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“…a wonderfully interesting and romantic story. Any reader who likes baseball, American historical fiction or a good romance story will enjoy this book.” –Karen Walpole for Readers’ Favorite

Player-manager Rory Fitzgerald’s 1891 Richmond Elite Professional Baseball Club enjoys an abundance of talent but isn’t exactly the most disciplined team in the league. When U.S. president Benjamin Harrison makes a surprise appearance at a game between Fitzgerald’s club and the pesky Baltimore Schooners, the Elite let bad habits take hold and soon find themselves on the wrong end of a developing rout. Hoping to avert embarrassment in front of the president and his guests, the young manager inserts himself into the lineup.
Fitzgerald indeed gets a hit, a fly ball that easily outdistances anything he has ever batted before. The dream hit, however, quickly turns into a nightmare. Fickle as ever, fate carries the ball over the right-field wall only to drop it–of all places–squarely on the rump of the snoozing horse hitched to the president’s waiting carriage. And the carriage isn’t empty. Having retired from the grandstand early, the president’s daughter and her companion are sitting in the open coach, while their driver stands on the sidewalk nearby. The startled horse bolts, and everything goes downhill from there.

Before Fitzgerald knows it, his unlikely hit lands him in the middle of a high-stakes contest for public opinion. Stoked by the press, unexpectedly fueled by politics, and heatedly debated by “polite” society, nothing less than the future of professional baseball hangs in the balance.

When Fitzgerald’s solution to the conundrum gets him booted from the sport–and livelihood–he loves, will anyone in high places go to bat for him?

Grab your copy today by clicking here and start reading!

The spellbinding new Western adventure from acclaimed author Arl Farris. This is rip-roaring action, adventure and drama taking place on the Western frontier. When a dangerous town is in dire need, Juan Castillo is the man for the job!

Tucson has a problem. Their sheriffs keep getting killed. Federal Marshal Juan Miguel Castillo is sent there to settle things down until a new sheriff can take over. But settling things down means bringing in a band of outlaws with a history of killing anyone who gets in their way. On his trusty warhorse, Nola, Juan trails his quarry deep into Apache territory. The marshal is plenty good with a gun and trained to handle any bandito, but nothing in his past has prepared him for the woman from Delilah’s Saloon.

Grab your copy of this fresh new Western adventure from an author who knows how to bring characters to life, and make them dangerous for the world to see! Grab your copy today from Amazon by clicking here!

Having just scored another number one bestseller with his latest Western, Paul L. Thompson is sitting pretty with an excitingly high sales year already in motion. But what causes an author to continuously keep hitting the top spot with each new release?

Let’s recap a little. In December, Paul L. Thompson released “You Shot Me Once! Never Again!” and it soared to the top. That Western was a move away from his “Shorty Thompson” character and, looking at the numbers, it seems the readers approved. Then he released “We’re Gonna Die, Ain’t We, Danny,” which went all the way to number one and now—the hat trick—his latest Western “One Sweet Kiss” has taken the top spot. That’s his third number one bestseller of the year already under his belt.

But how exactly does this happen? What causes such a string of hits?

In the beginning stages, it comes down to you, me and them. That’s the answer. You, as the writer, create a Western adventure that readers will want to read. Me—I put the book in the position of being seen; and then there’s them—yes, those good folks who see, purchase and read the books. Those are the people we are most interested in hearing from. They call all the shots.

That’s the relationship we must get our heads around to understand the selling of books. You write them, I sell them, and readers read what they want to read.

Once the book starts to get noticed and starts being read, it comes down to you once again—it is your job, as the writer, to write another book that the readers will enjoy. Then it’s my turn. My job is to make sure the readers see it and bounce from the first book to the second.

Now this is the stage where most writers stumble and fail. They can’t maintain the pace that is needed to be a topflight Western author. They can’t get that next story finished. The momentum is lost and the success dwindles.

But for those who can write with speed and accuracy, the successes just keep on rolling as long as the author has new product to feed the reader. The reader is voracious, and when he takes a liking to a certain author, he immediately rushes out and tries to get more books by that author. On and on and on it goes.

The relationship between me, you and them is the way to capitalize on the momentum. But how do we get the momentum going in the first place? That’s where S-O-L-E-S comes into play. Now write this down…

S: SOLES. Yes, the soles of your shoes have to be a solid basis for your footwear. Without the sole, the boot would be useless. This means that we have to take a look at the catalogue of books being sold. The categories, the keywords, the covers, the reviews—will this book move? Is this a book a potential reader will want to read? Do you have the correct SOLE for your catalogue, or will that first nail stick straight into your foot and cripple you? With Cherokee Parks, we decided to re-release his whole catalogue fresh and start from there. It worked. Can this work for you?

O: ORGANIZATION. The way your books are organized can either make or break your sales attempts. For example, are all of your books attached to your author page? Does your series have a series page? Do you have editorial reviews? Is the first book in your series listed as the first? Are you organized to make sales happen?

L: LEARN: Yes, I know, everyone knows everything, right? Well, we don’t. What do you know about the readership? Which books are most popular, which authors are the topsellers, who has new releases coming out, how are other books being sold, are audiobooks the big thing? What is happening within the genre? This is the learning stage. You’ve done everything you can think to sell your books and now you have to look at what others are doing—reading this blog could be considered learning! How can you add to what you already have to create sales success for your books? In the case of Cherokee, it was to go ahead and put together a Mountain Man project—a project we knew readers would go ape for. We were proven correct. That Mountain Man hit went to number one—it’s called “The Trader.”

E: ENERGIZE: Get those books ready for sale, start your ads, get inside the top one hundred of your given categories. Get onto the project and start reeling in those sales. This is the time for advertising, for capitalizing, SEO optimization, for keyword initiatives and cross-promotion. It’s time for getting into the game and bringing those sales into your fold.

S: SALES: The final step is to start counting the sales and find out what worked and what didn’t work. Which book performed best? What worked best for your books? What could you have done to have increased sales? This is the reflection before the whole thing starts again—and it will start again—because you have to go for gold with SOLES to keep those sales coming in!

So now you should have an understanding of how to get your books noticed, and how to keep readers coming back. Of course, there is more to it. Heck, if you feel the need to ask questions, just drop me a note below. I’m always happy to hear from authors.

It’s always a pleasure to see a brand new Western author score a hit with one of his first books. “A Mark Stone Western: The Ride For Revenge” is a tremendous action-packed Western and it was no surprise to me to see it climb into the upper reaches of the bestseller chart. Congratulations, Malcolm.

What’s it about?

Mark Stone is the sheriff in the southern Utah town of Pine Tree. When his former girlfriend, who is also the daughter of one of the most prominent ranchers in the area, is kidnapped by the rogue, Dak Waters, Mark enlists the help of his older brother Will, and younger brother Jack, in an attempt to rescue her. Mark also calls on his friend, the Reverend John Greer, who is a .45-wearing preacher, that spends a lot of his spare time at the local house of ill repute.

The evil that is inherent in Dak, and the elements of the southern Utah wilderness are the background for this Western adventure.

Grab your copy today!

As predicted… C. Wayne Winkle has taken the number one spot with his latest Western “Lucas Poteet – Family Ties.” This one has all the hallmarks of being a long, long term Western success. C. Wayne has had several number one bestsellers. I’m sure he’s very excited to be at the top once again!

But… what is this one about?

On the ranch for about six months, Lucas faces hostility from the two hired hands and discovers a woman and her son living in a remote cabin on his property. Who were they? What were they doing in such an out-of-the-way place?
As he deals with this and the approaching winter, a young woman arrives in Santa Fe saying she’s the daughter of Ellis Conroy, Lucas’s cousin who tried to kill him and take the ranch. She begins making friends in Santa Fe and asking about the legality of the Spanish land grant that formed the basis of the ranch.

At the same time, Boone Jenkins escapes from a prison wagon and sets out with his gang to find the Deputy Sheriff who put him there. This puts the gang right on the trail to run across Lucas.

What follows is betrayal and gunfire. Click here to grab your copy of this number one bestseller!

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.

It’s a beautiful day today. Scotty V. Casper, one of the hardest working, Western authors has finally scored his first top one hundred Western entry. His latest book “Dispute At Devil’s Slide: A Kid Utah Western Adventure” made it’s first appearance at #48. This just goes to show that there is nothing like hard work, and a good promotional strategy to get Western authors moving those books!

What’s the story about?

The year was 1893 and it was close to becoming a brand new century, and with that the Old West was close to being tamed. Law enforcement had crept into every quadrant of the Old West and the lawlessness was near to being pushed out. Kid Utah had been a part of that lawless era, on the right side of the law. He had been a bounty hunter and one of the best, and there had been no man better with a six shooter, nor had any man been more fearless. But he had married a little firecracker of a woman named Amanda and he had hung his twin .44 Russians on a hook and started a horse ranch up Snake Creek Canyon above beautiful Heber Valley in Utah Territory. He had pretty much been halter broken by the little woman, but all that had ended when two Mexican outlaws rode onto the Flying Hooves Horse Ranch and killed several of their prize horses and a gentle young horse wrangler named Brett Pope. Well, there was nothing for it, Kid Utah pulled the Russians down from the hook and set off on a journey of revenge. Click here to grab your copy!

What could be more wonderful for a cowboy author than the feat of climbing all the way to the top of the Western bestseller charts? It’s a difficult job—but someone has to be number one, right? When I first started helping authors sell their books, there was a certain author who used to hold the top spot (and many other chart positions) for months. He was the top dog. This very talented author would release a book every thirty days and… it would reach the very top of the bestseller chart. We—myself and fledgling Western authors—would marvel at his top successes, but how was it done? How did he manage to turn out hit after hit after hit?

In the beginning stages, it comes down to you, me and them. That’s the answer. You, as the writer, create a Western adventure that readers will want to read. Me—I put the book in the position of being seen; and then there’s them—yes, those good folks who see, purchase and read the books. Those are the people we are most interested in hearing from. They call all the shots.

I think it’s a misconception that writers have, thinking their own taste will match that of the reader. This has proven to be a mistake time and time again. The reader marches to his own drum. The reader buys what the reader wants to buy—and no amount of prophesizing, bullying and/or advertising can make the reader do something they don’t want to do. Remember, any salesman worth his salt knows that when you make a sale—you’re helping the other person, who will in turn help you. All of this obsessive, high-powered selling that authors try to do is ridiculous. Give the reader what the reader wants, and in return, the reader will purchase your books.

Now, I understand some authors just want to write what they want to write and design the cover they want to see on the book. That’s fine. But for those who are looking for a great success, looking to sell a lot of books, looking to be a bestseller—you’ve got to get down to the brass tacks. The reader calls the shots.

That great author who so inspired my work had the knack for understanding what readers wanted. By studying his work, I could see that he approached covers with an eye toward the reader who so adores Western novels. He approached using titles that could have easily been used for a Western motion picture. He came up with names, series titles—the works—the man was a genius. But what happened to him?

He became so aware of the Western readership that he thought he could influence readers to buy what they didn’t want. Poor choice after poor choice was made. Bad covers, second rate titles, sloppy writing. He was hit by the need for greed—and, consequently, out went the readers’ needs, out went the need to please those silent partners who read the books, and in came the callous, green greed. His run of successes was over. He was no more.

And in came Paul L. Thompson. So far, we have had eighty-one successes together. Millions of pages read. He was followed by… well, you name them! Cherokee Parks, Robert Hanlon, C. Wayne Winkle, Mike Mackessy, Mark Baugher, William H. Joiner, Jr., James Scott, Randall Dale—heck, I can’t keep reading them off. But the point is: When you’re looking to sell books, don’t forget that your best friend is the reader, and that reader can become more and more enamoured… or drop you like a hot stone if you give them reason to.

You may even find that you enjoy the process of pleasing readers with books more than writing ’em! It’s a good feeling when you hit the top. Now, if you have any questions, send me a note through the form below. Always happy to hear from you!

Sitting at NUMBER ONE we have “C-Bar: Book Twelve” from long, long time bestseller Mark Baugher. Mark has been a strong seller for DS Productions since he was first introduced to the market in 2018… and now his new book has just continued the trend. This one was driven up the charts using a mixture of inter-author promotion techniques and pure advertising.

But what’s the book about?

Guns! Glory! Action! From Mark Baugher, the bestselling author of “C-Bar,” comes his latest Western, “C-Bar: Volume Twelve.” Action, adventure and gun-smarts come in many forms. For Baugher, it comes in the form of his ability to write Westerns—a Western he knows how to write better than almost anyone else.

In the 12th volume of the C-Bar Ranch saga, Roy and his crew from Wells Fargo are chasing the Mexican gangster known as Chacon. In the process, they run into Roy’s dear old friend, Easy Breezy. Sit around the fire and listen to Easy’s adventures as he catches up the group on what’s been going on with him.

The C-Bar saga continues with this exciting Western adventure! Grab your copy today!

It’s always a lot of fun to see books inside the top one hundred on the bestseller list… but it’s even more fun to see books inside the top ten. Take a look at this festival of hits. Mike Mackessy stands at #9 with “Mountain Life.” James Scott stands at #7 with “Tyler Purdom: Silver Eagle.” Paul L. Thompson stands at #2 with “You Shot Me Once! Never Again” and Cherokee Parks holds #1 and #10 with two of his hits. “The Trader” is at the top. “Silver, Gold and Blood in Arizona” sits at #10. Congratulations, all!