The First Ten Focus Group Feedback for Sunborn Rising: Beneath the Fall
Because Sunborn Rising: Beneath the Fall 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.
Kourtney Bradley
The editing and formatting for the first ten pages seems to be done well, and the cover has a very interesting design. However, I feel like this is a bit too much fantasy for me to be able to enjoy. The detailed descriptions of Cerulean are done very well though!
First Ten review added on October 3, 2016, at 8:19 am by Kourtney Bradley.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Cjgarland89
Based on the beautiful artwork on the cover I would have sampled this book without the program. I usually am not a fan of fantasy type books but the aoBC review and the cover art drew me in to sample this one. The book was professionally edited as I saw no errors, and the style of writing was addicting almost. I did enjoy the first ten, as I could feel the anxiousness from Barra as she was reading the leaves, and when her mother finally got back home. Although I enjoyed the first ten, I won't be finishing the book because it's just not something I would like to finish reading. It is definitely different, but the genre is just not for me.
First Ten review added on October 3, 2016, at 6:50 am by Cjgarland89.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
truebookaddict
I would have chosen to read this, had I not sampled, based on the blurb, the large amount of positive reviews on Amazon, and the OBC review because I love to read fantasy.
I will not buy the book soley because the price is above the budget I set for myself to pay for eBooks.
The editing in the sample is terrific. I did not notice any typos or grammatical errors.
This was a very engaging intro to the book. I enjoyed Barra's enthusiasm for finding out more about her father. And I LOVE the illustrations incorporated. Lovely.
This book was professionally edited by OBC.
First Ten review added on October 3, 2016, at 5:49 am by truebookaddict.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
psychopathycathy
If I had not read this book for the First Ten, I might have read it. It looks interesting from the synopsis, and I like the cover. I would still love to read it, after sampling it. The writing was clear and engaging, and I enjoyed the fluency of style. I especially liked how artwork was incorporated into the story to make it more engaging and unique. The writing seemed professionally edited, and although I didn't read an official review, my decision was not affected.
First Ten review added on October 3, 2016, at 1:47 am by psychopathycathy.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Kia
Based on the description of this book, I would not have chosen to read it. AN illustrated fantasy novel is simply not something I have ever encountered before.The first ten pages really did manage to suck me into the writing. I found no errors, and the illustrations added to the story in a way I did not expect. However, this does seem to be more of a children's book, and so I will not continue to read it.
First Ten review added on October 2, 2016, at 11:18 pm by Kia.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Gravy
The cover is wonderful, and the pictures within are as well. I can't say the same for the drawings, but they're still nice. I'm not a fan of the writing. I was hoping this would be one I'd want to read, but the writing fell flat for me. Aside from the descriptions of the world, it just didn't hit the mark for me. If I had come across this I would have looked at it. I have to say there's an odd resemblance to Avatar, which I didn't like. It felt calculated. This also brings me to the number one reason I won't be reading this: I have an aversion to books not copyrighted to the writer. It makes me think it's been developed, not written, so I won't be continuing.
First Ten review added on October 2, 2016, at 5:34 pm by Gravy.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Momlovesbooks
The OBC review was well-written. I would have brushed this one off because of the genre, but the review gave me a different view of it. I read the first few pages and have to admit, the story line seemed unique and the descriptions of this fantasy world and its inhabitants were vivid. However, this genre still doesn't appeal to me. I won't be reading this book.
First Ten review added on October 2, 2016, at 2:09 pm by Momlovesbooks.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Annelore Trujillo
I would not have sampled this book based on the OBC review and the genre. I am not into fantasy books. The review made it seem like a good book, but I knew it wasn't in my interest area. After reading the first ten pages, I will not be finishing the book. I think the author uses great description in the book. I also like that the reader got to read with Barra. However, the content just wasn't interesting to me. Again, I am not really into fantasy. It also seemed like the book was professionally edited.
First Ten review added on October 2, 2016, at 11:42 am by Annelore Trujillo.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
L_Therese
At first, I thought this book might be for a younger audience, but the reviewer spoke very highly of it and asserted that readers of any age might find it appealing. When I read the first ten pages, though, I shifted back to my original assessment. The concept was interesting, and I'm sure the book is lovely, but I think it is meant for a younger reader. As such, I am not planning to finish it.
First Ten review added on October 2, 2016, at 9:44 am by L_Therese.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
CataclysmicKnight
This is quite the adventure so far! I figured I'd enjoy it from the cover and the genre, but having read some of it I'm even more excited to read the rest. The writing is great, the story has me majorly hooked and I love that there's even an app and game for it! I'll absolutely finish this one.
First Ten review added on October 2, 2016, at 2:31 am by CataclysmicKnight.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Thimble
I really liked the cover of the book. I think I would have taken a look at the book based on the cover, title, genre, blurb, and reviews (including the Official OnlineBookClub review). Based on everything I saw, it looked like an entertaining YA novel. The art was an added bonus. I liked that the main plot issue doesn’t appear to be a romance or something related to a romance. After reading the first ten pages, I think I will finish reading the book while I have it on Kindle Unlimited. If I did not have it on Kindle Unlimited, I would consider purchasing it. The relationship between Brace and Barra is really well done already and the story is already engaging. I like the mystery about the creeper vines. There is also the beginning of world building, which is really nice to see early on, without it being overwhelming. It appears to be professionally edited and I didn’t see any text errors. My favorite part so far is the baubles. I feel like that tidbit is both interesting and could be used to get a feel of characters later on in the book. I don’t see anything that could be improved.
First Ten review added on October 2, 2016, at 12:45 am by Thimble.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
bookowlie
The summary blurb appears to professionally edited, although I found the plot summary a little hard to follow. The cover is eye-catching with a nice font and beautiful artwork. The beginning pages are creative with Barra finding her father's secret sheaves that contained his private writings, I found a few parts a little confusing, but it may be because fantasy is not my preferred reading preference. There is one typo "t he" instead of "the", in the sentence "But I'm close to the answers, I can feel it" (approx. page 7 or 8). The plot seems interesting for readers who enjoy the fantasy genre. I don't usually care for fantasy books unless the story is somewhat realistic.
First Ten review added on October 1, 2016, at 6:14 pm by bookowlie.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
CrescentMoon
Based on the cover, title, and blurb, I would not pick this book up. Initially, when I read the blurb, it sounded really heavy on fantasy and I wasn't sure if I would enjoy it. The customer reviews on Amazon talk about how great the book is so although the rating is impressive, I didn't think I would enjoy it. However, after reading the first ten pages, I am extremely impressed. I like the writing style because it is very direct and straightforward, what is going on. I also love the pictures and drawings, it really adds to the fantasy. I will continue reading this.
First Ten review added on October 1, 2016, at 4:51 pm by CrescentMoon.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Serena [Poetree]
The intriguing cover hints at a fantasy, which is my favorite genre, so I'm immediately hooked. I also like the summary, which introduces what seems to be a fun group of characters on an exciting adventure. The official OnlineBookClub review is full of praises for the book. After reading the sample, I can say that the author has certainly crafted a fascinating world with fun, likeable characters, and the illustrations are beautiful. It's well-written, with no errors that I noticed. I'd love to finish the book someday, but I don't have the budget right now to buy it (and I've already had a Kindle Unlimited free trial, so I can't do another one).
First Ten review added on October 1, 2016, at 3:51 pm by Serena [Poetree].
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
gali
I probably would have sampled the book as I find the premise very interesting. The official review further whetted my curiosity. The cover is beautiful and the blurb was clear and to the point. The book seems well written and I like the writing. I like the idea of human-like creatures (Listlespur) living in giant trees. I enjoyed the sample and the discovery of the hidden journal by Barra was well done. I also liked the illustrations which helped visualize the creatures. If I didn't have so many books on my list, I would have bought and read the book.
First Ten review added on October 1, 2016, at 2:30 pm by gali.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
easy_dc13
I'm not the biggest fan of Fantasy books so I wouldn't have checked this one out if it weren't for the program. And as such, I wouldn't be buying the whole book and reading the rest of it. Although I can say that other readers who like this genre will be able to enjoy it because it has a good premise, and it is good as evidenced by the positive reviews. I did not find any problems with typos and errors.
First Ten review added on October 1, 2016, at 2:01 pm by easy_dc13.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
AA1495
Had I not sampled the book, I wouldn't have picked it up. The dark colours used for the cover make me think that the book's theme is mystery or something serious. The title didn't interest me either. Having sampled the book, I found the plot interesting. The book has been written very well and seems to be professionally edited. The protagonist's thoughts have been expressed beautifully and that's what I liked best about the book. However, I would have liked more context and background of the characters in the first few pages. The book has an amazing Onlinebookclub review. The plot was interesting but it didn't make me curious enough to want to read further. Hence, I will not purchase the book.
First Ten review added on October 1, 2016, at 1:52 pm by AA1495.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Sarah_Khan
Based on the first 10 pages of this book, it does seem like it has been adequately edited since I found no errors. I like the cover art, it leaves a bit of mystery and it's eye catching. Overall the beginning of the book did a really nice job of automatically sucking you into the story. It starts out with asking a lot of questions so you feel like you need to read the rest of the book. I also appreciated that there is a drawing in the first few pages of the book. To sum up, I could see myself picking up this novel.
First Ten review added on October 1, 2016, at 1:17 pm by Sarah_Khan.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Heidi M Simone
With its captivating cover, title, and blurb, I would have sampled this read on my own. What is even better is that the 160 reviews are positive and that the OBC reviewer also enjoyed this read. In fact, I already own this book due to how interesting the OBC reviewer made this book out to be.
Based on what I have read, the book does seem to be professionally edited. One of my favorite aspects of what I have read so far are the beautiful and descriptive illustrations. Also, I already am a fan of Barra, the protagonist. However, due to it being a unique fantasy, there were some words that were confusing. For instance, "bup" and "curios". Maybe a quick explanation of these words would be helpful. I really enjoyed the sample and have already purchased prior to today. Therefore, I do plan on giving this book a full read.
First Ten review added on October 1, 2016, at 12:31 pm by Heidi M Simone.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Vermont Reviews
If my reading schedule was not so overbooked this one would have been an excellent choice. The author Aaron Safronoff creates a wonderful world with Kolalabats and Listlespurs and characters Barra, Troy and Plicks. The preview was a fun read and the artwork is excellent. What a wonderful story to share with children. I did read some of the reviews which for the most part were positive. This was an excellent choice for the book of the day selection. I do like the cover.
Vermont Reviews
First Ten review added on October 1, 2016, at 12:17 pm by Vermont Reviews.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Total ~ 25%
Sunborn Rising: Beneath the Fall earned a score of 25%.
In other words, out of the top-level reviewers who read at least the first 10 pages of this book, 25% 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 Sunborn Rising: Beneath the Fall
