Seven Westerns Taking Over The Top Ten Of The Western Bestsellers Chart: But How Was It Done?

It’s been a good February. With books selling, authors writing and most importantly… readers reading! The top ten of the bestsellers chart represents the ten bestselling books in a given genre… and this morning seven of them came from this direction. I wanted to share this news with you all, and share a few notes about the promotions used on these books. Maybe you can drive seven of your books into the top ten?

At number ten, we have Scotty V. Casper with his latest Western release, “Dispute At Devil’s Slide.” This one was only released a few days ago. Scotty had been a slow seller. We waited until he had three books in his series to sell. That way we had a catalogue on hand. Then we used keywords, categories and inter-author promotion to get “Dispute” moving. With the help of some advertising and a few mailers, he struck gold and now stands at number ten on the bestseller chart. It’s likely that the other two books in the series will reach the top one hundred before long.

Paul L. Thompson stands at number seven with “U.S. Marshal Shorty Thompson – We’re Gonna Die, Ain’t We, Danny.” This one was propelled by his recent number one success, mailers and advertising crossed with several giveaways of his previous titles. It worked. James Scott stands at number six with “Tyler Purdom.” This was the first James Scott Western. We knew a new one wouldn’t be arriving for some time, so we gave this one a slow burning effect. Gently we rolled it up the chart until it reached the top ten using inter-author promotion, cross-advertising and mailers. The new Scott Western should be out next month. Looks like the timing was just right!

At number four we have another Paul L. Thompson. This one was a step away from his “Shorty Thompson” centric stories. With this one, we went all out with advertising, mailers and word of mouth promotion. It peaked at number one a few weeks ago… but will likely stick around for a few more months. C. Wayne Winkle stands at number three. His new book jumped after a series of mailers were used to spread awareness of the book. This supported by advertising gives him a shot at unseating the number one bestseller of the moment. “The Trader” from Cherokee Parks stands at number two. This one is a Mountain Man adventure. Those are hot sellers. His following made the book number one earlier this month, and he held the position until this morning. From mailers to advertising to inter-author promotion, this one had the kitchen sink thrown at it. I wouldn’t discount it going back to number one in a few hours.

At NUMBER ONE we have Mike Mackessy with “Mountain Life.” This one was a gentle, sleeping hit. We knew it would sell, but instructions from his publisher were to elongate its success. We used advertising to keep the book inside the lower reaches of the top one hundred and then a series of mailers to bump the book up, up and away. Eventually the cumulative effect of these spread out promotions pushed the book to number one. The third number one in a month for this happy promoter.

Anyone can use these promotion stratgies to strike success. It takes a little bit of thought and practice. You’ll need patience and you’ll need to read the bestseller chart… but it’s there for the taking. If you have any questions, please don’t hesistate to contact me through the form below.