As the year slowly draws to an end and we ready ourselves for the brand new Western selling season of 2021, I thought it might be a good time for us to sit down and talk about the ghost of Westerns past, the ghost of Westerns present, and the ghost of Westerns future. It seemed apt for this December 16^th.

I had a call a few days ago with an author who was looking to promote his new book. He had been talking to one of the established authors and wanted help with his book in the new year. “It just seems like nobody wanted my book,” he said. “I suppose it was down to coronavirus. People just weren’t reading, but I was talking to [this particular author] and he was saying this was his best sales year yet. How did you pull that off?

“Well, you know,” I told him, “when your world is full of upheaval, and you can’t think straight for worrying about the world and its ailments, you don’t really know when you’re missing out on something.” Of course, many Western authors have been too busy to concentrate on their books; on the other hand, many have been busy working on new product. The sheer number of new sellers produced in 2020 shows that the readership has been busy indulging in new titles to escape the misery of the plague, the misery of the news, the misery of this, or that, or whatever problem might be bothering them. So, to begin with, we have a readership that has not been idle. Readers have been responding to new product just as they always have, many with even more enthusiasm than usual.

Secondly, 2020 was the first year where a sales ‘formula’ played such a vital part in the promotion of Western product. The formula, rigidly put together, was the look of love for readers and likely created more long-term careers for authors than any previous year. It consists of a set of rules that determines each writer is hitting the promotional mark that readers set for them. Formulas like this will be used from here on in as standard practice. The formula is here to stay.

Over the last few months, after implementing the recipe, we were faced with brand new number one bestsellers from Mike Mackessy, D.M. Haggard, C. Wayne Winkle, and a multitude of top-notch, high-quality top twenty bestsellers from Harvey Wood, Scotty V. Casper, Gene Turney, Charles Ray, Robert Hanlon, Ken E. Consaul and many others. The list could go on forever—but who has time for that? This is the NEW WAVE of Western bestsellers. The wave that will continue to keep rolling against the rocks and will continue to keep pleasing readers. Everything is done to the formula. The tried and tested always wins out.

What is the formula? What is the recipe? Well, friends and neighbors, perhaps you and I need to have a chat. As we move into the new year, I am sure we will find ourselves face-to-face having a conversation anyway. There’s no way to ignore the fact that readers need new stories, and if you have a story for them, you may want to sit yourself down, look at the formula, and sell a few copies of your book. It’s only fair that a reader gets the chance to discover you, the author, and vice-versa. Overall, 2020 was a dynamic and exciting sales year for Westerns, and I believe with the rules that have been proven to stand true, we will repeat the same for 2021.

If you are interested in learning the formula, why don’t you drop me a note below? During this holiday season, it’s always a good time to yell over to your neighbor and say ‘howdy.’ Well, I’m yelling over to you—howdy, friend!

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The cool, calm sales formula we implanted for the 2020 selling season has hit pay dirt once again with two new Westerns from Cherokee Parks sitting inside the top twenty. Parks just can’t stop selling! The formula works and will keep working to bring success to our authors. Did you know we have, at times, over sixty books in the top one hundred at once? Isn’t that something else? Congratulations to Cherokee Parks! A true seller… and a man who knows his way around a formula!

“Matt Kincaid: Still Behind The Star” stands at #13 as “Matt Kincaid: The Reluctant Lawman” moves up to #7. How long will it be before “The Reluctant Lawman” hits NUMBER ONE?

There was a time when it was considered almost impossible to sell Westerns. All those know-it-all publishers would turn them down… flat! “There is no market for Westerns,” they would say with great wisdom while sipping their coffee. “The readers all died.” Now wait a second… are these people really going to tell you—or me—that there is no market for one of the oldest established genres in the world? What are these people truly thinking? It’s bordering on the ridiculous. And yet, this myth of the dead Western still persists. All the time people say… do Westerns actually sell? Well, as someone who has made a career from selling them, I can tell you categorically that they do. They sell to their readership in growing numbers.

Let’s look at some facts for a second. Facts. Not the assumption that something is dead. Let’s take a novel like “Trigger Finger” from Mike Mackessy. There stands a book that has been accepted by the traditional Western readership—and the wider readership beyond with increasing popularity. We call it a crossover success. Mackessy isn’t alone with his “crossover success.” There are many others out there—more and more every single day actually. More readers outside of the Western circle are picking up books they never believed that they would. Yet, somehow, they’re reading a novel set in the Old West. So not only do we have a living, vibrant Western readership—we are taking readers from other genres!

The only thing missing for many of the fine new books in the Western genre is that magic bullet. What is the magic bullet? Well… promotion. That’s the one thing many authors seem to struggle with. Now, I can tell you once promotion has been ignited, advertising has been applied, the correct cover has been added and readers take a chance and discover new stories, you’ll see what I mean. The Western lives. When a book is discovered, it’s only a matter of time before that converted reader, a brand-new fan of Westerns perhaps, becomes a fan of the genre and seeks out other writers with similar stories to tell.

No, the Western is not dying or dead or buried. The Western is alive, well and growing. All it takes is a little bit of honey, a little bit of gumption and some work with a sledgehammer and all Westerns can be placed to find their natural and growing readership. The honey brings the reader in, the gumption keeps the writer working, and the sledgehammer comes from promotion to keep your book front and center in front of the readership.

Let me ask you this—what are you doing to cultivate new readers or old fans of the genre? How are you promoting that book you’ve written? Have you been working on your keywords? Have you been running ads? Have you been reading blogs such as this for ideas to help promote your books?

I tell ya—there’s so much that can be done. Heck, I will put my money where my mouth is. I just had the number one Western success with “Nathan Gage and the Missing Woman” by C. Wayne Winkle. If you want some ideas of how to promote your work, email me and I’ll send you the formula we used on that book to start you on your merry way. I can’t say fairer than that. Fill in the contact form below, or email Nick@nickwale.org for your copy. Let’s get your Western selling.

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The cool, calm selling formula we implanted for the 2020 selling season has hit pay dirt once again with the latest C. Wayne Winkle smash sitting at NUMBER ONE on the bestseller chart. This is the third NUMBER ONE bestseller we have created in the last six months. In fact… as you can see, the whole top four is completely comprised of our authors. The formula works and will keep working to bring success to our authors. Did you know we have, at times, over sixty books in the top one hundred at once?  Isn’t that something else?

If you would like a copy of the formula created by our publicist Nick Wale to realize this great success for C. Wayne Winkle and many others, you can request it by emailing nick@nickwale.org.

It’s good news for C. Wayne Winkle as his latest success keeps making its way up the bestseller chart. This new Western adventure from one of the most exciting of all Western authors has been pleasing readers—and has reached the top!

Writers ask me all the time about titles for their books. The title for your book is one of the most important parts of the promotion process. The wrong title can set your book back saleswise. There are those who believe that short titles are the best. In actuality, longer titles and series names work best on the market.

Buzzwords

You need to feed the algorithm to give readers what it knows they want. Gunfight, Showdown, Justice, Riders, Bloodland, Mountains, Plains, Prairie, Gundown—buzzwords that will always increase your sales and bring reader attention. Try to include these in your titles for great effect with the algorithm. If you look at all the major successes, they all have algorithm-pleasing titles in common. The titles are “buzz-happy,” as I call them. A buzz-keyword should be working with the algorithm, not against it. Why do many of the books have samey-sounding names? Because that’s what our research has shown readers want to buy.

Market Research

If you find yourself struggling to find the right title, take a look at the Westerns that are currently selling and look for the trend. One thing that Western readers like is things they are familiar with. Be sure to give them what they like—a title that sounds like something they would read. Go on, go check out the bestseller list and pick something that sounds and smells like a hit. No, don’t use exact titles from other books, but come up with your own when you understand the parameters.

Character Names

Names of characters in titles increase sales because the algorithm picks up certain words and pushes them over other words. When the algorithm is pleased with a title, it is highly likely to jolt your book forward, increase the effectiveness of paid advertising, and encourage readers to buy your book. Readers, on the other hand, like to pick up stories that follow a central character. So, for best results, you must find a title that pleases the algorithm, which in turn seeks to please the readership, which in turn tells the algorithm what they want. Names in book titles have been proven time and time again to work.  Jake Timber, Shorty Thompson, Tennyson St John, Jake Jackson, Caleb Johnson—whatever you write, try to make it fit the algorithm by having a character name in the title.

Heck, I hope this article helps you. Drop a note to me through the contact form below if you would like to pick my brains about your book title. I would love to hear about your book, and most importantly meet the people who read my blog articles. Go on, the form is easy to fill in.

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