Author: Knyaz Rikard
Genre: History, Word Book, Non-Fiction
How long it's been on sale: 5 months
Current price: $4.50
Marketing: Amazon.com, put adds on book selling forums
Total sold so far: 10
Link to book on Amazon: Word Book of Sex
Product Description:
This wordbook aims to find the roots of the words we use every day,
- dirty sex words. Where did we get the F-word and the C-word from.? Where do we get the word “beads” from , the former praying tool of wooden, or glass balls clad on a piece of string, now widely used to describe a lustful activity.
This wordbook gives the meaning and the uses of each word. In order to understand the meaning of sex-words we have to dig deeper into the old English world of words. This wordbook is a path to the old, partly forgotten, history of old English language and its origin.
In this research we have found an old Fruitfulness culture about 5.000 years old that was spread along the Atlantic coast and Scandinavia. These rituals and traditions, concepts, and thoughts still influence us today, for example, when we open a, - pornsite.
This wordbook is also a way to find the roots to your name, the place where you live, or grew up, because many of the today´s place names come from this Fruitfulness culture. Our given names and family names come from the place-names. The place-names we have come from rituals and traditions.
Yes, it is dirty, but by reading this book you are helping the old fruitfulness culture to survive. Every time you look at a porno-site you perform a holy act, as long as you breed and keep the memory and the culture alive by giving birth to new generations
First 300 Words:
(A repeat of the description.)
Vicki's Comments: I'll start by saying I think I'm the worst person in the world to critique this book. I know nothing about ancient word origins, I hold sex sacred and probably don't use most of the words discussed in this book, and to be honest I couldn't care less where the f-word came from.
Okay, now that I got that out of the way, here's my opinion. The cover doesn't appeal to me. The lettering is hard to read, the red doesn't stand out against the tan background. The picture doesn't make sense to me. I will say that the cover doesn't necessarily look "homemade" so that's a plus.
The description is a mess. There are sentences with missing punctuation, and others with too much punctuation. It is in desperate need of editing. If the description is this way, and the forward in the book is the same way, I'm guessing the entire book is a complete mess. And if I am thinking that, your potential buyers are thinking that too.
Some of the sentences leave me scratching my head and wondering. You perform a holy act when you look at porn? Come on. Who are you trying to appeal to here?
The subject matter of this book is not going to appeal to a wide audience. Marketing on book selling forums will be a waste of time. You'll want to focus on people interested in ancient civilizations. This book has a very limited audience. It will only appeal to a small group of people. I think if you hire an editor and probably someone to format the kindle book, looking at the sample, you'll be in a better place than you are now. But I'm guessing that the major reason this book isn't selling is because it's for a niche market.
What do you guys think?
The cover art isn't super appealing, but if I wanted to read about the etymology of dirty words, it wouldn't stop me from reading the book. I do have to say that the figures look like they're kissing, so the protrusion on the left looks rather like a baseball bat sticking out of it's bottom instead of something phallic, which was probably the intention.
ReplyDeleteThe inconsistency in capitalization on the cover isn't a good sign. The blurb is also poorly written. I don't expect that the book is going to be full of factual information when the basic rules of punctuation are broken in the blurb. What does the origin of dirty words have to do with porn sites or the author's opinion on the wonderfulness of porn? I'm very suspect that I'm going to get anything but poorly written "possible" facts and opinion.
The sample is centered in bold text. I wouldn't read a long email from a relative written that way, let alone a whole book!
Beyond improving the overall writing, focus it. Either it's going to be a pro-porn thing that also talks about where the words came from, or it's going to be a study of dirty words. You might also list whatever qualifications make you the person to write the book, if any.
The topic could be fascinating and fun if handled differently.
Dear Shelley
DeleteThe cover is the most known stonecarving in Scandinavia. It is called the Vhitlycke wedding and is situated 60 km nort of G'o'teborg ( or Gothenburg as the English language lost the letter 'o' hundreds of years ago. Not good)
This stonecarving is made in to bronze-statues and stand on many places around Europe.
Dear Shelly guess who is the man and who is the woman.?
The figure with the long ponytail is the woman.
The man has a sheath in which he kept the little whip that was used to spread the seeds on the holy fields during the ritual ploughing.
The legs are connected with a "Willow " or "Withe"
This is the sign of the bond between the twain, today we say couple but before the word twain was used and if you have read Shakespeare you know the word twain.
Dear Shelley
DeleteThis book is about power and to resist the occupation of the top powers. This book is about to lift the layers of male power that have blurred our view since many 1000 of years.
Jossan
The baseball bat you see is the broom or sheath that we spoked about in the upper letter.
DeleteThat is the same broom that Harry Potter rides on. As the broom was the symbol of the "Gydyas" the Women Priests they ahd to blamed and disgraced. Thus the broom became the tool of the devil. But today, when Women have more freedom the broom becomes interesting again. Harry Potter has sold a lot. Big smile !!!!
Jossan
Dear Shelley
DeleteRegarding the pornosites.
As the birthrate in the western world is falling drastically, about 1.4 child per woman the use of pornosites have increased tremendously. When trees are threaten they spread their seeds everywhere. So do react men and 30% of the Women
The western culture is dying. It is fading away and no politician or editor-in-chief is lifting a finger to increase the fertility rate. (It should be the fruitfullness rate, but sigh!)
They are afraid of their careers.
Thus we are dying out! Like dinosaurs. The reaction is to consume more porn.
What we should do is to increase the western population by giving birth to more children.
Remember that the world TFR Total Ferility Rate is falling like a stone down to 2.3
when the survival level is 2.1 children per woman. So stealing other countries babies is not fair !!!
Dear Shelley, you did not read the last part of teh sentence, Look at porn only when it gives an impetus to give birth to future generations. That is the message but you missed it.
Love from Jossan
Something else I neglected to mention--and ooh, now I get to point out that I do know the difference between its and it's despite my errors :)--is the cover text. I mentioned the inconsistent capitalization, but not the years. It appears to say from 4000 - 1000 years ago. I think that's an unfortunate way of writing it, which adds another question in the reader's mind. From 4000 years ago, or up to 4000 years ago, might be a better way of phrasing it. A freelance editor well-versed in non-fiction may be a huge help with both the book and things like that. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the cover, while not a disaster, isn't very strong or clear.
ReplyDeleteI for one am very interested in the history of language and culture, and would be keen to pick up a well-written book on the subject, even if it skewed toward sexual terms.
But the description here is weak and confusing. The typos and errors lower my confidence and interest in general. It looks to be about history, etymology, and sex, but without a clear narrative thread or focus.
I think there could be a great book on this subject, but it would have to be carefully and artfully executed and I don't get the impression that this book is ready yet.
Also, as a student of European history and cultural development, I have never heard the term "fruitfulness culture" (and neither has Google) so I'm inclined to distrust the content on factual grounds.
Yes, you could say Fertility Culture but then it would be too much latin and you would not have the right understanding. It is important to separate the latin heritage from the Old English I think the author means that the coast-culture developped before the inland-culture.
DeleteDear Joseph Robert Lewis
DeleteTry to look different on your own language, Joseph Robert. You are using many words because somebody wanted you to use them. You have to learn how to separete Old English words from Latin words. Remember that Latin words are much younger than Old English words and many of the Latin word derive from proto-germanic words, especially the sex words. Only when you begin to differ the words you will have a better understanding of your own language instead of just
toddling around with the last hip words that you watch on TV.
The cover doesn't really bother me. It's an appropriate cover for the context of the book. Like ancient art, something you'd see at the museum of natural history or something along those lines. However, if possible, loose the "author:" thing...we, the readers, can assume you are the author.
ReplyDeleteHowever...where you loose me first is with the blurb. I don't love it when blurbs and the first part of the story are the same. A blurb is to tell you about the book, it's intended purpose isn't a reading from the book. Does that make sense? I hope so.
It needs to be tightened up. You have only a few seconds to grab a reader and pull them in. You don't need to feel accountable for letting a reader know every-last-thing they'll find and learn in the book, the history of sex is enough--not porn, not where a name comes from.
I also happen to agree with the Shelley and Vicki...the grammar is screaming for attention. It's so important what you put out is polished...if upfront it's a mess...well, it's not going to sell. No one wants to read through your mistakes and pay for the right to do so.
Lastly, and this is nothing you can vamp, but it's something to consider...this topic is a tough sell. It's no mainstream, and you won't sell it to a YA fan, or a Sci-Fi fan or the like. There are some people who will eat this up with a spoon--others won't. It's a very specific sort of book...for a very specific sort of reader. It's not the type of leisure read I'd take on, but others would feel very differently. With that said, make sure you're marketing to the right crowd. Putting it up everywhere and anywhere won't sell the book alone...if you do some research and figure what sort of people enjoy this sort of literature and where they congregate...that's where you need to spend your marketing dollars.
Good luck on future sales!
I'm sorry but this book is a joke.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with the premise that sales are slow because of its niche nature. Niche books are capable of even better sales than most books because its easier for your audience to find it if you promote it properly and once you're on the Internet a niche becomes tens of thousands or more large.
The reason THIS book is not selling is because it's a total mess.
The cover is fine, but the author has zero credibility. I'd expect an author of this type of book to have a PhD in something like anthropology, linguistics, or some other similar field.
Certainly an author can pen a book they're not qualified to write if they partner with a qualified source who can provide the needed credibility. Many books have been written this way so it's ok.
There is no evidence of any credible source for the information in this book so I'd be highly skeptical of anything inside it.
Then there is the writing itself which is extremely poor and confusing at best.
At a bare minimum, the book needs heavy editing.
Dear Charles Findlay
DeleteThis book was not written for you. You are too well-educated. You are a typical westerner with a higher education that will die out. The more years of education the fewer children. All what you stand for will die out because of the egocentrism that follows with a high level of knowledge without a religion or troth that keeps the egoism within borders. This has meant the downfall of all highly develloped cultures.
One of the few exeptions is the Anglo-Saxon culture during bronzeage and the Hindu culture today.
What is interesting is the link to sex.
You have the list of books annd references at the site www.oew6.com.
You should also study Crafts. N "Globalization and growth in the 20 th century" IMF Working papers WP//00//44
If you had read the book you would have found the thinking of the american professor Alexander Tyler and his staircase cycle of democracy.
This is exactly what is happening but politicians and journalists are too short sighted. Nobody listens to historians or read references list.
You should also study the American Professor in Sociology, Matthew Mielko an the English historian Arnold Toynby and of course Professor Caroll Quigley Professor of History at Georgtown University and William Mc Neill Professor of History at Chicago University.
This study will give you a better perspective.
If you want you can read our book "Old Europe Shame on you" year 2004 www.oldeuropeshameonyou.com
"Every time you look at a porno-site you perform a holy act,"
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like it wants to be an educational linguistics book, but it reads like it's trying to preach. Which is it? It needs a ton of editing because the only people who will buy this are some graduate level students for research and they will throw it in the trash because of the editing.
Dear SB Jones
DeleteYou did not read the whole sentence!
"to breed and keep the culture alive by giving birth to future generations."
This is the most important !!!
The western culture is dying out!! Realize that. You are part of it because you have no clue of what is going on. Culture is life . When the population is declining due to higher education. Yes, the more years of education the fewer children a person has. Yes, that is the way it is. !! All develloped highly skilled societies
have succumbed due to this fact.
This is the most important knowledge to understand, but it is not wide-spread only among demographers and historians. But who listen to historians???
Try to increase your knowledge by reading
Noble Prize winner Mr. Robert Solow "Growth theory A exposition" from the year 2000 or the japanese writer S Shirahase " Women increased higher education and its impact on fertility rate in Japan" also from the year 2000
and of course B. Roosvelt September 8 1917 " Pleads for big families" New York times.
or P. Atkinson "a study of our decline"
www.ourcivilsation.com
and there are many many more authors raising this question.But nobody listens !
Remember this is directly linked to this book, but you have not read it !!!!
I'm okay with the cover although I'm not a fan of the red font. Everything beyond that seems like a mess to me.
ReplyDeleteWhat is a "Fruitfulness culture"?
What exciting discoveries are inside that make this work interesting/unique?
Why would I want to read THIS book, by THIS author?
None of those questions are answered and if they were, you'd have a much better chance of snagging your audience.
I skimmed through the sample, the formatting--with everything centered as it is--is rather difficult to read in my opinion. Odd choice to center all the text.
Also it's been mentioned already, but generally when people read non-fiction they want the writer to have some credentials that apply to the field. I see none of that here.
E. C Belikov
DeleteThe Fruitfulness culture is the same thing as the fertility culture.
Fertility is a latin word but fruitfulness is a Anglo-Saxon word. You have just lost touch with older words. If you look in Websters Dictionary page 738 you will find an explanation of the the word fruitfulnes. Good luck
Dear E.C Belikov
DeleteThe centering of the text is a choice of Amazon s low level of printing/publishing.
As soon as you try to make a design that goes out of the borders of Amazon you have to cut your design. We tried 4 different layouts before we were able to publish this. In the former the system would not let us to use the letter ö or ae as in the Old English, etc etc. See the texts. In other editions Amazon cut the stonecarvings in the sidelines. Comming from a printing reality the options of Amazon were poor. Perhaps they are better today. Amazon borders cut the creativity.
Lot of love Jossan
Sounds fascinating to me, but how is the word "beads" dirty? I only know it as jewelry or prayer beads. Why would we want to look up names or place names here? If the book is focused on the origin of dirty words, the suggestion that I look up my name in it is insulting and weird. Maybe I don't understand what the point is, which is a problem.
ReplyDeleteIf the description were strong, I'd buy it just so I could shut up the people I know who are convinced that the f word stands for fornication under consent of the king, which was a stupid email forward that went around years ago.
Dear Ruth Madison
DeleteBeads happens to be one of the best selling devices in sex-shops. And yes the rubber beads do look like the old beads are used for other "prayers". We understand that the sex world is not politically correct but it is there and the acceptance will grow for each year. Good or bad. Bad in a way because it does not give bigger families.
Dear Ruth you belong to a small niche population but dwindling with no future. Pls read P. Wallace 1999 Agequake Riding the demgraphic rollercoaster. shaking business, finance and our world. London Nicolas Brealey
Actually, there is a strong niche with historical interests and I think this might sell, but the cover doesn't appeal and the blurb is a mess.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that looking up names in a book about the origin of words sex words is peculiar as is the hint that the word "beads" is dirty. Huh?
I do not agree that only someone with a PhD could write on this subject. Non-PhDs can and often do excellent research, but the blurb definitely doesn't convince me that this author has done their research.
As someone who is profoundly interested in history, I might enjoy a book like this but ONLY if it has rock-solid research and shows that from the blurb onward.
Dear J. R Tomlin
DeleteIf you mean written sources as rock-solid research, forget it ! As soon as you have something written their is someone with power that wanted to direct you. You have to think for your self.
If you regard Tacitus as a non-biased author you are not serious. Or Ibn Fadlan.
The rock-solid proof you find in the bedrock and the stonecarvings.
You have to go to Newgrange in Ireland, Knowt or Dowth or Carnac in France or Val Caminica in Italy to find the evidence of the Fruitfullness year, the way that guided the life and the words. The Fruitfullness years begins at the Disa Day
in Göje months, todays St. Valentines day. Göej means February. The twains that is the couples met to make twains and teh 21 st of March the twains made love on the Wigbed in order to have Offspring. The plougin ritual ,the Fuccan process, the most used word in the world Walpurgis night when the old Goddesses and Gods that is a the symbol for the old grass are being burnt to make place for new kins and new generations. To be followed by Midsummer with the wedding ritual.
The Fall feasts and the Holy Haloween
where you worshipped the ancestors by removing the round stoneknob from the dolmens. You find them in Caucasus. The final date is the 21 st of Yulemonth, where the child was to be born on that very day, exactly when the sun came in to the monument in the morning. The child being born on that very day would become the leader. Same procedure as with Dalai Lama.
Oh, dear me. Oh, dear me. This book is in no way, shape or form ready. At all.
ReplyDeleteHere is a hard truth: It's an interesting topic and could find its audience, but not in its current form--ESPECIALLY not in its current form, since you're trying to sell to people with a love of etymology. When people care about words, they care about usage, grammar, punctuation, spelling and stuff like dat dere. You don't have any of that, I'm sorry to say.
And while I know what you mean by "beads," I dispute that it's a common usage.
Take it down, find an editor and try again. If you can correct the numerous writing errors (and the blurb and cover) you might have a consistent seller. Good luck to you.
Credentials are not necessary, but extensive citations are. Good history books tell not only the story of events, but how they've been discovered and interpreted.
ReplyDeleteI think MeiLin and JR are right, this could be a consistent seller. I think for the niche in question, 4.50 is a fine price for a good book.
But, honestly, all of that is incidental. As it stands, this is unreadable. I suppose it's possible that an editor could help with this, but I'm also concerned about the ideas that the author seems to be trying to convey. I think others have asked this before, but: "Fruitfulness culture?" What is that? You, personally, discovered it in your research? No one else knows it exists? You're going to have to do a little better than that.
This sounds like it is an awkward translation from another language. If that is the case, you really just need a good translator, and then an editor.
Genevieve
I agree...any mentions of "beads" needs to be carefully concealed for a later time...you don't smack someone in the face with that. It's too much, too soon.
ReplyDeleteI would argue you never smack someone in the face with that, except by request.
ReplyDeleteToo much, too soon, indeed.
All I can say is ditto. I'm assuming on the cover you mean 4000 BC to 1000 BC and that's why the numbers are backwards.
ReplyDeleteI really love the etymology of words and I have a few books on the subject. This book would not appeal to me at all because it focuses on the "dirtiness" of the words and not on the social significance of those words. It's like a teenager shouting the F word just to get attention.
My personal favorite is For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge written on arrest reports in Victorian England. I forget where I read that one at but it was years ago.
I also think the price is a problem. Once you fix the cover, the blurb, the grammar and punctuation, you should consider lowering the price.
"My personal favorite is For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge written on arrest reports in Victorian England."
ReplyDeleteThis appears to answer at least one of the etymological questions posed in the description. I did not know that.
It IS an interesting topic! I hope you get the book fixed up.
Genevieve
The Victorian origin, as appealing as it is, is not accurate. From Wikipedia, though I'd consider this NSFW: http://bit.ly/fLk22G (I even had to run it through an URL shortener!) The first citations for the f-word are from the 15th century.
ReplyDeleteOh, also: Favored above "unlawful carnal knowledge" in the Victorian age was "criminal conversation," abbreviated to "crim. con."
ReplyDeleteI actually am the target audience for this book, because I am a linguist with an interest in dirty words and their etymology. I even find the porn idea exciting, because if I understand the blurb correctly the book wants to examine how today's visual tropes of the porn genre are influenced by the imagery employed by a millennia old fertility cults. In short, I see a potentially very interesting book lurking somewhere in this mess.
ReplyDeleteHowever, as others have said before me, the blurb and introduction are a mess. Now linguists are not exactly known for clear and readable writing, but the issues with this book are not that it's written in a dense academic style, but that it seems to have been translated from another language (possibly German or a closely related language) into English. The "fruitfulness culture" is probably supposed to mean "fertility cult", because it looks like a very literal translation of the German term "Fruchtbarkeitskultur".
If this book really is a translation from another language, you need a professional translator, preferably one specializing in linguistics. Your own highschool English skills, an automatic translation program or a friend who speaks pretty decent English is not a substitute for a professional translator, particularly not when dealing with specialized terminology. And I say this as someone who works as a professional translator.
I don't dislike the cover as much as many others. In fact, I think that using an antique work of art with sexual connotations is a very good idea. Though I would not have used this particular work, but something more recognizable such as the Cerne Abbas Giant or the Venus of Willendorf (warning to the sensitive: links contain pictures of somewhat rude antique artworks), especially since both have been linked to ancient fertility cults.
The price is okay for a specialized academic non-fiction work. In fact, 4.50 US-dollars is a steal for a linguistics book, considering what I normally pay.
However, the marketing is totally wrong. This is a niche work of interest mainly to linguists, anthropologists, word geeks and maybe writers of erotica. Hence, advertising in general book recommendation fora is not a good idea. You need to go where linguists, anthropologists and people interested in the origin of words hang out, i.e. specialized blogs or fora.
Plus, as others have said, with an academic or semi-academic work you need to mention your credentials. Of course, you probably mention them in your author biography and on your author central page (though I couldn't find one for you, so set it up, if you haven't already). But with a scholarly book, it is best to mention your credentials very briefly in your blurb, e.g. "The author holds a doctoral degree in linguistics from XXX university".
Anyway, I see a lot of potential hiding in your book. Please get it cleaned up, because I really would like to read it.
Dear Cora
DeleteAmong the critics you find here you have hte most knowledge. We agree Willendorf or Cerne Abbas
Giant are interesting. Cerne Abbas Giant is not accurate because it already represent the male dominant power. The Old English Wordbook of Sex shows that there was a Goddess culture and Women were in charge. Thus there were more goddesses tha gods. This is important to understand because this influence gives English the touch it has. The goddess Lofn has formed the word love, The goddess waur or vaur has given us the word warrant and meant the promise between man and woman until the male gods took over and war and warrior entered the stage.
Margeret Rehnberg UCLA has done marvelous research on women during stone age and bronze.
Read her work
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteCora, I don't agree, as I said before, that you necessarily need a lot of credentials. Non-credentialed write books like this because they can (if well done) make them accessible to the non-academic.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, I would be unlikely to buy this from a linguist since I would be totally uninterested in their linguistic interpretation and their tendency to just toss around technical jargon.
However, I sincerely agree that this has to be cleaned up A LOT. Then places like historical blogs could find a lot of interest in something like this.
I love word etymology, so this MIGHT be something I would be interested in.
ReplyDeleteI say MIGHT because I'm totally confused by the description. Is this a book about the etymology of sexual or "dirty" words? Or is this the author's attempt to promote sacred sex and porn and their glorified vision of an ancient culture?
If the former, I want credentials. If the later (Which is what I'm getting from that last sentence - "Every time you look at a porno-site you perform a holy act, as long as you breed and keep the memory and the culture alive by giving birth to new generations"), not interested.
Also, as Victorine pointed out, going by the description it REALLY needs editing. Badly.
Stuart
ReplyDeleteIn the Amazon system you are being tossed around and the price is changed automatically by Amazon. We have found 14 different prices on this book raging from 0.99 USD to 13.5 USD per download.
Amazon needs competition !
yours Jossan