Nov 13
It’s good news for Mike Mackessy as his latest success keeps making its way up the bestseller chart. This new Western adventure from one of the most dependable of all Western authors has been pleasing readers—and has landed at NUMBER ONE! “Trigger Finger” stands at NUMBER TWO! It’s a Mackessy fiesta!
Nov 11
It’s good news for Cherokee Parks as his latest success keeps making its way up the bestseller chart. This new Western adventure from one of the most dependable of all Western authors has been pleasing readers—and could easily be his next NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER!
Nov 09
One of the most interesting things about this year has been the sheer number of new faces on the scene riding their way up, up, up to the top of the Western bestseller chart. You know choosing the Westerns that will sell isn’t so easy—but when you have the right talent, the right property and the right strategy you can move yourself, your book and your sales forward and make what might have been considered once moonbeams into the plain, true reality. You can approach and strike the fancy of readers and lead them on an adventure they did not know they would take. This was what Scotty V. Casper did earlier this year. He went from being a middling author, making a few dollars per month, to becoming one of the hottest new sellers in town. Four of his Westerns have been featured inside the hallowed top one hundred, all four currently being read this very moment by readers around the globe.
I know, I know… if you ruled the world, your book would be a great success. But right now, let’s talk about how we manage to make your book a success once you’ve had it on the market and that barely read book has bounced around without finding readership. This takes a little nerve—yes—you’ve got to have some nerve and give up that willy wangling about the readership not existing (Ha ha! says the selling Western author), or readers not understanding you, or that your book has the greatest cover. No, you’ve got to put these thoughts back inside the bottle and forget about them for a moment.
Cold hard reasoning is what is going to save the day for your book. See, I believe many Western books can be sold. No, it is not some fanciful sales pitch—I have nothing to sell. It’s a matter of strategy. Let me tell you about Mr. Casper. Scotty and I worked hard to make his books a great success, but it was a formula we followed and built our combined success from. It’s a formula that makes a book palatable, enjoyable, exciting, a must purchase for a reader. A formula that drives an author to a new level of success, and I am going to write the formula below. You can take it for what it’s worth, but I’d say that Scotty is fairly happy to have four Western novels in the top one hundred—and you would, too.
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. This is your introduction to the brand new world of selling Westerns—the THREE C’s you can use in your own promotions.
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 this 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.
Now, if you have any questions, let me know. You can email me at Nick@nickwale.org. I would love to answer your questions about how to position your book for success. Reach, and let’s see what we can come up with. It might just be kismet. You never know.
Nov 02
To highlight the very special nature of October 2020 for Western authors—I would like to share the terrific news that Mike Mackessy hit the top spot with “Trigger Finger,” a Western novel we worked very hard to build and implement a strategy for. This book has been one of those releases that just took off from the day it was born. Congratulations, Mike! This was just another success on your road to the very top!
Oct 07
It takes a writer of talent to be able to write anything—and that’s the challenge William H. Joiner was given when he was asked to cut into his busy schedule and write a Mountain Man adventure. Joiner, never scared, ran out and plotted a tale that readers will agree will be one of the finest Mountain Man adventures of today. The name of this novel? “Jack Flint: Mountain Man.” You’ll be able to pre-order your copy soon—don’t worry I’ll let you know when it’s ready to go. Right now, feast your eyes on this morsel from the story…
Jack began the grim task of burying Kit. When Jack gingerly turned Kit on his side, Jack’s heart jumped with the low moan from his friend. Jack gently laid Kit back on his stomach. Jack knew he was going to have to cut the arrows out. He was afraid that Kit would not survive the removal of the arrows. After building a fire that would cauterize his knife blade, Jack began the delicate task of cutting out the arrows without killing Kit.
An hour later sweat was dripping from Jack’s brow as he laid the second arrow by the first. Jack bound up Kit’s wounds with moss from a nearby rock crevice. Jack sighed, “That’s all I know to do, Kit…The rest is up to you.” Three days later Kit regained consciousness, “What are you trying to do? Kill me by starving me to death? Rustle up some grub!” Jack grinned. He knew if Kit felt well enough to complain, he was going to be alright.
Two days passed until Kit was sitting upright. He asked, “So you’re telling me that you killed three Crow warriors all by your lonesome?” Jack pointed to the three scalps hanging on a tree limb, “You forget I was an Apache warrior.” Kit conceded, “Well…I guess…But you ain’t much more than a snot-nose kid.”
A week after he had been shot, Kit declared, “We gotta be going. Them Crow you dusted has to have been missed by now. They got braves out searching for them. We’re lucky they ain’t found us already! It’s a good thing you were smart enough to hobble their ponies before they high-tailed it back to the village. I’ll ride one. You ride the other. The third one will take Jenny’s place. I know of some rocky ground that them injuns can’t track us across.” Jack snorted, “I could track you.” Kit retorted, “You can’t do no such thing!” Jack grinned as he nodded, “Even though I was young, I was the best tracker in my tribe. I learned from my father, Great Hawk. All the Apache said he was the best tracker who ever lived. One day Great Hawk told the village that I had become better than him. He called it a gift from the Great Spirit.” Looking at the doubt that showed in Kit’s face, Jack suggested, “Why don’t we have a test? I will give you an hour’s head start. You go across your “untrackable” ground. I will come and find you.” Kit shrugged, “Okay, but I know I’m going to have to come back looking for you.”
Kit rode two miles up a rocky creek before exiting on a bed of loose shale. He chuckled out loud, “Okay, young Jack, unless you can smell like a wolf, good luck on sniffing me out!” Kit continued up a steep climb to the top of a box canyon. He marveled as he patted his horse, “I got to admit them Crow know horses. You’re a good ‘un.” Kit tied off his pony and tore off a plug of tobacco. He savored the taste with a sigh, “When I get my fill of this here tobaccey, I reckon I’ll start back to find my wandering boy.”
Mountain men learn to grab rest when they can. Kit momentarily closed his eyelids. The sixth sense that helped keep Kit alive all these years alerting him to Indians and predators trying to kill him, sent a warning spiking through his brain. He searched with his eyes never moving his head. Slowly Kit tilted his head downward locating the sound that disrupted his rest. Kit grinned as he saw Jack picking his way up the steep slope, riding one Indian pony while pulling the other. He spat, “Well, I’ll be a suck-egg mule! That boy done it!”
Kit never acknowledged him as Jack slid off the horse. Finally Kit looked at Jack, “Took you long enough. I figured you’d been scalped or et by a bear by now…You know it ain’t easy looking through bear shit trying to figure if a man was in there someplace!” Jack smiled, “That’ll be the day.”
Sep 22
Even today, with many other hitmakers in the charts, people ask me about the promotions used on Randall Dale last year to create his ascent from one of the many acclaimed Western authors with middling sales to one of the leading sellers of that time. The ascent was a lot of hard work and planning, but it was also a very satisfying as he reached the very top of the bestseller chart. To illustrate the promotion involved, I have reused a blog article from last year that gave the step-by-step strategy used to make Randall one of the lead sellers of 2019. Let’s zip back to 2019 and look at the strategy. Perhaps you can make it work for you.
When Randall Dale released his new series, nobody could have predicted the absolutely mania that would follow. Not only have the first two books in the series hit the number one bestseller position, but his back catalogue has flared up to create something of a rush on Randall Dale product. This month, an estimated two and a half million pages of Dale product will be read, and books that long stood dormant will become in demand for Western readers around the world. The award-winner has proven that you can be both commercially successful and acclaimed at the same time.
The quality of Dale product has worked in his favor to such a degree, there is little or no problem envisioning that people will rush to buy his latest book on pre-order. Smart promotion has ensured that he is not overexposed.
Anyone can use similar techniques to bring their books to the fore. With the Western readership crying out for good, new stories— it’s likely your book will find acceptance. As long as you have a quality story to share, you make it visible—and you follow the three C’s—you can’t go far wrong. What are the three C’s you ask?
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 this 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.
Randall, among many other authors, is the perfect example of an author who has used the three C’s to make his series a success. He’s consistent, committed and cool—with his level head, drive and maturity—and all of these things have driven his book to the highs they currently hold as much as any advertising or promotion.
How about you? Are you able to copy this strategy to make your books successful? I think so. You don’t need anything other than yourself to be successful. You can do it yourself. Anyone can do it. I believe in you—and I like you—and others will like your book too. Try the strategy outlined in this post for yourself. Be consistent, committed, and cool, make your book visible and share your story with the world using the three C’s!
Sep 17
Have you ever considered why some authors just seem to hit the ground running? Why does an abundance of sales come to some so easily, but with such difficulty to others? I have often found myself thinking about this. At times, I have watched the growth of some books and the descent of other books wondering, considering, asking myself why one book outsold another.
On one level, I suppose it’s fairly easy to find simple explanations for this. The book that sold was the better book, right? The one that hit number one must be the best book of all? No, I dispute that. I don’t think readers go for the “best” book. I think readers go for what tickles their fancy at any given time. For example, have you ever been in a record store? I’m sure you have. Now, musically, the classical music is the oldest, wisest and most beautiful music—but you came out with a Charlie Pride album, didn’t you? You know you did. Because Charlie was to your taste and Mozart is for old biddies.
So we could say the ascent of certain authors comes from the fact that they hit the ground running with the very product readers want. So, what do readers want? Let me run these points by you for consideration.
Covers
Dispute it all you want—and people do all the time—but readers pick up certain covers over other covers. Yes, every person has a vision for a “perfect” cover, but the readers will still buy what they want over the vision you want to present. Sometimes the two visions collide. The reader and the author are one. The fact is that simple Western covers emphasising the title and author name tend to sell better than complicated covers. Bold colors tend to sell better than washed-out colors. Blue skies tend to sell better than dark skies. The research shows the way to go with covers, so have you considered this?
Stories
Certain stories do sell better than others. This is true and undisputed by all. Lawmen, bounty hunters, and mountain men account for a huge amount of Western sales each month. Although our genre is known for its Indians, few Indian-centric Westerns sell. The action-to-drama ratio comes into play here, too. Readers like a good mix of action and drama. Try not to make the book wall-to-wall bloodletting, but don’t be afraid to put a few good doses of guns and grit to get the reader involved. Have you considered this?
Marketing
Yes, the great behemoth. Marketing. How does one go about selling a book? Well, I can only tell you the formula I like to use with my clients. Cover, content, forewords, keywords, categories and advertising in that order. We work out the cover first, then we look at the selling material inside and outside the book, we add forewords, keywords, pick the right categories and then run advertising. It’s simple when described in these terms, but it’s actually a process like anything else, and it tends to work. The hit-to-flop ratio stands fairly high in favor of the hit. Have you considered using a formula like this?
Series
It’s a tried and tested thing that a series always beats a stand-alone Western. This is mainly because it gives you extra bites of the cherry to make sales happen. For example, if the first book in a series doesn’t sell, you can back-sell the first through the launch of the second, and on, and on and on. Options for repackaging are also opened up—for example, Paul L. Thompson is on his eightieth Shorty Thompson story. There’s no doubt about it, a series is the way to go for longevity. Have you considered a series?
There are a few points for consideration regarding what might be needed to make your books successful. There’s no doubt that Westerns are popular at the moment and a long list of bestsellers came from the same place you are today. Mike Mackessy, C. Wayne Winkle, William H. Joiner, Robert Hanlon, Harvey Wood… the list is endless. Take a look at my considerations and see what you think. Can you make these work for you? Feel free to drop me a note below if you want to discuss any of them. I’m always happy to share what I know with authors.
Aug 26
Recently, a very talented writer, and friend, was on his way to the top of the charts. His book was climbing with each passing day, his sales piling up, and readers were finding and liking his other books. This tremendous talent had one problem. He was scared. He felt that he was growing too quickly; he was taking on too much, too soon. He dropped off, dropped out. But let me tell you, friend, fear is a natural part of life. There’s no doubt about it. Many of us live in fear but conquer our fears every single day we draw breath—but fear was holding back this particular author. His fear told him to stop promoting, to stop pushing those books, and his fear dictated the outcome. Soon his book was dropping down, further and further, until it fell out of the bestseller chart, until it left the bestselling solar system and found itself on the outer reaches of the bestseller universe. Now the book is beyond saving. It is cascading to the very bottom of the rankings. His fear won its grisly prize.
And that author lost a golden chance to build a career.
If you’re afraid, you’re not alone. The average author finds him or herself living with fear every single day of the year. Will readers like my new book? Will it sell? Will it ruin my career? Will it ever reach the top where the sunlight of the readers will shine onto it? Fear is one of the most dangerous parts of our business—and fear reigns supreme. Unfortunately, fear overcame that author and caused him to throw his book to the depths of the book business.
Now, if you ask me, it’s important to understand something about fear. Sure, it can disable you, but it can feed you too. I say it’s the duty of all humans to prove fear wrong—to reach for more and to ride harder to get there. If you are feeling fear—good! You care about your product enough to want it to be a success. Embrace the fear, mull over the worst case scenario, let the fear be the flames lapping against your feet as you pull yourself up. There’s no pain without gain, and believing in your fear might be the one thing that drives your book in front of the competition. I say let’s welcome fear and invite it in, then conquer it. Things are never as bad as we make them out to be. Every time one of my authors worries about their next book, I say wait just a few weeks. Frequently, we’ll find the book is scurrying up, up, and away as it climbs the bestseller chart.
I say your book will also climb the bestseller chart. Are you going to give it a try? Are you going to push it up there?
Aug 14
The following just goes to show that when you tell me you want to be a success, I believe in you. Let me tell you something. Big Jim Williams has never been a wallflower when it comes to promoting his work. With an excellent work ethic, a perfect mixture of patience and ideas, he has proven that it only takes time for a Western author to become a success if he keeps his end message in sight. Jim Williams was, a year ago, a Western author without a successful book to his name. Sure, he had won awards and all of that zany stuff, but as for sales? He was without a hit. Now, without much warning, he has two books inside the top one hundred and a third lurching it’s way to the top.
How did Jim do it? How do any of them do it? How does Robert Hanlon keep banging out those top one hundred bestsellers? Well, he wasn’t thinking about the birds, the trees, the fish in the rivers and all of that. He was crafting new stories.
All jest aside, it takes a lot to become a Western success, but the most important ingredient has and always will be ‘true grit.’ You see, an author like Jim Williams takes a ‘no’ in only one way—it is simply a yes that hasn’t made up its mind yet. Readers may have turned up their nose at two of his earlier books, but he did not let that get him down. He just kept on going, and eventually readers took to him as a frog takes to greenfly. He knew it was time for a great success.
It’s all about the mindset, I believe. If you believe you will be a success and you do all the things that will make you a success eventually, it can’t help but pay off. Take any of the great successes of today on the Western market. Billy Joiner? He keeps pounding out his books onto the market without delay. Scotty V. Casper? He jumped right in and became a great success with his mountain man adventure. Harvey Wood? He doesn’t even question it—he jumps right in and writes whatever is needed. That’s why readers love him so. They know they’ll get exactly what they want. How about Robert Hanlon? Heck… you can’t keep him from writing Western novels. He so embraces the love of the readers, he has become addicted.
This is the big secret. The hallowed secret of Western success. You cannot just sit around hoping that readers will discover you. You must search out the readers and give them what they are asking for. That’s the business we are in. Of course, advertising plays a huge part in the success of any Western novel, but the mindset of the author is more important.
The Eeyore negative Western author who denies the joy and love of the book business is never a pleasant experience. They have not embraced that they are blessed to experience a changing world in which their book can become a great success. I say to that creature: let the love in and let it flow to your books. They have got to understand that the world is not for long. And yet, to them, everything is wrong, they will never be discovered, they have no hope of being discovered, and they jump from frenzied ideas of varying quality to the depths of depression when their zany ideas do not work. This is something I often marvel about. The failed idea is the confidence sucker and the kiss of death for these people. They put so many eggs into their basket, when it inevitably drops, their eggs are broken.
The positive successful Western author doesn’t need to jump around like a thing possessed. He knows that the next story, the next cover, the next release will be the one that breaks him through if he opens his eyes and looks at the industry around him. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to follow the trends of the market—and once you get a success, you can write whatever you fancy. Readers will follow if they were hooked by that first book.
So, as we move into hot selling months, this article is all about your mindset. You, the author, are you one of those people who finds a negative in every statement? Are you one who doesn’t believe in the magic of the book business? Are you one who finds themselves telling the world what they cannot do? I invite you to change your mindset and open yourself up to the selling Western market. It’s one heck of a party, and you can become a part of it because what we need is new Western authors.
You’ve got to understand the world is not for long. There’s only time for creativity and praising and having a writing party. Don’t be Eeyore. What we need is new Western writers. We don’t have any time to wait got to get those books out on the market, selling and pleasing readers. And you can do that. Believe me. Give up the negativity and open yourself up to the possibilities.
If you would like to contact me, you can. Just fill in the form below and drop me a line. Always happy to hear from you.
Jul 24
As we all know, it can take some time to take off as a writer—and it takes courage to keep promoting a book. How can you keep going when nothing is happening? Where are those multitudes of readers you keep hearing about? Yes, it’s a lonely business. Those at the top know that Western readers are some of the most voracious readers in the world—they tend to read book, after book, after book from their favorite authors—but those at the bottom of the ladder see no proof of this. How can it be that a writer just suddenly takes off and become a hot new favorite? Well, this discussion we are having is about Charles Ray. He is one of the new favorites who has found himselves in this enviable position. Charlie is a prolific writer who only needed one thing—a hit Western—to bring readers flooding to his door.
Just as you have faith as you pray, Charlie always had faith in his writing. Book after book after book found readers without complaint, but when he recently sat down to write his first Mountain Man adventure, the book shot up the charts like a thing possessed. It was a chart hit that he has quickly followed up with another success and no doubt a third is on the way. He is on the road to great success.
But how does a book from an author just come out and become a great success? How do you go from Nowheresville to the top ten in just a few breezy weeks, and how do you follow up such success? Well… let’s discuss it, friend. Pull up a chair and sit yourself down.
Prospecting and Initial Contact
We had an author who has all the talent in the world, but he hadn’t yet scored a big hit. Why? What was the reason? Why was this author not connecting with readers? All the questions you might ask yourself privately—but in this case, the answers are simple. We put together a product that follows the hit formula and that formula will tell us if readers will nibble. Mountain men? Hot business. We lead with a new character, we give him a situation we know readers will be interested in, and we pull together a cover we know readers will engage with.
Qualifying
Okay, so they say anyone can write a good read, but the key here is good. Is the book good enough for the reader to take onboard and enjoy? Yes, your mother liked it; yes, your sister liked it. Sure, your uncle liked it—but will readers? How do we discover the answer to this? We use beta readers who will score the book. High scoring means the book is going to the next stage. Low scoring sends the book back to the author for re-evaluation.
Assessment
We have a fair idea if the book reaches this stage that the book has a shot of gaining traction on the market. But now we have to plan ahead—what do we do once this book is on the market and gaining attention? Do we need a second book ready before release? Do we need a second book two months after release? What do we follow up with? Do we have a box set of the author’s older books to roll with? These questions need to be answered early, so we should have it all sorted out before we go any further. Makes sense, no?
I Hate That…
“I hate that cover,” is one thing I remember an author screaming down the phone at me. “I hate it!” I asked why he hated it. He hated the coloring. I asked him to give it a try. He wouldn’t. He wanted to design his own cover. Fine. He got with the designer and designed a new cover. The cover he rejected went to another author. Six months later, the rejected cover was at number one and the cover he chose was being replaced due to low sales. The moral of the story? Object all you want. You may even get your wish. But keep in mind, a hit cover is a hit cover and it doesn’t care which book it ends up on. The goal here is to sell books. If you hate a cover—you really can’t stand it!— but it doesn’t matter. It’s what the reader wants that counts.
Closing
The book is ready for release—it has a cover we feel will sell, it has forewords, it is a solid product. We are ready for market. The book heads to market and now we are ready to see if readers will give you that golden shot. The once in a lifetime opportunity. The ads will get you in front of readers, the cover will get them to look inside, but once inside, it’s between you and the reader. Exciting.
Westerns work to a formula like anything else. You have those cowboy books lying around doing nothing? Want to get something done? Why don’t you drop me a line and ask a few questions and get a direction? We might as well do something with them. Readers are looking for new books all the time… You can contact me by clicking here.
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