New Books Published this Year

 

I've been a busy writer this year and the books I've published are:

A Time Traveler's Companion

This book is available as an eBook and audiobook. The audiobook is available in two parts.

I will be publishing the paperback next year and hopefully it will be with IngramSparks.

Next is: The Maze from Hell: A Backrooms Tale

This book has more eBook downloads and a few paperback books have been sold. You can find this book on Amazon and audiobook is available on GooglePlay.

Incidentally, this book was going to be published on IngramSparks for a more broader distribution unfortunately, I published the paperback first on Amazon, so meta sees it as a conflict for a some reason.

Next is : Author's Notes: Personal Notes Based on the Author's Books

This book is a novelette (short story) It is based on the notes I wrote regarding books I've published so far. Does not include Through the Eyes of a Sign Twirler.

Next is: Through the Eyes of a Sign Twirler

I recently published this eBook on GooglePlay books and AppleBooks. I have no intentions of publishing this book on Amazon. I will make it into an audiobook in the coming months.

The books that are in the Editor's hands are:

The Path Less Taken: The Phoenix Files vol. 2

Midnight & Black Dove

Both Books will be published at the end of the year or in the beginning of next year

Thank you for visiting this blog, i appreciate it and please do leave a comment in the comment box.

Through the Eyes of a Sign Twirler

A Time Traveler's Companion

(18 & over)

The Maze From Hell: A Backrooms Tale

(18 & over)

CG Heandez Blog

My Author's Q & A's

 

(Once every other month I will post Q & A's that readers have asked me)

Q- Will you be posting new short videos or excerpts on Path Less Taken from the Phoenix Files? I’ve seen that you haven’t posted anything about that book, and I thought that maybe you decided to abandon the project. J. Peters

A-I appreciate your interest in my work! Currently, I'm focused on completing "A Time Traveler's Companion," which is nearly 500 pages long. Once I wrap that up, I plan to finish "Path Less Taken" and will share some short videos and excerpts soon after. 

Q- When will you publish the recent version of Chandra’s Quest on AppleBooks? You mentioned that you combined all four books into one. I would love to read it. Mary Fuentes

A-Regarding "Chandra's Quest," I do intend to release the new version on Amazon and Apple Books, but as mentioned in a previous blog post, it won't be available on GooglePlay and AppleBooks until July. An audiobook is currently being made.

Q- Do you use AI generated images for your short videos? Jessica P

A-Some images in my promotional videos, are AI-generated, but I use them primarily to depict the characters visually for the readers’ entertainment.

Q- I really enjoyed Flare and I would like to know if it is available as an audiobook. ldyVamp

A-I'm glad to hear you enjoyed "Flare” there is indeed an audiobook available on GooglePlay, so feel free to check it out!

Q-I enjoyed reading the book about the Backrooms from the Phoenix Files, will you be writing another one related to the Backrooms? Anonymous

A-There will be another installment in the Phoenix Files series that revisits the Backrooms, specifically in volume 4. It will be available in the future.

(I love receiving questions from readers through social media, and I promise to feature them on my blog in the coming months!)

West Pacifica

The Hypocrisy: Early Reviewer Program?

 

As I stated in a previous entry, Amazon is biased. I have read other Author’s complaints regarding reviews that have been either blocked or removed by Amazon because they don’t fall under their dictatorial rules. Here’s a screenshot of those rules.

I would like to know in what reality was it when the only thing Amazon looked at when it came to reviews, they would scan for indecent & malicious reviews that had curse words or had nothing to do with the product. Those are the reviews they would block or delete.  

What bothers me is this one rule: 

“A review by someone perceived to have a close personal relationship with the product’s owner, author, or artist.”

Again, as I stated before, what the fuck? How the Hell would Amazon know who is who? The author doesn’t personally know everyone who follows them. Several years ago, I remember a person who posted online that Amazon will delete or block reviews coming from people that the author knows like neighbors, friends, family members, co-workers, followers, etcetera.

 I laughed because I couldn’t believe what I read. It’s unbelievable. I wonder what their bases for comparison is. I want to go back to the reality where Amazon wasn’t crazy. By the way, I stumbled across something that I found curious. While looking online about why Amazon blocks reviews, I came across this: 

Reviews are harder than ever to get, so why not take advantage of an Amazon-sanctioned review service?

The Early Reviewer Program is an initiative in which Amazon offers small incentives to buyers to leave a review for a new product. The program costs $60, and Amazon will continue to ask for reviews for 12 months, or until you get five reviews through the program (whichever comes first).

So, tell me, why would Amazon offer this? Now, that’s a bit hypocritical, don’t you think? They don’t want reviews coming from people who were paid to post a review but yet, they are encouraging sellers, indie authors and indie artist to pay $60 to get reviews on their products. Does anyone see the hypocrisy here? 

Well, I don't know where it all leads for the Indie authors. It just seems that they can't get a break. 

In addition, I want to add that I have seen that some indie authors have resorted to paying an outside source for reviews. It's true. I've seen it online. I would never do that because you don't know who you're sending the money to. Take for instance one person who suggested a site owned by someone in Nigeria. No way would I even consider anything from another country, especially Nigeria. But I fear that some indie authors are so discouraged and irked over the fact that their reviews are begin blocked, they will consider going to outside sources and thus, Amazon will delete their accounts. My advice is don't do it. There are other ways to obtain reviews. GO to other websites. Goodreads, Book Thing, and other places are not picky. And yes, I know that Amazon is the first place a person looks to when they want to buy a book or something else, I get it but find other places. Be happy if your book gets a 4 or 5 star on any website because that really means something--it does. 

For those who wish to purchase my books elsewhere please follow the links below: 

GOOGLE PLAY

Barnes & Noble

Lost in the Backrooms

On Barnes & Noble you can only purchase paperback versions of the books I'm selling.

Reviews & Rates Are Important but Is Amazon Bias?

 

I’ve read other Indie/self-published author’s comments about how they feel that Amazon KDP is biased and that only a selected few are allowed to obtain reviews/rates. I feel that most of these authors are right. I’ve seen how some books that people would consider cheesy, not worth reading or buying have over a thousand reviews and rates and not all are verified buyer reviews. If Amazon is against fake reviews, wouldn’t they consider those reviews to be fake? 

Some reviews are deleted because they claim that the author knows the person. Really? That’s’ insane. Not all the author’s followers are BFF’s or family members.

Here’s what I’m talking about:

“Amazon is trustworthy and is an important business, so reviews from friends, family members and anyone that they think the author knows personally are deleted.”

What the fuck? Here’s where my beef starts with them. How would Amazon know who these people are? One of my books got a review from someone in another country and I don’t know who that person is. I don’t know half of the people who are following me online. I have a fair number of followers on FB, Twitter, Instagram, and other online websites but I don’t know those people personally. It’s ridiculous. It’s stupid!

Amazon’s algorithm is designed to prevent fraud but highlights bad reviews while blocking and removing the good ones.

Is this true? Well, for the past 10 years that I’ve been with Amazon KDP, it certainly seems like it.

Here’s another author’s experience, which I am sure others can relate:

“The day my first title, Ages of Aenya, was made public, I received a one-star review/rate. The same exact day. The book was not yet available for download, and even with Prime delivery, it would have been impossible for someone to read through a 600-page book in a small amount of time. Clearly, the review was written by a troll, a person who has been harassing me for years online. I reported the guy to Amazon, insisting the review was fraudulent, a thing they could easily prove if only they bothered to investigate the timing, but after numerous emails, phone calls, and complaints from my fans, Amazon let it stay, an ugly and dishonest stain on my reputation. Fine I thought, I have readers who will drown out the troll, and then this started to happen. Amazon started to remove the good reviews.”

Yes, that happens way too often and that is why I feel that reviews that should be posted, never get posted. So, here's where readers should post their reviews, on Goodreads, Barnes & Noble, because all you must do is sign up with them, they don’t care where you bought the book. Google books and Apple Books is also another place to post your reviews. 

Unfortunately, Amazon is still the first thing readers go to, to see reviews on books they are interested in buying. It’s sad really that Amazon adversely influences traditional publishing marketing and drowns out other authors,like  Indie authors who did not publish with a traditional publisher. I must side with the indie authors who are being pushed to oblivion, obscurity. 

So bottom line is, don’t give up fellow Indie authors, I’m with you on this.

My website

Please support Indie author, consider a small donation.  TY

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What Genre Do I Prefer to Write

What Genre Do I Prefer to Write

Fantasy, Paranormal/Supernatural and general fiction, anything else but Sci-fi. Yes, I find Sci-fi hard to write. My first book Chandra’s Quest is science fiction, in fact the whole trilogy is but I added a bit of fantasy and mysticism to it. It has taken me longer to finish the trilogy than expected but finish it, I will. 

20 years ago, I was inspired and motivated to write this trilogy however as the years moved on, I found myself lacking the motivation I once had. 

Fast forward to now, I struggle completing book 4 but I will get it done nevertheless and move on to my next projects.

 I have a Supernatural/paranormal book in the works, easy to write since I get my inspiration by reading Reddit stories or creepy pastas, etcetera. The web is full of them. The foundation is there, all I have to do is fill in my take on whatever moves me. 

I will not reveal the title of the book, I prefer to keep it surreptitious. 

Bottom line is, I am still working on and wrapping up Book 4 of Chandra’s Quest, once that’s done and published I will dive into my other projects. 

For those who have read Chandra’s Quest, and await the final installment,  be patient, it will be published this year as an eBook first.

 By the way, if you have read any of my books, please do rate or review them. I appreciate it. Thank you. 

Website 

My Nonfiction Book

I rarely share links to this book but that's  going to change. The Other Side of Things, is a nonfiction book, based on a blog where I rant and vent about various topics. I selected a few of them that I feel the reader might enjoy. Some topics are controversial,  but they're  basically women's  issues and my perspective on them. As I pointed out in the introductory page, I only state my personal opinion about certain topics, with no personal  attacks on anyone. The Other Side of Things is the only general nonfiction book, pertaining  to social issues, women issues that I've written.  Please do visit link to buy or download your copy.  it is only available as an eBook.

The Other Side of Things

My Amazon Page

Immortality is Now Available as a Paperback!

Immortality: Chandra's  Quest Book 3 is now available as a paperback. It can be purchased through  Amazon Kindle. I will share excerpts from the book next week. Please visit the link below to see book price and details. 

Immortality 

Website

First, Second or Third Person Narrative

 

Let’s talk about First person, second person and third person narrative.

First person narrative is a point of view (who is telling a story) where the story is narrated by one character at a time. This character may be speaking about him or herself or sharing events that he or she is experiencing—the use of first-person pronouns. Many stories and novels are written I the first-person point of view. In this kind of narrative, you are writing the character’s story by their perspective. You are writing their story through their eyes.

 

 Example: “I left my keys on the kitchen counter but now I can’t find them.”

Second Person Narrative:

  Second-person point of view belongs to the person (or people) being addressed.

The biggest indicator of the second person use is pronouns like: you, your, yours, yourself or yourselves.

Example: “If you eat these fruits you will find that your health is much better to combat illnesses.”

A self-help book is written in a second person narrative. There are a lot of self-help books out there and when you buy one, you’ll see the narration and how it’s written. These books are a dime in dozen and the writer is addressing the reader when they write.

 

Third Person Narrative:

The third-person point of view/narrative belongs to the person (or people) being talked about. The third-person pronouns include he, him, his, himself, she, her, hers, herself, it, its, itself, they, them, their, theirs, and themselves.

 Example: “Candy used her paycheck to buy herself a new dress.”

 Most popular books are written as a third person narrative but let’s talk more about first person narrative for a bit.

It is easy to write a book using first-person narrative/point of view. Take a look at Twilight and Fifty Shades of Grey, all of those books were written as first-person narrative.

Easy? Yes, the author publishes his/her book quicker, and are capable of producing several books within 6 months. Most of my books are written as a third person narrative, only The Secret Diary of a Gypsy Heart and Saints and Sinners: Affairs of the Heart are written as first-person narrative. My book Chandra’s Quest Book 1, the 2002 version, was written as a first-person narrative but when I decided to re-write the book, I chose third person narrative instead.

 Author’s that write as a first-person narrative, usually use what they know about the subject they are writing. Sometimes they will use personal experiences in their life and will use fractions of those experiences in their books.

  One of my sons told me that someone they know wants to write a book using first-person narration and use actual names of people he/she knows. Well, you cannot copyright your own name, or titles, or ideas, names are not copyrighted. The person who wants to write a fiction book can make subtle changes to the characters, like hair color, eyes, the character’s place of employment, relationship with other people or where they live. Making subtle changes can help avoid confusion and grievance.

Again, I want to state that names are not copyrighted. You cannot sue an author for using your name in his/her book. It would be considered frivolous and will not hold up in court, not even small claims. Food for thought.

The link below will give more info.

My books:

Saints and Sinners: Affairs of the Heart

Secret Diary of a Gypsy Heart

MY Website

Please consider donating a small portion for struggling indie authors. TY

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Chandra's Quest: The Birth of a Trilogy

Chandra's Quest was one of my first full length novels that I wrote back in the mid to late 90's and self-published it in the early 2000's. It is part of a trilogy.

              First copy

The story was originally adult scifi but when I revised it, I made some changes. I republish it in 2013 through Kindle Direct Publishing, a very different self-publishing company than the previous one I used before. 

 I am pleased with both versions of Chandra's Quest, however I want to let everyone know that when you visit Amazon and find the book, I encourage you to download or buy the paperback of the revised version (2013). The older version is no longer available by the third party seller that was selling it. Even though it is unavailable, the seller still has it listed. Anyways, this entry is to inform interested readers to buy the current book and enjoy it. 

Please Read, Rate & Review. TY. 

Author's Website