AUTHOR NEWSLETTER
Herb Hughes
Winter/Spring, 2024
GUEST APPEARANCE – ANDY ANDREWS PODCAST
I was honored to be invited to appear on the Andy Andrews podcast, The Professional Noticer, in May of this year. Andy is a New York Times Best-Selling author and world-famous motivational speaker.
With almost thirty novels and nonfiction books published, Andy is one of Alabama’s most prolific writers. He has been invited to speak by many of the world’s major corporations as well as four United States Presidents.
It was a delight to sit down and talk with Andy. He makes you so comfortable it feels like a friendly chat between two people instead of a major podcast. My appearance was Episode #296. It is available at the following links:
YouTube: https://youtu.be/YQQb2j4Tvk0
Twitter: https://x.com/AndyAndrews/status/1792935569653162356
Facebook: https://fb.watch/scsLUH71m1/
I’ve read several of Andy’s books. They are exceptional, fantastic stories with uplifting messages. My favorite was The Traveler’s Gift, but I highly recommend any of Andy’s books. You can purchase them at all book outlets or on Andy’s website at:
You can also purchase Andy’s books and other products at his office the next time you are in the Gulf Shores/Orange Beach area. I’ve included a pic of Andy’s desk in probably the most unique office I’ve ever seen.
THANK YOU to Matt Lempert, Andy’s Creative Director, for doing a great job on the podcast and for cleaning up the background distraction in my author picture above.
THANK YOU to Sandi Dorff for arranging everything when the schedules seemed to be fighting us. And for being so nice! In fact, everybody who works with Andy is exceptionally nice.
I hope to have the opportunity to return in the near future. (At my age, the far future doesn’t get much thought, except in my science fiction novels.)
A WAR WITH GOD REWRITEN/REPUBLISHED
A War With God was rewritten and is being republished for three reasons.
First, a few people thought it was anti-religion (which hurt the overall rating). This is not correct. A War With God is merely a science fiction adventure novel based on one of the more bizarre theories to be postulated by science in recent years.
I must shoulder the responsibility for this. Reading over the original novel three years later, I can see how it could be misinterpreted, especially if you take the title literally. Changing the title is not allowed, but I did rewrite the book to remove all confusion. It is abundantly clear that Darren and Liliana were not fighting God. They were fighting a highly intelligent alien named Theor. If they’d been fighting God, it wouldn’t have been much of a fight. ☺
Second, in order to meet a deadline, the novel was rushed through the publication process. Typically, I spend far more time rewriting than writing the original draft. I very much agree with Ernest Hemingway when he said, “There is only one kind of writing: rewriting.” Unfortunately, that was not the case with this novel. As a result, it was wordy and repetitive. (Guilty as charged. There is no question that this was also my fault.) The title and publication date are set in stone. The words, not so much. I rewrote the novel to reduce it by more than four thousand words. It is still a great story, even better, but after two months of extensive rework, it is now a much better novel.
Third, I wanted to include my new science fiction novelette, The Brain Bank. Jeffrey Corbin wants to live longer, possibly for thousands of years. But there are consequences, some entirely unexpected. The complete novelette is included at the end of A War With God.
Because of the changes, my son, Stephen, and I decided the novel needed a new cover. I originally hired a service to develop the cover but was never totally happy with their work. Stephen has created a far better cover. Please send me an email and let me know what you think.
If you purchased the original and would prefer the revised version, respond to this email. If you bought an eBook, I’ll gift you a revised eBook through Amazon. If you bought a paperback, send me your address, and I’ll mail you a new paperback. If you read it in the Kindle Unlimited subscription service, the new version is available now. If you prefer, I’ll gift you an eBook instead.
A War With God is in the vein of Phillip Jose Farmer’s great novels. If you are a science fiction fan, I believe you will like the new version.
That’s Ipsie in the picture, with his leaf and bark shoes and hoey leaf pants. I love this guy!
MAJOR CHANGES TO KINDLE VELLA – CHEAP READING FROM AMAZON
Amazon has made some dramatic changes to Kindle Vella, the serialized novel reading service that allows customers to read the first few episodes of any novel for free. If they like the story, they use easy-to-buy tokens to open the “locked” episodes and finish the novel. It is now much, much cheaper to read a book in Kindle Vella, probably the least expensive reading option available on the market. The changes include:
- Instead of the first four episodes being free, now the first ten are free. The remaining episodes are locked and require tokens to open. Tokens are purchased separately and can be used on any book. They are available in varying amounts. The more you buy, the lower the price per token. The smallest amount is 200 tokens for $1.99, slightly under a penny a token. Larger bulk sizes are less.
My novel, The Crystal Shell, has 17 episodes, so you can read over half the book at no charge. If you don’t like it at that point, you move on to the next novel and don’t pay a penny. (But how could you not like my novel? ☺)
- Under the old system, the charge for the locked episodes varied depending on the number of words. Episodes could cost as much as 50 tokens, but now, there is a flat charge of 10 tokens per episode. So you can now read The Crystal Shell for 70 tokens, which is hair under 70 cents. That’s significantly cheaper than most eBooks. If you buy a larger amount of tokens, it costs even less since the per-token price is lower for larger purchases.
The Kindle Vella Link for The Crystal Shell is:
https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B0CM7KPS51
THE CRYSTAL SHELL NOW RELEASED IN EBOOK AND PAPERBACK FORMATS
Books From The Pond is happy to announce that The Crystal Shell is now released on Amazon in eBook and paperback formats. It is also available on several outlets other than Amazon. The links are:
Amazon Links:
eBook $2.99: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CV4HR38T
Paperback $12.95: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CV4RNRML
Google Play Book Identifier:
eBook $2.99 GGKEY: 86NBGQDKKS3
Kobo Link;
eBook $2.99: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-crystal-shell
Barnes & Noble Links:
eBook $2.99: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-crystal-shell-herb-hughes/1145364491?ean=2940185993712
Paperback $12.95: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-crystal-shell-herb-hughes/1145364491?ean=9798990013506
I’ve got a few author copies of The Crystal Shell paperback, as well as most of my other novels. If you would like an autographed copy, you can order it on my website. Or just email me.
I’m also planning an eBook sale of The Crystal Shell in early July. It will be available for 99 cents on all outlets. I’ll send out a message ahead of time.
The Crystal Shell is science fiction but a slight variation from my previous work in this genre. It’s a little more of a traditional science fiction story. I would love to have your feedback. If you pick up a copy, please reply to this email and let me know what you think.
Also, as always, reviews and ratings are an author’s lifeblood. Please take a moment to leave an honest review on The Crystal Shell – or any of my novels you may have read – at the outlet where the book was purchased. You can also leave a review or rating on Goodreads as well. Either or both would be wonderful. For those who prefer not to write a comment, you can simply rate the novel without writing any words. A review or rating would be so greatly appreciated. Thank you!
AUDIOBOOKS FOR CONECUH AND INFALL – MORE MAJOR CHANGES FROM AMAZON
Audiobooks are very popular for people who are busy around the house, spend a lot of time in their vehicle, or just want to relax in a comfortable chair with the lights low and listen. But audiobooks have traditionally been a bit pricey, often $20 or more because of the expense of hiring a reader and renting time at a studio to record about ten hours of audio for the average novel. This typically costs the author thousands of dollars.
An author could do their own reading, as I did for A Bloody Wonderful War, but it takes a long time for an amateur voice to get ten hours of usable audio. And, as it turned out, my equipment was not up to the sound standards that audiobooks require (bad cable), so I had to pay a studio hundreds of dollars to “clean” it up.
Amazon has dramatically changed the landscape again. They now have “Virtual Voice” available for developing audiobooks. Instead of spending a couple of weeks recording a novel, an author can use Virtual Voice to record their book in two to three days. There are no worries about finding a soundproof room or hiring a studio, as it’s all done on a computer.
I tried Virtual Voice on Conecuh and was amazed by the sound quality. I literally could not tell that I did not have an actual person reading the novel. It does require a little tweaking on pronunciation, etc., periodically, well, maybe more than a little, but the result is amazing.
I have created audiobooks for Conecuh and Infall and will get to my other novels as time allows. I’m excited about having these audiobooks available. If you like to listen in your car or at home, you can pick up Conecuh and/or Infall for $7.99 each at the following links:
Conecuh Audiobook: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CVZS3348
Infall Audiobook: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWC7TSKK
As other audiobooks become available, I will send out an announcement.
A NEW LOOK FOR THE DRAKE BLAST SERIES
Stephen and I decided the Drake Blast novels needed a new look. He developed some intriguing graphics for the interior of both eBooks and paperbacks. These are now available on Amazon. I also pulled out the repetitive information about Drake and put it in the front of the novels as “The Drake Blast Essentials.” This allowed me to shorten the books slightly since I don’t have to keep repeating information in the body of each novel. The reader can refer to these “essentials” as often or as little as needed.
Stephen has also developed some striking new covers for the Drake Blast novels. The new visual theme will be carried through on the next Drake Blast novel, A War By Any Other Name – which is currently being written – as well as all the Drake Blast novels that, for the moment, exist as just a seed in my head.
POUNDING THE KEYS – A WAR BY ANY OTHER NAME & THE WEDDING
[Pounding The Keys is a regular feature about my current novel(s) in progress.]
For the past few months, I have been overly busy with the marketing and production side of writing, so progress on new material has been slow. But work has resumed on the third Drake Blast novel, A War By Any Other Name. The original draft is coming along well. I hope to have the book written and rewritten by August/September. It will take another couple of months to get it published and released, but it should be out before the end of 2024.
The Wedding is not as far along. The first chapter is written, and I am quite happy with the result. But as for the rest of the novel, I’m still in research mode. This story will take hundreds of hours of research. That will cause publication to creep over into 2025. I wish it could be sooner, but I will not rush either of these novels. They will be published when they are as close to perfect as I can make them.
JUST FOR FUN
[Writer’s jokes. Something to help you smile.]
A writer died and was given the option of going to heaven or hell. She decided to check out each place first. As the writer descended into the fiery pits, she saw row upon row of writers chained to their desks in a steaming sweatshop. As they worked, they were repeatedly whipped with thorny lashes.
“Oh my,” said the writer. “Let me see heaven now.”
A few moments later, as she ascended into heaven, she saw rows of writers chained to their desks in a steaming sweatshop. As they worked, they, too, were whipped with thorny lashes.
“Wait a minute,” said the writer. “This is just as bad as hell!”
“Oh no, it’s not,” replied an unseen voice. “Here, your work gets published.”
WHY I WRITE: Because kidnapping people and forcing them to act out your interesting make-believe worlds is technically illegal.
Farmers would make great writers. They really know how to work a plot.
I bought a pen that can write underwater. It can write other words as well.
I’m writing a book about reverse psychology. Please don’t buy it.
My apologies for any repeats.
Thank you for reading my newsletter,
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