The First Ten Focus Group Feedback for The Toki-Girl and the Sparrow-Boy Book 1: Coming Home
Because The Toki-Girl and the Sparrow-Boy Book 1 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.
truebookaddict
I probably wouldn't have chosen to read this just because it's a children's book and I no longer buy children's books, as my children are older.
I will not buy the book, for the reason I stated previously.
The book seems professionally edited. No typos or grammatical errors noted.
I do enjoy a good fairy tale and that's what this book reminds me of. It's very much in the vein of folklore, which is appealing. I can suggest no improvements.
First Ten review added on August 12, 2016, at 9:02 am by truebookaddict.
Cjgarland89
I am not entirely sure I understood this book. Maybe I was overthinking it. However grammatically it looked great, and the artwork was good too! Had I not been in the first ten I would've overlooked this book simply because the artwork isn't my type of look, and not something that my children would like either. I won't be purchasing this full book.
First Ten review added on August 11, 2016, at 8:42 pm by Cjgarland89.
Rachaelamb1
I like the look and description of the book and this is a genre I often read. I enjoyed the first ten pages, but the writing style does not immediately grab me. It's hard to tell, but I have a feeling the pacing might be a little slow. I love the idea of bird-people, though. I am not going to buy the book today, but I will keep my eye out on this one for when my children are older. The book appears to be edited well.
First Ten review added on August 10, 2016, at 11:57 pm by Rachaelamb1.
Gravy
I enjoy reading juvenile fiction, but this doesn't seem like one I want to read. I can see the merit of it however, even from just the sample. I liked the mystical aspect of birds becoming children.
The cover is attractive, and it appeared to be professionally edited.
I would not have been likely to look at this book.
First Ten review added on August 10, 2016, at 11:35 pm by Gravy.
CataclysmicKnight
I'd seen this book before and was curious about it - YA fantasy/sci-fi is my favorite genre! I was really hooked at first when I started reading and through finishing the first chapter - that bit alone could easily be its own picture book with some illustration. The second chapter got a bit odd, but got better once it linked together. I'll be finishing this one!
First Ten review added on August 10, 2016, at 9:11 pm by CataclysmicKnight.
Heidi M Simone
Based on the cover, title, and blurb, I'm unsure if I would've picked up this book on my own. I have heard of it since I read the official OBC and it sounded interesting. The sample was also intriguing and the reviews look to be positive. However, being a children's book, I don't think I will purchase this book to finish.
The book does seem to be professionally edited. My favorite part of the bit I read is the relationship between the wife and husband. I feel shortening a couple of the longer sentences would be a way to improve this read based on what I read.
First Ten review added on August 10, 2016, at 1:37 pm by Heidi M Simone.
Shelle
The book sounds charming and one I might pick up. I was glad to sample it and not disappointed by what I read. The prose is indeed charming and I was hooked by the end of the first page. I think this would be a great story for kids or adults who like children's/YA stories. It appears to be professionally edited and error free.
First Ten review added on August 10, 2016, at 12:37 pm by Shelle.
L_Therese
Looking at the book's Amazon page, I probably would not have chosen to read it. The plot summary told me the whole plot already! I felt like it spoiled the book. Nevertheless, I read the first ten pages. The tone seemed very much like a fable, which was pleasant, but it was not sufficiently wonderful for me to want to buy a book when I already know so much of its story. I might have decided to keep reading if I didn't already know which characters would die, etc.
First Ten review added on August 10, 2016, at 11:38 am by L_Therese.
bookowlie
The cover of this book is artistic and eye-catching, but I was less than impressed with the summary blurb. While the blurb is technically well written, it is very long-winded with too much minor information. The sample pages are easy to understand and kept my interest. I also love the beautiful drawings at the beginning of the first two chapters. Although the subject matter isn't my cup of tea, the book looks interesting for those who like the children's fantasy genre.
First Ten review added on August 10, 2016, at 10:59 am by bookowlie.
Vermont Reviews
I previewed the first ten pages of The Toki-Girl and the Sparrow-Boy Book 1 by Claire Youmans. I found the story to be well written. With no problems with spelling or grammar. The characters Hachibei and Chizuyo and there children Azuki and Shota as well as Genmai make for an exciting story. The author has done a wonderful job with presenting Japan's culture to those of us who are american readers. If I had less on my reading plate I would want to finish this well written story.
Vermont Reviews
First Ten review added on August 10, 2016, at 10:56 am by Vermont Reviews.
Total ~ 10%
The Toki-Girl and the Sparrow-Boy Book 1 earned a score of 10%.
In other words, out of the top-level reviewers who read at least the first 10 pages of this book, 10% plan to read the whole book.
IMPORTANT: Any score over 10% is considered very good. And any score above 0% is acceptable.
Over a million books are published each year. Any given person could not even read .0001% of the books out there. This means readers have to be very selective. Even taking the time to look over reviews and blurbs, let alone read samples, is more time than most readers can afford for most books. The First Ten is a powerful focus group that addresses those issues. It creates a helpful tool for authors, publishers, and other readers.
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