Not so long ago I came to you, and we discussed the steps that were taken to make Gary Church the number one bestseller in America. Before that, we talked about the steps that were taken to make Mike Hundley the number one bestseller. Now I come to you again to talk about the steps that were taken to make Mike Mackessy the number one bestseller.

There’s a new wave riding over the mountains. A new wave of Western writers who have all the traditional values that readers admire and love—but they differ from the authors who came before. The concepts, the stories, the production—it’s all getting better every single day. But the key is that we are starting to see recognizable, bankable names popping up on the Western market. These are the men and women who have become ‘favorites’ of the Western readership. Paul L. Thompson, Scott Harris, Robert Hanlon, C. Wayne Winkle, Mike Mackessy, John Buzzard, Nerissa Stacey, and so on. The writers readers go to—and read the moment they lay their eyes on their books.

And all of this came from simple, straight-forward promotion. There were no billboards. No TV advertisements. No radio announcements. This all came from the serious, studied world of proven sales. The kind of sales you don’t hear about anymore. The old chestnut routine of placement, production, value and cost. Visibility, optimization, capitalization and plain old pop-up, in-your-face advertising. There’s no secret to any of this.

So what was it that caused Mackessy to score the number one position? Well… it’s a mixture of things.

1. Mike Mackessy had already been all the way to the #2 position with “Down From The Mountain.” That was a book that we were heavily promoting in April and May. He would have made it to #1, too—had it not been for Gary Church and Mike Hundley with two heavy hitting hard sellers that kept him away from the top spot.
2. The release of an anniversary box set that pulled readers away from other titles, and right into three prime Mackessy Westerns that whet their appetite.
3. The new novel, “Broken Dog Ranch,” came out right as the box set peaked, which caused a sales swirl. The new book climbed, assisted by advertising, placement and… capitalization.
4. The box set dropped as folks finished it—but that old chestnut “Down From The Mountain” found a new lease of life. All the folks who discovered Mackessy through the box set raced to get “Down From The Mountain.”
5. “Down From The Mountain” re-entered the top ten—and as folks finished that one they got behind “Broken Dog Ranch.”
6. Mackessy then had a very solid readership pushing and shunting “Broken Dog Ranch” up the charts, leading to a number one bestseller.

So there you have a marketing plan that allows for an author who was doing well to take the initiative and become a bestseller. The timing was crucial—the use of catalogue product (a box set) was absolutely necessary, as it pulled in new readers—readers who became the “street team” for the new novel.

Pundits who say that huge amounts of advertising are needed are wrong. What a good promoter of Westerns must have is the ability to see opportunity. All those big hits, and huge checks, are built on the back of opportunity.

Mike Hundley scored his number one with “Gunsight Justice” first in Australia. Then he found himself in the top ten Stateside. Gary Church had two books in the top twenty that had never gone past #10. By carefully timing his new release, he beat that record with his third book, “Good Man—Bad Enemy,” and took the number one position. Mike Mackessy was also a beautiful mix of things led by timing, and now he’s scored a number one bestseller.

Now—can you do something similar with your books? I reckon you can, and if you can’t, ask all the questions you want below. Always happy to meet new people. Don’t forget to go buy a few copies of “Broken Dog Ranch” too!

Sometimes when promoting a book, you have to turn over the apple and take a bite from the other side. I mean, think about it—imagine if you had unlimited money and you were trying to get a product out to people. A product you believed was truly exceptional. A product you just wanted people to take, and try, and enjoy. What would you do? You’d make it free, right? If you made a product free and that product was then taken by, say, one million people—and the product was good—what would happen if you released a sequel to the first product? Well, a great number of those folks would want to get that sequel. Why? Because it’s human nature to want more, more, more of something that they like and to stay up to date. It’s something you can’t fight. It just is.

So, you have a product in the hands of a million people—and the second product costs 99 cents and half a million of those people purchase it. You’ve made a little money, and you’ve started building a brand.

From that brand, you could release a series of products. You’d already have a base to sell to. That’s what a lot of publishers fail to understand about our business. Product is product, and people have to try product, own product, enjoy product to know to purchase more product from the same seller.

The fact is that too often people start with a product, and that product has dollar signs attached to it. They believe their product is so good, or as good as anything else. This makes them believe that their product will make a pile of money from the word “go.”

Truth is, it takes time to build a brand. Take any of the super successful Western authors of today. For example, Paul L. Thompson had written fifteen books before he struck success with “Revenge of the Bullet.” That was the book that made him probably one of the most consistently profitable authors of today. All it took was one look at “Revenge,” and we all knew it was going to be a smash. Two years later, he’s still on top and has made Outlaws Publishing the most profitable of the publishing companies in our genre.

And then we have Robert Hanlon who had written ten books and had only sold a couple of copies before we got together and decided he was going to be a hitmaker.

And let’s talk about Gary Church who had been self-published before he signed with Dusty Saddle Publishing. His sixth month of success saw him move more than 4 million pages of product.

Then there’s John D. Fie, Jr. who had sizeable run of successes before signing with Dusty Saddle Publishing and creating a string of hits that have been very satisfying. What caused that? Branding, patience and a lot of hard work.

And so on, and on, and on… and how did a lot of these authors become successful? Advertising played a part. Proofreading and editing help played a part. Covers played a part. Continuous work played a part… and the pure genius of making sure a lot of people owned their first books through this marvellous thing called FREE.

For example, everyone at Outlaws Publishing knew that Paul L. Thompson was going to be a hit, but even though he had written fifteen books, I think he sold about 15 dollars of books per month. So, we took “Revenge of the Bullet” and gifted, gave, sent, mailed out thousands of copies to readers. It was a risky strategy—and yet, little by little, his sales increased and then doubled, and then tripled. By the end of that month he was alive… by the end of the third month of the promotional program, he had hit number one in two different countries and had moved enough books to push fifteen of them into the bestseller chart.

Now, I know, authors want to make money. Heck—everyone has to eat. But sometimes you’ve got to think about what you’re doing. Western authors do not have the benefit of TV advertising, radio, newspapers or MTV. They have product, and the only way people can learn about a Western author is through their product—so what better way to build a brand than to make sure a huge percentage of the readership owns product by that author?

Makes sense, no?

Now, as always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me using the form below. It’s always a pleasure to hear from you.

As always… J.C. Hulsey stands on the cutting edge of the Western market. His latest interview with Western author Phil Truman caught my attention yesterday. I believe Phil a body of work readers will truly enjoy. He reminds me of a cross between Gary Church and Fred Staff… and you can’t beat two number one bestsellers! You can learn more about him here. You can also check out his books by clicking here.

With May looking like one of the most exciting months so far for Western books, I keep getting asked, “How did Gary Church score so well with his three books?  What were the magic ingredients of his success? How does an author go from being unknown to being the number one bestseller in the United States, Canada, Australia and such? How does that happen?” How can you do it? That’s what you really want to know.

It’s all about the three C’s. You know, the thing we were talking about last year?

The first C is Consistency. This is something all authors have to practice. Consistency in book promotion is the only way a book will move. You can’t do one, or two, or three things. You have to consistently promote your book—you have to always be doing something. Always looking to get more attention for your book, always running little ads, or trying to get more reviews. You have to be consistent on your journey towards success.

The second C is Commitment. We all have commitments in our lives, and those commitments sometimes seem like a problem. But in reality, a commitment is just achievement in process. As an author, you have to commit to your book and commit to its success. If you don’t commit to your book, you won’t be able to be consistent (the first C), and you will find it harder to be successful. Commitment gives you the grit needed to get the job done. I ask all my clients to be committed to the promotion of their book. I ask them to answer interviewers, to write blog articles, to be involved—because unless you love your own baby, how can you expect anyone else to?

The third C is a very special one. One that a very, very talented author mentioned to me. This C stands for “cool,” and it’s true—you have to be cool to be successful. You have to keep a level head and not become depressed when your book isn’t discovered on day one. You have to be cool when you are interviewed, and cool when you are reading a bad review. You have to keep cool, and… be committed… and be consistent.

So if you’re looking for success with your books, you have to try the three ‘C’s’ before you can do anything else. Be consistent, be committed, and be cool, calm and collected. Do not panic, no not worry, just stay committed and consistent. Before long, you may be the next Gary Church, moving thousands of copies of your book each month and hitting the top of the bestseller chart.

Now, on another note, and I hate to be a bore, but I am running short of reading material. If you have a book that you think I’d enjoy, drop a line and let me know about it. I’d love to discover something new. You can contact me through the form below. Three ‘C’s are waiting for you. Now, get to work!

Stagecoach Willy and Ten are known as the best stagecoach driver and shotgun messenger in the West, but even their skills are challenged when they’re carrying not only $250,000 in cash and gold, but also a patent for an invention worth far more than $250,000.

It’s 600 bloody and dangerous miles from Portland to Sacramento, and Willy and Ten are hoping to make it with the money, the papers—and their lives—intact. Against their will, they’re forced to bring a Pinkerton agent—a woman—along for the trip. Once they leave Portland, they’re on their own and every mile presents a challenge.

Stagecoach Willy is the first book in the new Stagecoach Willy series, brought to you by Scott Harris, who is the creator and author of the tremendously successful Brock Clemons and Caz: Vigilante Hunter series.

The new Dylan Johnson hit will be heading out soon! A brand new Western adventure you’ll love. More details coming soon!

Western author Charles Ray discusses his thoughts on the language of the Old West, and how it applies to the reading audience of today.

Decades ago, when I was a beginning writer, before the days of political correctness in language, a writer was free to use any language in his or her writing. As a young reader, I remember at times cringing inwardly at some of the words that leapt from the page. The N-word, used to describe African-Americans, the B-word applied liberally to women, and Native Americans routinely labeled ‘savage redskins.’ I cringed, more from the fact that such terms were also routinely heard in real-life conversations going on around me.

Times, though, have changed. Now, a writer must be sensitive to the feelings of those who have historically been on the outside of the mainstream insofar as the majority was concerned, and whose feelings on the matter were of no concern.

While I applaud the new sensitivity to the feelings of others, at the same time, as a writer I feel that sometimes we go too far.  As someone who writes Westerns and other historical fiction, I seek authenticity in my writing, and in order to be authentic, characters must speak as they spoke during the period. At the same time, like any writer, I seek readership and am acutely aware that certain words will turn a large percentage of potential readers away.

After many years of trial and error, I’ve come to terms—sort of—with the new reality. I know that a word that will evoke no particular reaction from a reader in the Louisiana bayou will infuriate a suburban soccer mom in Southern California. So, how do I maintain a degree of authenticity in my stories about a period when minorities were considered less than human by many, and women, no matter their age, were considered minors under the law, and the mantra of many men in the majority was that a woman should be kept ‘pregnant, barefoot, and in the kitchen’?

I’ll confess at this point that on occasion I will use one or more of the taboo words, but only in character dialogue and when it would be ludicrous for the character to use any other word. And I do this only occasionally. I’ve found other ways to convey the mood and customs of the time. Take race for example. For many years, including a substantial number of the years that I’ve been on the right side of the grass, minorities were routinely referred to using emotionally loaded and demeaning words. An African-American man, regardless of his age, was ‘boy,’ or if he was really old, ‘uncle.’ Having a character in one of my Bass Reeves stories call Reeves ‘boy’ has the same impact as the N-word, but without that emotionally charged word ever appearing. The same goes for women. Without actually using the admittedly demeaning term, I can, through the character’s actions, show his attitude toward women. At the same time, I make a point of including strong, capable, and intelligent women characters in my stories, because they did exist. On occasion, I will use the forbidden words, not for shock value, but because the scene or situation makes it the ONE perfect word to convey the meaning. I’m sure that this has cost me a few readers, and, as any writer would, I regret this. At the same time, though, I think that the body of my work speaks for itself.

Writers, more than anyone else, must be aware that words are powerful. They have the power to educate, but they also have the power to hurt, and we should all strive to make sure that we do as little of the latter as possible, while focusing on the former.

About Charles Ray:

“I began the Al Pennyback mystery series from a desire to see stories about Washington, DC, my adopted home, that focused on the ordinary people rather than spies, lobbyists, and politicians.

I write for a number of Internet sites; I was a featured travel contributor on Yahoo Voices from 2010 to 2012 until the featured contributor program was terminated, and am the diplomatic correspondent for asnycnowradio, an Internet radio station based in New York. My own blogs can be viewed at http://charlesaray.blogspot.com and I blog occasionally at http://www.redroom.com/author/charles-a-ray. In late 2017, after the success of my fictionalized account of the life of Bass Reeves, the first African-American deputy US marshal west of the Mississippi, I began writing westerns for Outlaws Publishing. My westerns are now my top selling books, making me–I suppose–a western author who writes in other genres as well.”

Are you ready for the month of May? You should be! There are some fantastic new Western novels heading to town! Check out these great new releases from some of the greatest names of today!

A brand new short story collection has hit the market. This set is really something else.

52 Western writers. 52 Western short stories. All starting with the same twelve words:

I had some time to myself and some things to think about.

These micro-shorts (they’re each 500 words long) scatter off into 52 fascinating, action-filled directions, no two alike. Bourbon bottles and gunfights? Strong men and stronger women. Hangings, horse thieves and fistfights? You got ’em—and more!

You can race through these great stories or savor them, but either way, you’ll love seeing how different and creative 52 writers can be.