher any meaning out of them. For example, the sentence “You take a breath; we’ll see what's left.” I could not understand what the author wanted to say with this sentence. My suggestion to the author would be to go for a round of professional editing and consider the shortcomings raised by me in the above sentences. After looking at all these aspects, I decided not to purchase and read this book today. I will wait until the author considers my suggestions so that by reading this book, I could have some inspirational takeaways.

First Ten review added on November 25, 2021, at 5:41 am by Sanju Lali.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

zainherb

I found this book cover silly but interesting to look at, and it draws me to the book. The title however, does not tell me much and is not particularly appealing.
The book looks professionally written and I did not find any errors. I liked the poems that rhyme better as they sound prettier.
I do not have access to kindle and this is why I will not be reading this book, otherwise I would love to read the whole book.

First Ten review added on November 25, 2021, at 5:39 am by zainherb.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

addicted reader

Having read the sample of this book (It speaks for itself by Jeffrey Bailey), I'm convinced that it was meliticulously edited. This is because I didn't encounter any flaws in the book while I was reading the sample. There are about 64 poems in the book, as highlighted in the table of content. Each of them has a different message. I liked the cover page of the book. It is amazing. The author did a wonderful job of designing it. There is nothing that needs improvement in the first ten pages I have read. The book also had a well-crafted official review on OnlineBookClub that gave an insight into what the book entails. Furthermore, there was a sample on Amazon. Despite having read the sample and the official review of the book, I'm not going to finish reading it. This is because the work of poetry is not my thing. Therefore, the review and the sample never played any role in my decision of whether to finish reading the book or not.

First Ten review added on November 25, 2021, at 4:26 am by addicted reader.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

vitalisvicky

It speaks for itself by Jeffrey Bailey looks like a fun read. It is also a work of fiction, so the author's imagination is used to create the names, characters, places, and events. I read the first ten pages of the book and saw no errors in grammar or spelling. Based on this, the rest of the book appears to have been professionally edited. The poems are engaging and enjoyable, which is one aspect of the book that I liked in the few pages I read. However, the book's cover did not appeal to me. Personally, I believe it does not reflect a work of fiction but instead resembles a children's book. As a result, that is the only area in which the author of this wonderful book can improve. I'm not a big fan of reading poetry, and that's why I'm not going to finish reading it. There was an official review for this book, which gave positive remarks about it. The sample was also available on Amazon.com. My decision not to finish reading the book was not affected by the official review and the sample that I read, but by personal preferences.

First Ten review added on November 25, 2021, at 4:06 am by vitalisvicky.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Shrabastee Chakraborty

From the cover, it was impossible to know what the book was about. However, the official OBC review's praise and the highest rating made me want to read this book. I could not find any errors in the first ten pages. The first poem, "Snow, " seemed to be about depression, while the next one was about death. I loved the way these poems touched my heart. I liked trying to guess the underlying meaning. I had no suggestions for improvements whatsoever. Judging by the excerpt, I would gladly read this book.

First Ten review added on November 25, 2021, at 1:53 am by Shrabastee Chakraborty.

Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Joseph Mutuku 1

One of the things I have liked with this collection of poems is that the poems are short, and some are even direct and easy to understand. The first poems in this book (Snow, Death, To The Exclusions of Others, and many more) look into critical components of our daily lives: loneliness, not listening to naysayers, and many others. I liked the author’s writing style that made the poems more enjoyable. Although I’m not a fan of poetry books, I must commend the author for the great work of putting this book together. The title was great; but, I think the cover page wasn’t that attractive or relevant. I would recommend another more creative cover page for this book. There were zero errors in the sample, and I would guess that the book was professionally edited. The Online Book Club review was great; it answered many questions I would have asked before selecting this book. After reading the book review and the first ten pages, I’m not going to finish reading this book because of the aforementioned reasons.

First Ten review added on November 25, 2021, at 1:14 am by Joseph Mutuku 1.

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 am not a big poetry fan. The poems in the sample did not grab my attention; therefore, I will not continue to read the book. My favorite part of the sample was the line "Isolation is the cold you chose" from the first poem (Location 141). I thought it was a great metaphor. The book seems well edited, and I can't think of any way to improve it.

First Ten review added on November 25, 2021, at 12:54 am by Ari Martinez.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

J_odoyo

After reading the first ten pages of Speaks for Itself by Jeffrey Paul Bailey, I have realized that the collection of poems seems to have been well written. Even though I had a problem with the book’s cover page, I think the book’s title was okay. There were no errors in the sample I read, and I would wager that the book was professionally edited. The description on the Amazon website was also okay. The book had an official OnlineBookClub review, which gave insight into what the book is all about. The earlier pages exude well-written short poems. I appreciate the author’s writing styles that employed various stylistic devices to present his thoughts on various topics. One of the poems I liked in the sample was titled “To The Exclusions of Others.” Listening to cynic people may stop us from doing anything. As the author puts it, we should hear from one ear and let it pass through the other. Sincerely, I would recommend a new cover page for this book. Reading this sample didn’t convince me to finish reading this book; I’m not a fan of this genre.

First Ten review added on November 25, 2021, at 12:50 am by J_odoyo.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Kelyn

Although I do occasionally read poetry, it is not an area I often peruse. Given this, it is unlikely that I would have run across this book if I were not in this program. However, as soon as I saw it as BOTD, the cover had me hooked. I'm very into the strange and whimsical, and the cover just screams both. I also thought the title fit perfectly. I am unfamiliar with the author, so that did not affect my opinion. The blurb and customer reviews reveal that the book's content is more about loss and loneliness than it is whimsical. Still, given that I was instantly drawn to the book, I was still willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. There was no OBC review on the Amazon site. If there had been, I would have been interested in what the reviewer had to say. The author's poetry, above all, came across as sad and lonely. There was no joy, but there was a hidden hint of hope. "...They are playing dead to save our lives..." is one line that gave that tiny hint. I have to believe there are others hidden in the book. I think my favorite line, though, because it struck a chord of truth with me, was: "A compliment is something of a tease; a sort of lifeline for those who don't believe..." You think he's talking about a girlfriend or even a lover because the poem speaks of blushing and commitment. This makes the title seem a bit odd. It comes clear at the end, but you see he's not talking about that kind of love at all. The poetry is interesting and makes me think. I will be continuing to read the book. The book seemed well-edited. I found no 'countable' errors in the sample. There's not a thing I would change.

First Ten review added on November 25, 2021, at 12:45 am by Kelyn.

Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

TheMazeRunner

I would sample this book based on its unusual cover. This is an unique collection of poems where the author talks about everyday life. Relationships, friends, problems... all of that are the themes of this book. I will not read the rest of the book because I don't like the writing style. This book has the official OBC review. There are zero mistakes in the sample. I wouldn't change anything about it.

First Ten review added on November 25, 2021, at 12:21 am by TheMazeRunner.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Mary WhiteFace

I don't usually enjoy memoirs and I'm not a fan of poetry. This book didn't have much of a chance from the get-go. Without the First Ten program I would have passed it by. Reading the first ten pages did not change my mind. The presence of an OnlineBookClub review did not influence my decision.

I thought the cover illustration was imaginative. It brought to mind a speakeasy which really had nothing to do with the premise of the book. It was difficult to determine whether the book was professionally edited. Poetry seems to generally invoke poetic license with grammar and punctuation.

I have no suggestions for improvements. My favorite part of all was in the poem Old Crows. That poem was actually the only one I could kind of understand and relate to. "Incontinent old crows, use your car as a bathroom toilet...Masquerading as mother hens, they're taking stock of on whom it’s best to dump so others can be mired in funk;" That had me laughing so hard I had to reread it a few times. I could truly relate.

Even though I enjoyed the one poem, I didn't feel any type of desire to continue reading the whole book.

First Ten review added on November 24, 2021, at 9:32 pm by Mary WhiteFace.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Stephanie Runyon

The cover is somewhat disturbing, and I would not have sampled the book off this initial impression. I like the message that the poems are portraying by analogies. Professionally edited, as I found no errors. The only thing I would suggest for improvement is to change the cover to something that makes it not appear so creepy. I would also enlarge the title on the book. There is an OBC review, but it did not influence my decision to pass on the book. The poems just didn't speak to me, which is why I chose not to continue reading.

First Ten review added on November 24, 2021, at 6:25 pm by Stephanie Runyon.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Hazel Arnaiz

I will skip this book outside the program. I seldom read poetry. The cover is visually striking because of the mouths and tongues. But I find them strange and quite unsettling. Also, the word “commodity” in the subtitle is a bit confusing. Top of mind, a commodity is a product that is bought and sold. I wonder if it is the intent. It might help to reconsider these elements for visual appeal and clarity in context. The blurb is concise but has enough information on what to expect from the book. Customer reviews are a mix of feedbacks but are helpful. From the short sample, I only get to read a few poems. I appreciate the free form. As for editing, I did not notice any issues. There are several official OnlineBookClub reviews. They have diverse insights but with consistent ratings. Still, I will pass.

First Ten review added on November 24, 2021, at 5:06 pm by Hazel Arnaiz.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Catherine Hsu

If I had not read the sample as part of the First Ten program, I would have read the book. The cover is so creative and silly! I would read this book based on that alone. After reading the sample, I have not changed my mind. Because it is poetry, I give the book a little more leeway on editing; there are some fragments after semicolons and dashes used when m-dashes usually would be, but I am not that bothered by it and actually think another round of editing is not necessarily needed. I really liked the poem Teacher's Pet, and overall I loved how much of a variety of topics the poems covered. I would not change anything. The official review on OnlineBookClub did not affect my decision.

First Ten review added on November 24, 2021, at 5:05 pm by Catherine Hsu.

Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Brenda Creech

I would not have checked this book out by the title and cover alone because I don't care for poetry. After reading the OBC review, I still wasn't interested in reading the book. While reading the sample, I have to say I didn't find anything I thought was an error or anything that I thought needed improvement. I read the poems in the sample, but I can honestly say I could not interpret the meaning of any of them. I am hopeless in poetry, and I guess that is why I don't care for it. Because of my lack of understanding of the meaning of the poems, I won't be reading any more of the book.

First Ten review added on November 24, 2021, at 4:00 pm by Brenda Creech.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Kaitlyn Canedy

If Speaks for Itself hadn't been the OnlineBookClub's book of the day, I most likely would not have read the sample of it. After reading the description, I knew that the customer reviews nor the sample would have affected my decision to skip the book. The reason for this is that poetry is not my favorite genre; it is actually my least favorite. I had already made my decision even before I read the official OnlineBookClub review for it. I did like that the author took a philosophical approach in his writing; this is excellent for readers who enjoy philosophy. There were no grammatical errors that I noticed in the sample, but I do think that the cover of the book could be changed to something else. Readers who like philosophical poetry seem to be the best fit for this title.

First Ten review added on November 24, 2021, at 3:59 pm by Kaitlyn Canedy.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Kira Bonita Reece

The first ten pages are amazing. These poems are full of emotions and quite reflective. My favourite was the one about death. I would choose to read this book based on the cover, title and the reviews. This book had an official online book club review and it seemed to be professionally edited. I will be reading the entire book.

First Ten review added on November 24, 2021, at 3:59 pm by Kira Bonita Reece.

Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Jennifer Garcia 555

Although the cover is definitely eye catching, I usually pass on poetry books. However, after reading the sample and the multiple great official Online Book Club Reviews, this sounds like a very good poetry book. I did not see any editing errors, so the book seems professionally edited. I like the strong emotions that are present in these poems. I have no suggestions for improvement. The great reviews have convinced me to buy and finish this book.

First Ten review added on November 24, 2021, at 3:55 pm by Jennifer Garcia 555.

Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Yvonne Monique

I really do not like the book cover. It has unattractive colours and a provocative design. I would not pick this book up if I would see it in a bookstore. The blurb and OBC review give a thorough description of the book but do not make me want to read the book. As I normally do not read poetry, I do not feel the urge to read this book. The sample is well edited and the poems have a convenient length. Although I sometimes find poetry hard to understand, I believe I grasped the meaning of these poems fairly easily. Nonetheless, I will not buy this book as I do not find reading poetry enjoyable. As an improvement, I would recommend to make the cover more appealing.

First Ten review added on November 24, 2021, at 3:49 pm by Yvonne Monique.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Laura Ungureanu

The cover looks strange to me. It definitely doesn't make me think this is a collection of poems. I wouldn't have sampled this book based on its appearance. Reading the OBC review helped me make a clear picture of this book. The Amazon description and reviews were encouraging me to check this book out. Everything looked good, but I still needed to see if I personally liked the poems as much as the others. I liked the way the poems rhyme. It was definitely soothing to read them. While I appreciated connecting snow and cold with the feeling of isolation in the first poem, I didn't like some of the other poems. I guess I couldn't connect with them. I also didn't understand the point of some poems, like "Teacher's Pet." This is a personal preference, but I guess that there is no point in reading a poetry book that doesn't speak to you. It seems professionally edited.

First Ten review added on November 24, 2021, at 3:41 pm by Laura Ungureanu.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

AntonelaMaria

I like to read poetry books every once in a while. The Official Onlinebookclub review sold me on this one. It is a convincing review. I also agree with the reviewer regarding the book cover. It can be better. After reading the sample, I am pleasantly surprised by this book. I like the writing style. From the first poem, I knew I would like this book. Then again, poetry is deeply personal and emotional, so I trust that instinct that I would enjoy the rest of the collection. It is very thoughtful but not overly complicated. I don't like pretentious poetry, and this one is not that. I didn't notice any errors, and I wouldn't change anything about this book.

First Ten review added on November 24, 2021, at 2:01 pm by AntonelaMaria.

Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Bertha Jackson

I found the cover disgusting with the lips and tongue, but it appeared appropriate for the title. Due to these and the fact I am not fond of the genre, I would not have checked out this book. The blurb and customer reviews confirmed that the book contains thought-provoking poems, so they did not change my mind. The OnlineBookClub review assures us that fans of poetry will enjoy the musings in this book. I could relate to the poem “Snow,” as it made me remember the times I felt isolated during the pandemic. I do not understand how many verses are punctuated. However, I did not notice any spelling or grammatical errors in the first ten pages, and they appeared to be professionally edited. I have no recommendations for the author. I will not buy and read this book because I do not enjoy poetry.

First Ten review added on November 24, 2021, at 1:43 pm by Bertha Jackson.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Emy Katherine

As I am not interested in reading poetry books, I would not have read this book without The First Ten program. Unsurprisingly, as a huge fan of crime stories, I did not change my mind after reading both the OBC review and the sample. The book contains 64 short poems that revolve around the themes of life, death, love, loneliness, sadness, and guilt. I appreciated the author's straightforward writing style and found no errors throughout the two free-verse poems included in the sample. I have also noticed that the book has great Amazon ratings, so those who enjoy reading thought-provoking poems should give this book a try. Nothing needs to be improved.

First Ten review added on November 24, 2021, at 12:51 pm by Emy Katherine.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

markodim721

I would choose to read a sample of this book because of the title. I also read the blurb, editorial reviews, and customer reviews but they did not influence my decision. The title of the book is very interesting, but the cover of the book seems repulsive to me. I’m not going to read the book because it’s not the genre I prefer. While reading the sample I didn’t notice any typos or errors and the book seems like it is professionally edited. Reading the sample didn’t change my mind from my original guess. I like that the poems are natural and spontaneous. I especially liked the poem "A Day To Be Free". Aside from a possible cover redesign, 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 affect my decision.

First Ten review added on November 24, 2021, at 12:51 pm by markodim721.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Astral Magi

The cover and title were both brilliant, and the art immediately drew my attention. If I hadn't read the first ten pages, I would have chosen the book based on these. My initial reaction was confirmed by the official OBC review, as well as the first ten pages. I was captivated by the combination of poetry and art. I also appreciated the author's brief reflections on various topics. There were no errors that I noticed, and there is nothing that needs to be improved. The book seems to have been professionally edited. I can't wait to read the rest.

First Ten review added on November 24, 2021, at 12:37 pm by Astral Magi.

Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Timothy Rucinski

I absolutely hated the cover and felt that had I seen it in a bookstore I would have kept my distance. The Official OBC Review, although generously supportive, didn't captivate my interest. For me to read a book of poetry, it's got to be something either on a topic of personal interest, whimsical in nature, or content that is remarkably good. This book fits into none of those categories so I won't be reading it. From the Amazon sample, there was really nothing that grabbed my attention. The poetry just wasn't my cup of tea so I can't say there is anything I truly liked. On the other hand, I didn't totally dislike the work, but I hated the cover. I agree with the Official OBC Reviewer that this cover should be replaced. That's my suggestion for improvement. I didn't find any errors other than times when the author involved poetic license with his punctuation, but since this is free-form poetry, these instances can't count as mistakes.

First Ten review added on November 24, 2021, at 11:56 am by Timothy Rucinski.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Kajori Sheryl Paul

'Speaks for Itself' is a book written by Jeffrey Paul Bailey. It is a collection of poems. Various themes like isolation, freedom, death, etc are explored. I liked the poem 'Teacher's Pet' the best. The way various themes are highlighted is great. I did not find any errors. There is nothing in need of an improvement. The OBC review is great. I would skip this book based on the cover, title, genre, blurb, editorial reviews, and customer reviews as I did not find the title enticing. I will skip this book as I am not in the mind-frame to read poems as of now.

First Ten review added on November 24, 2021, at 11:40 am by Kajori Sheryl Paul.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda

The cover of the book is strange in a good way, and although I seldom read poetry, I like the idea that "There are no experiences that know no words." Unfortunately, the blurb doesn't say much more than that, and what it says is extremely vague. The ratings for the book are average, and I don't feel like I have enough information to buy the book based on my first impressions.
The sample I got consists only of the legal pages, the index, and two poems, probably because of the brevity of the book. I can say some titles from the index caught my attention, such as "Silence by Proxy." From the few lines I could read, I enjoyed the following image: "Isolation is the cold you chose." I didn't find editing mistakes. Since the sample is so brief, and the blurb so succinct, I had to rely completely on the official OBC review, which, thankfully, is very complete. I liked the description of the topics it mentions, which are surprisingly relatable and empowering, so it convinced me to buy the book. I suggest for the author to use an extract of the review in his blurb, especially the part that mentions the topics of the poems.

First Ten review added on November 24, 2021, at 11:33 am by María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda.

Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Theresa Moffitt

I was not drawn to the cover of this book. The cover art of the dancing mouths and tongues is unique; however, it didn’t pique my interest in the book. I would not have picked this book up based on the cover alone. The Online Book Club review was very positive and gave a perfect rating. This increased my interest. I didn’t read any additional customer reviews. The first ten pages contain several poems about life. For example, ‘To the Exclusion of Others’ describes the feeling of everyone being on the same sinking ship; however, the author still feels alone in his experience. I didn’t see any errors in the first ten pages, so I believe the book was professionally edited. I also didn’t see any area that that author could improve upon. I am not really a fan of poetry and I don’t believe I would enjoy reading this book. For that reason, I will not finish reading this book.

First Ten review added on November 24, 2021, at 11:01 am by Theresa Moffitt.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Total ~ 22%

Speaks for Itself earned a score of 22%.

In other words, out of the top-level reviewers who read at least the first 10 pages of this book, 22% 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 Speaks for Itself