The First Ten Focus Group Feedback for The Saltwater Ghost
Because The Saltwater Ghost 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
Yes, I would have chosen to read this book based on the blurb and the review I read on Online Book Club. I like stories of redemption and coming home and this book's blurb seemed to fit the bill.
Yes, I will read the whole book. As I said, I like stories of coming home and redemption. Also, the prose in the first ten pages is very well-written.
The book seems professionally edited to me. I didn't notice any typos or grammatical errors.
I like how well-written it is and the conversational tone. Makes it easy to identify with the characters. I did not notice a need for improvement from what I read in the first ten pages.
First Ten review added on July 2, 2016, at 2:21 am by truebookaddict.
Momlovesbooks
The cover of the book and the short description enticed me. This looks like an interesting story. However, after reading the first 10 pages, I couldn't get into it. I read a couple more chapters, hoping to make a connection with one of the characters. The flashback segment started to interest me, but then jumped to the present again. I'm not sure if I'll continue reading this one. The writing appeared professional and I didn't notice any grammatical errors. I'll probably read this entire book at some time in the future. It just won't be at the top of my list.
First Ten review added on July 1, 2016, at 1:09 pm by Momlovesbooks.
bluemel4
This is a fast and compelling summer read. I loved the cover and title. After reading the blurb and reviews, I could not wait to peek inside. I really liked that sections were separated with a simplistic flower image.
First Ten review added on July 1, 2016, at 11:13 am by bluemel4.
Vermont Reviews
I enjoyed the wonderful word pictures describing the people and places of this story. The author has done a remarkable job with storytelling. Well written. Without errors. Based on the first 10 pages I decided to read the complete book. I do like the cover. The author has a great style and her characters are interesting. Alden Jurrien decides to return home to Canada after teaching overseas. I look forward to finishing this book.
First Ten review added on July 1, 2016, at 9:12 am by Vermont Reviews.
Gravy
Given the title I probably would've been intrigued enough to read the sample, after reading the sample I have to say that it isn't something I would want to read, though not because of any fault on the part of the book, just my preferences. It seems like something I could imagine some people really enjoying. The cover feels a little generic, and like it could be for any number of stories, but aside from that I don't really have much of an opinion.
First Ten review added on July 1, 2016, at 1:18 am by Gravy.
Judyk
Based solely on the blurb I most likely would have downloaded the sample to see if the book could hold my interest.
The story jumps around to different characters and times without notice, it's not unusual but it does make it hard for me to stay involved long enough to care about a character or story line.
Based on the first ten pages I would likely not finish reading this book. It does seem to be professionally edited, I didn't notice any mistakes. I may give it another chance in the future as some books just take longer for me to get into.
First Ten review added on July 1, 2016, at 12:50 am by Judyk.
Rachaelamb1
My first impression of this book was that it would be a typical paranormal romance. I was pleasantly surprised when the story opened up in India. I didn't feel like I grasped what the book was about from only the first ten pages so I read a little further. From what I can tell, the author has a good story coming together. Within the first two chapters you can begin to see a bit of hinting at a ghost (although I am not certain there is really a ghost in this story or not).
The book is written in a clear and concise manner and appears to be professionally edited. It isn't my type of story though so I will probably not read further.
First Ten review added on June 30, 2016, at 10:03 pm by Rachaelamb1.
CataclysmicKnight
I went into reading the book with no idea what I was getting into, and I feel just about the same after reading the first two chapters. I like the concept of religion playing a part in it, but the first two chapters seemed to be setting up numerous storylines. Unfortunately, I wasn't really attached to or interested in any of them, although the Strachan flashback was rather cool. I was also a bit confused by the formatting in the first chapter - during dialogue it seemed like line breaks were thrown around rather randomly. I don't see myself finishing the rest of the book.
First Ten review added on June 30, 2016, at 8:56 pm by CataclysmicKnight.
Shelle
I was glad to have to opportunity to sample the first 10 pages, but likely would have downloaded this book anyway because the cover, blurb, and genre were all interesting to me. The part of the book I read kept my attention and introduced me to some characters I would like to know more about. The descriptions and stark difference between India and Canada were very well described. There were some strange formatting issues that may be due to the age of my device, so other readers may not have that problem.
First Ten review added on June 30, 2016, at 3:00 pm by Shelle.
L_Therese
This is probably not a book I would normally have chosen to read based on the title and plot description. The first pages, though, seemed to introduce a novel with a lot of depth and a fair amount of nuance. The reader can already experience the first movements of the plot within the first ten pages. It promises to be a very emotional journey. That journey will be very heavy, though, and I anticipate a lot of brooding from the protagonist.
I noticed that the review cited some typographical errors, but these seem to have been corrected (at least any that occurred in the earliest pages). I don't intend to finish the novel at this time. I'm sure many people will love it, but it isn't a good fit for me right now.
First Ten review added on June 30, 2016, at 1:38 pm by L_Therese.
P_hernandez
This is a book I would pick up based on the title and cover. I would continue reading based on the blurb. The plot line seems promising, yet the dialogue jumps from character to character with little definition as to who is actually speaking. I will be reading the rest of the book because i feel like the story will be satisfying.
First Ten review added on June 30, 2016, at 11:42 am by P_hernandez.
Heidi M Simone
Based on the cover, title, genre, and the blurb, I would have sampled the first few of this book. The concept of haunting ghosts and someone who realizes he can't run away from his problems sparks my interest. The great reviews also is a plus for me.
Generally, the book seemed to be professionally edited aside from a few pages of formatting issues. Pages 1-3 had some odd spacing that were a bit distracting. The only typo issue I saw was on page 1. The 'w' in the word 'few' is in bold, which caused me to be distracted for a second. Other than that, I thought the writing was easy to follow.
I like the air of mystery within these first ten pages. It sets up for a nice plot. One area of improvement is perhaps a quick explanation for certain terms, such as 'Sahib' (a respectful way to address a man) and 'lassi' (some type of Hindu drink). I didn't know either one of them until I looked them up.
First Ten review added on June 30, 2016, at 10:59 am by Heidi M Simone.
bookowlie
The sample pages made me interested in reading further. The first paragraph really grabbed my attention with the mention of the veil being lifted between the living and eternal worlds and Alden receiving a letter. I particularly enjoyed the section set in the 19th century and am curious to find out more about the events from the two centuries. The author’s writing is excellent and edited well, with a balanced mix of dialogue and narrative. I was drawn into the story right from the start, although there were a lot of characters introduced and I became a little confused. The Amazon summary blurb is intriguing and the fairly generic cover is attractive.
First Ten review added on June 30, 2016, at 10:05 am by bookowlie.
gali
The title intrigued me and the blurb hooked me. The cover isn't very attractive though. The story grabbed me right from the start with the rich character storyline of Alden. The presence of a ghost sparked my interest further. The setting adds another dimension to the story. I am curious to see whether Alden would accept the job he was offered and what happens next. The book seems well written and I didn't encounter any obvious errors. I liked the writing and the premise and this is one of my favorite genres, so I will gladly read the rest of the book.
First Ten review added on June 30, 2016, at 9:05 am by gali.
Total ~ 64%
The Saltwater Ghost earned a score of 64%.
In other words, out of the top-level reviewers who read at least the first 10 pages of this book, 64% 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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