Update on my work progress

The progress on Book Seven of The Xandra Series is going slow, but steady. I try to write something every day, but there is so much else I am doing these days. I'm at 88,000 words right now. I'm aiming for around100,000 words and I hope I won't go over that. There is still much to write about in the story, but I may just make it.

Review for Daughter of the Dark

From All Romance Books a reader review. Short but sweet.

The Xandra, Book 1: Daughter of the Dark
by Herbert Grosshans

Submitted By: BonDarKen on Apr 25, 2013

Wonderfully exciting.

 

my email address

This post will be up only for a couple of days. It is mainly directed at Ciara.
my email address is hegro@shaw.ca

The published writer - a review

Every writer hopes for good reviews. My book 'The published Writer' got one review from another writer, and I must say I am quite pleased with the praise. Here is the review:

cusstomer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars

(1)

5.0 out of 5 stars

5

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must-read For Everyone Who Wishes To Get Into Electronic Publishing!! February 28, 2013

By Dr. Johnson C. Philip

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I am a published writer, and I have published a number of Kindle books on this subject, yet I love to read books by others on this subject. A good book helps one to keep in touch with the current trends -- more so when the book is about electronic publishing, which changes by the day.

I must say that I was pleased to read this book. The author has tried to cover a lot of ground and he has succeeded in doing so. Here are my observations:

My Observations:
*** The book helps newcomers to discover all the basics of electronic publishing.
*** You do not have to reinvent the wheel.
*** The author shares a good number of experiences and insights.
*** The author explains the whole subject in a very absorbing manner.

To The Potential Buyer:
*** If you plan to get into electronic publishing, you would love this book.
*** It will give you a very good orientation to the field.

Free pdf copy

Welcome to my blog. As usual, I'll give away a free copy of any of my books. Just send me an email to hegro@shaw.ca and ask for it.
Hope to hear from you.

Amazon is cheating us authors

Amazon has a policy where a buyer can return an ebook up to seven days after they purchased it. That is long enough to read the book. Many people return their book after reading it because they can. That is not fair to us authors who spend hours upon hours writing a good book, editing it and trying to publish it. We should be the only ones to decide if we want to give our books away for free.


I just signed the petition "Amazon Kindle e-Book Return Policy: Stop allowing refunds on e-Books after e-Books have been read." on Change.org.

It's important. Will you sign it too? Here's the link:

http://www.change.org/petitions/amazon-kindle-e-book-return-policy-stop-allowing-refunds-on-e-books-after-e-books-have-been-read

Thanks!

Herbert

Easter

Happy Easter to everyone. Hope everyone gets a bunch of Easter eggs filled with dreams that came true.

I had a little bit of good news. My publisher Melange Books put up my first book in the Xandra series 'Daughter of the Dark' for a free download with Amazon. 581 people downloaded the book for free and it generated quite a few sales already. I know, somebody will say, "What? You gave away 581 copies? That is insane." Actually, it isn't, because it is a form of advertising and it cost me nothing. Out of those 581 some will buy the other five books in the series and possibly some of my other books. Sales I would not have otherwise.

In fact, I'm already thinking of putting up another one of my books for free. The more people get to know my name and my writing the more fans I will attract. Simple arithmetic.

Free book offer

If you are a visitor from Riley Banks' website and would like to know how you can get a free pdf copy of any of my books, send me an email hegro@shaw.ca and tell me the name of my favorite character in the novel 'Iceworld'. It says so in the interview. Then let me know which one of my books you would like.

I was interviewed

I've been interviewed by Riley Banks. If you're interested in reading my
interview please go to
http://www.rileybanks.net/2/post/2013/03/herberts-erotic-stories-are-out-of-this\
-world.html

The Published Writer and a free copy of my books

Anyone who downloaded my book 'The Published Writer' will find a link in it to this blog. I promised readers who would like to have a free pdf copy of any of my books, to send me an email and ask for it. Even it you're just a visitor by chance, the offer also stands. Send an email to hegro@shaw.ca  and ask for one of my books. Please, mention how you know about the offer.
I hope I could be of some help in your quest to publish your book after reading The Published Writer. It is available from Amazon for $2.95

http://www.amazon.com/The-Published-Writer-ebook/dp/B00BHKZBBU/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1361380527&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Published+Writer

Please, come again.

The Published Writer

I took the plunge today and did something I've been thinking about for some time. I wanted to make the first book in my Xandra series 'Daughter of the Dark' available for free on Amazon for a short period of time, but they only do that with books that are in the KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) program. So I wrote a book. A book on how to become a published writer, and I entered it in the KDP Select program. I'm not quite sure about this, but the way I understood from their terms, it will be available for free for 5 days; after that it will sell for US $2.99. But it will also be available for readers to borrow it from their library. I still get paid for every book readers borrow. Not a bad thing. And it will be available everywhere in the world where Amazon has sites. We'll see how it goes.

It is not that complicated to publish with Amazon. I wrote the book in Word first, then I followed Amazon's instructions and saved in in their requested format. The first time is always the most difficult. Now I know what to expect and the next time will be easier and won't take that much time.

I designed the cover myself using the publisher in my Word program. I'm quite happy with it. Unfortunately, when people download it to their Kindle, it will be in black and white, actually, in 16 shades of gray.

The book won't be available for at least 12 hours, perhaps even longer. I'm not sure about the cover and the picture of me on the last page. They may take longer to appear.

Anyway, here is the cover I designed:

MFRW Blog Hop -My First-

Welcome to my blog. The theme for this blog hop is ‘My First’.

I don’t really write romance novels, but in all of my books there is a certain element of romance. Without that, my characters would never have any intimate encounters.

The book I’m featuring here is the first of two books in ‘Stars in Chains’, a Science Fiction novel. ‘Slave’ tells the story of David Stark, who is abducted by aliens and kept as a slave. It is also a story about love. The book begins when David Stark finds again the young girl he met ten years ago. She was his first true love. He could never forget her and she haunted his dreams every night.

Here is a short excerpt:

His thoughts came to an abrupt halt.

A shape on the side of the road.

A girl…waving her arms.

His tires screeched as he hit the brakes. Before he realized it, he had

stopped and backed up toward the girl who came running. He opened the door

for her and she slid into the bucket seat.

“Hi, what are you doing walking on the road at this time of night?”

Looking outside, he noticed there were no houses. Without comprehending,

he had left the city.

She smiled shyly, hooding her eyes with one hand. “I ran away,” she said

with a soft voice. She had a strange, heavy accent. A strangely familiar

accent.

“So you ran away,” he said. Looking at her, he noticed that she was

practically nude. She wore a transparent cape that didn’t hide anything.

She wore a small red cloth around her hips, like a loincloth, to cover

parts of her lower body.

He kept his eyes on the road, but the sight of her shapely legs and nude

white hips made his loins pound with desire. He cursed under his breath for

getting himself into this situation. Picking up a naked girl-hitchhiker was

never a good idea.

“Would you get my cigarettes from the glove compartment, please,” he

said.

She reached into the glove compartment and handed him the package.

“Take one for yourself,” he said.

She shook her head. “No, thank you. I don’t smoke.” She brushed her

long black hair out of her face and looked at him for the first time.

An icy breath seemed to touch his mind as he looked into her eyes.

They glowed softly in the dark. She had the eyes of a cat.

The strange people in the Brazilian jungle. He remembered their eyes.

They had eyes like the ones that looked at him now. The same eyes that

haunted him every night in his dreams.

She smiled gently. Her hand reached out and touched his arm. “Hello,

David. I finally found you.”

Her soft voice awoke something in his sub consciousness. He

remembered a girl—a girl with strange eyes and an enchanting voice. She had

looked after his needs, feeding him and washing him, as he recovered from

his wounds. Sometimes she sat beside his bed and sang for him with that

sweet, alluring voice. One night she came to him…

I hope you’ve read this far and want to read more. Feel free to check out all of my books. Should you like one, send me an email to hegro@shaw.ca and tell me which of my books you would like to read. I will draw a few names from the emails I receive by February 14, Valentine’s Day, and send you a free pdf copy of the book you selected.

Come back again and happy blog hopping.

Blog Hopping

Check out my new page on Blog Hopping. Just click on the menu at the top.

Happy New Year

Can't believe another year has past. Tomorrow we'll have to put 2013 on top of our letters and correspondence. What happened to 2012? I haven't written as much as I wanted to. Spent too much time on the internet, posting to groups with advice and trying to sell my books. I'm at over 60,000 words with Book Seven of my Xandra series and I want to finish it so I can start something else, but somehow I always find something else to do. But then again...perhaps what I'm doing is more important than finishing the book. There is stuff to do at home also and spending time with family is important, especially as I get older and time seems to at prime. Nothing is ever more important than family, something we sometimes seem to forget when getting too deeply involved in a project.
However, I will finish the book in the new year. I don't really have any other novels planned, but when the time is ripe ideas will come up.

So I wish everyone who visits a Happy New Year and don't forget to come back once in awhile to see what I'm up to.

A free gift for Christmas

Thank you for visiting. I'm giving a free pdf copy of any of my books to anyone who would like to have one. Just send me an email to hegro@shaw.ca and tell  me which one of my books you would like. If you click on the covers it'll take you to my publisher's website and you can find out what the book is all about. Merry Christmas.

Simon & Schuster - Writers Beware

Writers Beware! Don't get ripped off!
I came across this blog and found the article very scary for any writer. Everyone who thinks about self-publishing should read this.

Simon & Schuster joins Forces with Author Solutions To Rip Off Writers.

Read the full report on Let's Get Digital by David Gaughran.

What is Success?

What is success and when can you call yourself a writer? What makes you a successful writer?

Just click on 'What is Success?' in the menu and it will take you to the page.

Nice to see you

Welcome to my blog. Click on 'New releases' under the picture above and you'll be able to read excerpts from my latest books. You may also want to visit my website Herbert's World and look at my older books. All of them are still available from Melange Books, LLC.
If for some reason any of the links on my website don't work, just  come back to this blog and click on the cover-page of the book you're interested in to the right of this page and it'll take you to Melange Books.
If you would like me to send you a free pdf copy on any of my books, please, send me an email and ask for it. Here is my email address: hegro@shaw.ca

Have a pleasant day and come back again.

My books at Amazon

All of my books are available from Amazon. Anyone interested, here is the link:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_pg_1?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3AHerbert+Grosshans&ie=UTF8&qid=1349973223

Adventure on an alien world

When I wrote the first chapter of 'Daughter of the Dark' many years ago I had no idea it would be the first book of a series. I am at 60,000 words now with Book Seven (no title yet). It is the continuation of the story that began with Book four, Lure of the Xandra. Books four and five tell the story of Rob Cameron. Book six, Iceworld, (the latest book in the series), is about a small group of researchers who became stranded on the fifth planet in the system and it is their story. Book Seven will continue what I started in Iceworld, but Rob Cameron and his group will also appear in Book Seven. Who knows, it depends how it ends, there may even be Book Eight.I love the world I created and I enjoy going back there in my mind and write about it. There is a short story 'For Love of Arilee' in my anthology 'Time Flares', one of the three books released last month by Melange Books. The story is set in the Xandra World but 300 years in the future of the events taking place in 'Iceworld'. Another story in Time Flares, 'Remember me next Christmas', also takes place in the Xandra World. This one more than one thousand years in the future of the story in Iceworld. Perhaps some day I will write a few more short stories and put them into an anthology.

Of course, the whole series contains plenty of Erotica. Even though I'm writing less erotica these days (there is no explicit sex in 'Bullet of Revenge', and not as much in Book Seven, I still have to keep it in the Xandra series for those readers who enjoy erotica.

Each book can be read independently, but it makes sense to start the series at the beginning. To wet the appetite, I will give away Book One, Daughter of the Dark, to anyone who is interested. Just send an email to hegro@shaw.ca and ask for it.

Also, I will take all of the emails until August 30th and draw one lucky winner to receive all six books in the pdf version for free. I will also give away randomly a few copies of Iceworld. Anyone who has read the earlier books but not all of them, tell me which one you would like and I will send it to you for free.

Thank you for visiting. Look around, perhaps you'll find something else you are interested in. All of my books are available from Melange Books, LLC. Just click on the covers and it will take you there.

In the meantime, enjoy all the beautiful covers of my books.