Cover for The Nepali Flat

The First Ten Focus Group Feedback for The Nepali Flat

Because The Nepali Flat 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.

Cjgarland89

72859
I would have sampled this either way based on the Amazon and OBC review. The OBC review provided great information on how the author tells the tale of this adventure, noting that it included humor. After sampling I definitely will finish this book because in just the first ten I was highly amused and the author's descriptions of those around him was hilarious. He did a great job on this story, and it was edited very well. My favorite part was the airplane and the man that kept falling from his seat.

First Ten review added on November 15, 2016, at 6:45 am by Cjgarland89.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Catherine Hsu

104096
If I had not read this sample, I would not have read it. The cover is very interesting, but the book itself did not seem like a genre I would typically enjoy. After reading the sample, I think I would like to read the book. The writing was very dialogue-based and casual, making for a fun and interesting read. I think the book was professionally edited and even though I did not read an official review, my decision was not affected.

First Ten review added on November 15, 2016, at 1:04 am by Catherine Hsu.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

CataclysmicKnight

67089
The first chapter of this book is one of the funniest chapters I've ever read in a book. It's also very relatable, even to someone like me who has barely traveled and never once left the country as an adult. The humor was a great surprise! While I enjoy travelogues, I certainly wasn't looking for one with my huge list of books to read, but I'm glad I tried this one and I'll definitely finish it sometime!

First Ten review added on November 14, 2016, at 11:33 pm by CataclysmicKnight.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Rachaelamb1

68907
The cover has a professional look to it and the OBC review immediately made me interested in reading this book. I love travel books. The first ten pages in this one promise a fun and adventurous read. I have not heard much about Nepal before so now I am very curious to learn about the culture there. I have too many books on my plate right now to justify buying another, but I may read it in the future. It seems professionally edited.

First Ten review added on November 14, 2016, at 10:25 pm by Rachaelamb1.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Momlovesbooks

71009
The description of this non-fiction book makes it sound very appealing to someone who normally reads lots of fiction. It claims to even have moments of comedy mixed in with the stressful moments of an outdoor journey. I read a few pages and thought it would be really fun for those who enjoy this genre of book. However, I have so many books I want to read, I'm not going to add this one to my list at this time.

First Ten review added on November 14, 2016, at 6:38 pm by Momlovesbooks.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Shelle

89475
This book looked fascinating and I was glad to have the opportunity to sample it. I liked the author's writing style and the story felt very true-to-life. I did find the main character a little off-putting at times, although I likely would have gotten used to that had I read more. I like that proceeds from the book go toward a Nepal charity that is important to the author. However, it's just not something I'm interested in reading right now.

First Ten review added on November 14, 2016, at 6:04 pm by Shelle.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Annelore Trujillo

97769
I probably would not have sampled this book based on the OBC review. I don't usually like non-fiction, even in the form of a story. After reading the first ten pages, I will not be buying the book. I wasn't really entertained by what I read. I know it was supposed to be comical, but it didn't appeal to my style of humor. I've also travelled with people who have had problems when traveling. I guess from personal experience, I didn't find it amusing. It did seem to be professionally edited, and the details were good. I just wasn't drawn into the book.

First Ten review added on November 14, 2016, at 12:55 pm by Annelore Trujillo.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Kourtney Bradley

81668
I'm not a reader who typically enjoys non-fiction and I usually stay away from choosing books of the genre. It seems like I can't get interested enough for them. I love that the author is donating 10% of the proceeds to Nepal, and I hope he sees a significant jump in sales with the Book of the Day!

First Ten review added on November 14, 2016, at 9:00 am by Kourtney Bradley.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

amybo82

61286
Even though i typically do not read travel books for pleasure, this one made me look twice. The cover photo was intriguing, and I love that the author's own full-color photos are included throughout the book. The glowing review from the Online Book Club review team also piqued my interest. After reading the first ten pages, I can say for certain that I will be buying and reading the rest of the book. It's already packed with humor and adventure. It's very well-written, and I can tell the author is adept at finding the good things in life. So far, my favorite part of the book is the author's gift for storytelling. He is descriptive enough to set the scene, but he doesn't waste time on so many tiny details as to bog down the reader.

First Ten review added on November 14, 2016, at 7:28 am by amybo82.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Gravy

60847
This could certainly use another edit, but it has a lot of potential. This kind of book would have caught my eye, and the sample leads me to believe that it's quite an entertaining read. The cover shows that the author has a sense of humor: a big plus on my opinion.
I don't plan to read this, mainly because I have so many books on my list, but also because I don't read ebooks.

First Ten review added on November 14, 2016, at 6:45 am by Gravy.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

truebookaddict

90788
I probably would not have chosen to read/sample this had it not been part of this program, as I normally do not read travel memoirs.

I bought the book, mainly because of the charitable donation the author is paying to Nepal. As I said, I don't normally read this type of book. However, I enjoyed the first ten pages. The author recounts his travels in a humorous and conversational tone which makes it enjoyable so I will eventually read the whole book.

The book is well-edited. I did not notice typos/grammatical errors.

I liked the author's sardonic, carefree tone as he recounts his experiences. He seems the type that finds it easy to laugh at himself and find humor in many situations.

This book was officially reviewed on OBC.

First Ten review added on November 14, 2016, at 2:19 am by truebookaddict.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

L_Therese

49351
I was pretty excited for this book right from the get-go. The cover was hilarious, and I have a particular affinity for mountain climbing/trekking memoirs. The reviewer promised humor, and the first ten pages delivered. The travel aspect was both exotic and familiar because the author made it easy to relate his experiences in a city I've never visited to my own experiences with travel. I look forward to the rest of the book!

First Ten review added on November 13, 2016, at 10:58 pm by L_Therese.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

jungkookblog

92866
I don't think I would've read this book based on the cover, title, reviews, etc because it doesn't fit my interest. I don't think I'm going to read the whole book because this book doesn't really fit my interests. So far, in the book there isn't anything interesting, so I wouldn't buy this book. This seems like it was professionally edited because there aren't any errors. I think i liked the part where the man turned into water a bit and almost strangled himself. Something to improve might be the backstory of everything. I did not see a OnlineBookClub review, and the lack of it probably did affect my decision because if I knew the story a bit better, I would've probably bought it.

First Ten review added on November 13, 2016, at 8:21 pm by jungkookblog.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

CrescentMoon

56447
Based on the cover, title, blurb, and customer reviews, I don't think I would pick this book up solely because I am an avid reader of fiction and as this book is non-fiction, it's not what I typically go for. After reading the first ten pages, I am impressed with the writing style. I think the author does do a good job of hooking the reader in. However, I am not the target audience for this book. I will likely not read the rest.

First Ten review added on November 13, 2016, at 6:01 pm by CrescentMoon.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Heidi M Simone

76506
The cover is very unique and speaks of the humorous side of this book. The title and blurb are appropriate for the content. Typically, I do enjoy a good traveling memoir book. The reviews, including the OBC one are pretty positive.

Based on what I read, the book does seem to be mostly edited. I would suggest that this part of a sentence, "$5 US", should be fixed. Also, the switching from AU to US currency can be confusing. I really liked how the author opened up with his first experience in Napal, and noted how Andy flowed down his seat when he fell asleep. It was light and funny. I think I could have used less talk about the picking up the author's bags at the airport and his car ride to his hotel. Overall, if this book was free, I may consider reading it at some point. However, it is not and I have many books to read at this point and don't have time right now.

First Ten review added on November 13, 2016, at 4:16 pm by Heidi M Simone.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Vermont Reviews

94574
First of all I want to say that you've done a remarkable job of writing a wonderful travel adventure book. After reading the preview it felt like you'd taken me along with you on the trip. Your sense of humor in the writing is excellent. It makes the book an enjoyable read. The reviews by your readers are excellent. It seems that each one loves your book. Gordon Alexander has a talent with making his word pictures pop... And this book would be a great choice for anyone who loves travel books. At this time my reading schedule is overbooked. I will not be adding this to my list of reading for this reason. This truly was a great choice for today's book of the day. Congratulations Gordon Alexander for an excellent book The Napali Flat.
Vermont Reviews

First Ten review added on November 13, 2016, at 2:34 pm by Vermont Reviews.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

AA1495

104697
Had I not sampled the book, I wouldn't have read it. I do not read such themes usually. Having read the sample, I found it interesting. I liked the author's writing style and the humor element in the book. However, I would have liked to know the characters better. The book seems to be professionally edited. It has a favorable Onlinebookclub review. I think I will read this book further at some point in the future.

First Ten review added on November 13, 2016, at 2:32 pm by AA1495.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Rachel1019

104835
While the cover is not on this website for some reason, the actual cover of the book on Amazon is quite humorous. Before reading the first few pages of the book, I was not interested in it at all. I thought it would be just a recounting of a journey. This is what the general outline of the story is, but it is also full of humor. It gives a nice change to have a funny telling of a journey. I don't know if I will finish reading the book, because it is not interesting enough for a person who really prefers the fantasy genre.

First Ten review added on November 13, 2016, at 2:27 pm by Rachel1019.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

gali

50066
I probably wouldn't have sampled the book without the program as it isn't my preferable genre. The cover is lovely, the blurb is concise, and the official review had me curious about the book. The photographs in the sample were a nice touch. The scene with the Scotsman sure made me smile. I liked the writing and found the sample enjoyable. It seems like a cool book for fans of the genre. I won't buy the book as it isn't my genre of choice, but will recommend it to those who do like the genre.

First Ten review added on November 13, 2016, at 2:00 pm by gali.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Sarah_Khan

89585
At first glance, the cover art of this novel is interesting and makes you want to find out more. The blurb is adequatly written and the Online Book Club review paints a good picture of this novel.
After reading the first few pages I can see that this book is funny, well-written and well-edited. There is something special in the way the author writes, it feels like you are reading a book written by an old friend. Unfortunately the plot itself does not interest me enough to commit to reading the whole novel.

First Ten review added on November 13, 2016, at 11:57 am by Sarah_Khan.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

bookowlie

63036
The Amazon summary caught my attention with a witty flavor of this non-fiction travel adventure book. The cover also does a good job of conveying a light-hearted feel. I liked the casual, chatty writing style and the inclusion of photos in the beginning pages. However, I don't really care for the subject matter of a travel memoir about Nepal and the Three Passes Trek, so I am going to take a pass on this one.

First Ten review added on November 13, 2016, at 11:12 am by bookowlie.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Total ~ 33%

The Nepali Flat earned a score of 33%.

In other words, out of the top-level reviewers who read at least the first 10 pages of this book, 33% 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 The Nepali Flat