Brand new frontier action-adventure from Peter Alan Turner as Willie McGee casts his mind back and relives the day when he was Willie McGee: Mountain Man! By mixing fact and fiction with a real Western Hero in an action-packed, new Mountain Man Adventure, writer Peter Alan Turner has created a modern classic.

Sara Bowman, ‘The Great Western’ the real-life heroine of the Mexican American War, is in big trouble. When you are over six-foot, with flaming red hair and a temper to match, any problem Sara can’t shoot or punch her way out of is big. Mountain Man Willie McGee receives Sara’s urgent request for help and rushes to El Paso. McGee arrives to find Sara and the good citizens of El Paso up against Sergio Rivàs, a ruthless outlaw and an English Dandy named Sterling Ashton.

Determined to bring law and order to ‘Hell’ Paso, Willie and Sara team up to end the reign of terror and save her Hotel American. The citizens hope they can avoid bloodshed, but as Sara warns them, “It always comes down to the gun!”

Grab your copy today!

A brand new boom for Scott Harris has started with “Abilene” now inside the top one hundred, “Deadly Trails” in and out of the top one hundred and a host of other Harris happy hour hits moving towards the top one hundred. This avalanche shows just how important those constant releases are to keeping the sales ship steadily heading towards the shore of success.

But what is “Abilene” about?

Abilene opens with Brock and his group in a huge fistfight in Denver and Huck and those traveling with him fighting off the murderous cattle rustlers of the Triple J. The excitement and danger only grow from there.

When Brock and his finally leave Denver, heading for their new life in Montana, they are attacked by two separate outlaw bands, as well as by a half dozen angry Kiowa warriors. Tragedy strikes right away when two members of their group are gunned down. One lives. One doesn’t, and Brock has to deal with the pain of feeling he’s caused the death one of his long-time friends.

Huck is doing what he can in Abilene to make sure they can leave town safely, with new cowboys and two thousand head of cattle, but the men of the Triple J have other ideas and are only too happy to kill to get what they want.

Alex and Dario are learning how different life is on the trail than it was in their previous life, and Tom wrestles with having killed his first man—was it self-defense or murder?

Montana, the dream for all of them, is starting to seem very far away, and we follow both Brock and Huck to see if they can lead those traveling with them to safety and a new life.

I was on the phone a few days ago with my dentist who asked me what I did for a living. I told him that I sold Western novels. He asked me what I did for a day job, and I told him to check his email. I had sent him a link to the Western bestseller chart. “See all those books? Well, the majority of them are ones I’m pushing,” I explained. “Can you see all the similar covers? See all the shared themes? See all those beautiful Winkle books, the Turners, the Parks, the Joiners, the Woods, the Turneys, the Mackessy mountain man hits, the Casey Nash novels? How about those Haggards? What about the Weldon R. Shaws? Those are reason enough for anyone to be making a living.”

Impressed, Nigel, the dentist, looked through the pages, and after studying, he could pick out every single book I was working on. “It’s the covers,” he said. “They stand out completely. You aren’t so dumb, are you?”

“Only on Thursdays,” I said. “You hit the jackpot, though. The secret. Our uniformity. We out-Western the Western and the readers love it, and we never mix our messages with the reader. We are Western through and through, and that’s what we present. Whether we sell straight-down-the-middle westerns, a horror adventure, a romantic story—it’s Western.”

You see, it’s true; the books we work on are like a giant, slithering snake cutting their way through a grass pasture. Our covers, our uniformity, our strength is what makes the product stand out. A reader can pick out one of our books by the style, by the font, by the presentation. They keep coming back and giving new authors a chance because they follow the brand, and that brand is what the Western genre needed. Brands are what every genre needs.

When we can all take a call with our dentist, and our dentist can pick out our books and the books of our co-authors, we know that we are doing our job. When the reader knows that he will have a good time reading our books due to the presentation and reputation, we know that this is only the beginning. What we have the capability of doing in the Western genre comes along so rarely. We have the opportunity to grow stronger and stronger, until the Western becomes one of the dominant genres again. DSP has nurtured a policy of Westernization for the Western reader and a policy of Western cross-over themes for readers interested in other genres, bringing the West to more readers than ever before.

It will be a beautiful thing—but for today, rest assured that our readers know who we are, and they are excited to read our product. They can pick it up and the messaging is on point. Who could ask for anything more from a genre that so many eggheads predicted as dead a few years ago?

Yes, the end of the beginning is in sight. Now the fun begins. Now, if you have any questions or ideas you would like to discuss, my door is always open. Like a hawk, I’m always around, plotting the next promotional step, watching the bestseller chart, tweaking ads and putting together new ideas. Just send me a note and let’s brainstorm together. Either way, the opportunity to succeed is yours.

Last night, I was indulging in some nostalgia from my childhood. My mother is a huge fan of the British pop singer Billy Fury, and his records were constantly on in our home. Now, Billy was a formula guy. He started off with rockabilly but struck upon a vein of gold with a series of highly dramatic ballads with lots of strings and drums. He had been selling records before they hit upon the formula—but when he released “Halfway to Paradise,” he put together an enviable string of hits all with the same formula. “Last Night Was Made For Love,” “Like I’ve Never Been Gone,” “I Will,” “It’s Only Make Believe,” “I’m Lost Without You,” “In Summer,” and the list goes on. Those records were top ten favorites in Great Britain and likely made him one of the most popular singers in town. Alas, the string of hits was broken when he changed his sound, and he didn’t really recover. Now what does this have to do with Westerns?

Well, I’ll tell you, chum, a common frustration to be found in our business is the author who has a string of hits and then, in an attempt to ‘keep it fresh,’ decides that he will change his style or his character or his story and loses his readers in the process. Just like Billy, the artist takes over and the businessperson is lost.
The moral of this story is that when you’re hot, you’re hot, and when you’re not, you’re not, and it’s never worth the risk of going cold to try something new. Not if the readers are asking for and buying what you are already giving them. How many times has a company changed its services and lost customers in the process?

The formula is to write a book, a series, with each book around 35,000 words with a new book as quickly as you can follow up. This builds a catalogue quickly and efficiently and leaves readers breathlessly moving from one book to the next.

Artistic endeavors and creativity are wonderful things, but when you’re on a hot streak, sometimes it’s best to just keep rolling out those hits and enjoying the wave. Change is inevitable but not everyone moves so quickly, and sometimes people want to linger with what they love.

So slow down, don’t move too fast, enjoy the readership enjoying your work and keep pounding out those books that please the reader. You know you’ll miss the readers if you lose them. Treat them well, and they’ll keep coming back to you.

Jack Paxton is a man who has been looking for Western success for some time. That success has been elusive, but he’s not a man who gives up easily. No, he was born a winner, and that mindset has enabled him to work through the bad times and bring himself to the very edge of success. His new series, “Tom Reaper: Vigilante,” has been gaining momentum and now, for the second time—yes, the second—he stands inside the hallowed top one hundred with a series that is gaining new readers all the time.

What is it that makes an author such as Paxton a success? It’s that clear-minded, strategic true grit that enables him to keep on track and turn out books that fit the formula. The formula has made him, and he has helped make the formula even more successful. With each passing hit, the formula touches more and more Western readers and, of course, authors.

When you’ve got a well-tested roadmap to a beloved destination, it’s so easy to fight with the map and try to cut your way through the jungle, but for those who can stay on the well-trod path and continue to keep driving forward, a golden opportunity awaits them. It is no secret that the readers want to discover your stories—but they are the end decision makers and it’s for you, the author, to position yourself in a way that makes it a simple matter of fate for them to pick up your books.

As Paxton continues to pick up speed, more readers will discover his series, and it wouldn’t surprise me in the least to see him in the top ten one day soon—yet another example of an author who answered the great questions posed about book promotion and his desire for success. Let me ask you, friend, how do these questions stack up for you?

Can you see how the formula would help sell your Western stories to readers?

After thinking about it, Jack knew the formula could help him reach a wider, greater audience. He also knew he could give what the formula demanded and so he set to work. He didn’t try to change the formula—he embraced and took the formula and placed it in front of him, and it did its magic for him.

Are you interested in selling Westerns?

Was he ever! He didn’t write his series for it to sit around doing nothing. He wrote his series to sell books and sell the books he has. What a silly question!

When do you think you ought to start selling Westerns?

Well, for Jack, he attended our seminar, plotted the series and off he went. There wasn’t a wasted moment. To work he went, and success was what he ended up with.

Now, how about you? As a tradition, we aren’t supposed to want great success in the book business. Writers are meant to write for the fun of it, the joy of it—but deep down inside, are you looking for success? If so, how do those questions hang with you?

Now, if you have any questions or ideas you would like to discuss, my door is always open. Like a hawk, I’m always around, plotting the next promotional step, watching the bestseller chart, tweaking ads and putting together new ideas. Just send me a note and let’s brainstorm together. Either way, the opportunity to succeed is yours.

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The results that we get from our constant use of the formula astound me. When I see the ever-growing success of Western authors from promotional seeds planted several months ago, it makes a person feel as though they are truly making a difference. This morning I received an email from an author, one who embraced the formula, and one who until recently had been struggling with gaining and maintaining success with his books. This email brightened up my day because it showed that he recognized the complete reversal in his fortunes. From books that were sitting, gathering dust and doing nothing, to the first glimmer of success to his current position—two books sitting on the bestseller chart, making sales hourly and being read by joyfully by readers. Let me share this testimonial with you. It says more than I could ever hope to.

On Author Central I accessed a lifetime graph of overall sales rank for Orphans (see below).  Back in the day, I held my own with just the first two books, even cracking the top 1,000 for a short while.    I quit my job and retired back in 2012 when I was earning decent royalties.  Then the party was over. Eventually sales rank fell off in to the 800,000s.  Then I hooked up with you in Sept of 2020.  Can you spot the results on the graph? Feel free to share this information with other authors.

Ken Consaul

Thank you, Ken.  Thank you for your kind words. The formula has proven that it doesn’t matter how old an author’s books are, or how unsuccessful, or how hard the author has worked. It’s about the way they work, the way they put together Western novels, the way they position their Western novels, the way the Western is promoted. It is a formula that takes what has worked in the past for many authors and asks a current crop of bestsellers three questions:

Can you see how the formula would help sell your Western stories to readers?

Why, yes. Ken could. After discussing and learning about the formula and the algorithm, he knew it was something he could work with. Sure beats not selling any books, right?

Are you interested in selling Westerns?

Why, yes. He was. He loved readers, but he wanted more of them. Selling books is the yardstick of having readers. Ken wanted more readers and that drove him to stop what he was doing wrong, and to start embracing something that was right.

When do you think you ought to start selling Westerns?

Well, for Ken, he figured he wanted to do it straight away. He did his part, I did mine, and what we ended up with was a successful series being enjoyed around the world. Some writers write for pleasure. In short, Ken Consaul writes to be read.

And you? Do you think you’d like to try the formula? How do these questions look when you answer them? Remember this, friend, it takes a lot longer to build a school than it does to build a wood hut—but the right blueprint can save you a lot of time.

Now, if you have any questions or ideas you would like to discuss, my door is always open. Like a hawk, I’m always around, plotting the next promotional step, watching the bestseller chart, tweaking ads and putting together new ideas. Just send me a note and let’s brainstorm together. Either way, the opportunity to succeed is yours.

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May has been kind to Western authors, so far. With six of our books inside the top ten, there’s no telling what could happen next. Authors like Casey Nash, C. Wayne Winkle and many others promote books to realize a golden dream, to be read as they’ve read so many other words by so many other authors. They’re pushing at a not-impossible-to collapse wall for a chance to make a difference to the life of their reader. It’s the thrill of sitting down on a jumbo jet and finding Mr. John Q. Public sitting next to them, reading one of their books. This has happened. You buy a house for future enjoyment—the warmth of the fireplace during those desolate winter months, or to be protected from the glare of the sun under the shady trees during the summer months. It’s the same for the author. They promote with confidence—confident that their skills and stories will bring them magical future experiences that money can’t buy.

Looking at the top ten we have C. Wayne Winkle at #10 with one of his all-time bestsellers, “Frank and the Princess.” At #9 we have “Jubal stone: U.S. Marshal: Blood Trail To Hell.

At #6, C. Wayne Winkle moves ahead with his first Western romance. “Where The Sky Never Ends” stands as a testament to the ability Western authors have to write and touch upon all genres. At #4 stands “Jubal Stone: U.S. Marshal: An Eye For An Eye.” This latest Nash bestseller is heading for the top spot. I can feel it in my bones.

And at #4, we have C. Wayne Winkle with “Gideon Parnell: Chase Across New Mexico” burning readers’ hands… but “Gideon Parnell: The Beginning” is one step ahead at #3, eyeing up the top spot.

And that’s how the bestseller chart looks today. A world of possibilities opens up with each new bestselling release. The question you have to answer is this: Do you believe your book has what it takes to reach the top?

A giant has passed over to the other side. My good friend, Cliff Popkey. passed at 10:22am on the 5th May, 2021. I first met Cliff when I was starting my career as a book publicist and we worked together for many years, developing his brand and working with DSP to publish his Western novels. Under several names, Cliff stormed the Western bestseller chart and helped define the genre as we know it today. The ideas flowed from Cliff like a Mount Vesuvius of creativity, and we will all be poorer for his loss. He was 66 when he passed and had achieved so much in his life, from salesman to township supervisor to bestselling author. Most importantly, Cliff was my friend, and we shared many years of working together to make things happen, and happen they did.

When I first met him, he had written several books but had never had any success with them. Together we changed his name to Cliff Roberts and turned his “Reprisal” series into a super powerhouse of sales with the series gracing the top 100 of the Amazon bestseller list for many months, years even. Then we decided to work on Westerns, and a string of Western successes followed under a series of names. He had many close calls with death in his life, and I truly believed he would beat this last dance with death, but he did not. He has passed to a better place, leaving behind a loving family and adoring wife.

Cliff was a lion of a man with a drive and ambition unmatched by anyone else I’ve ever met. He was someone who believed in winning—someone who truly believed in the American way of life. Achievement was his only mode. He would attack problems and issues full-frontally and usually made them quake in his wake. As a salesman, he truly did exude belief in possibility, and as a writer, he could truly connect with the everyday reader who made him successful. Cliff will be missed but his stories will live on.

For me, he was a tremendous teacher, and someone who could always be counted on for advice and discussion. Spending hours of my life with the man was my privilege, and I was extremely happy to be counted as one of his best friends.

Yes, Cliff is now in the heavens, but his work will continue. Drive and ambition can never be killed, and those were two of the major lessons from the life of Clifford R. Popkey. Drive forward, stop at nothing, never give up, and whatever it is standing in your way—smash it.