Well, Cherokee Parks has gone and done it. Four of his books are currently in the Western top 100. He will end up with a pretty decent-sized cut of Western sales this month, and it’s a fantastic thing to see. It’s also great to see Scott Harris, Mark Baugher, John D. Fie, Jr., David Watts, Paul L. Thompson, C. Wayne Winkle, M. Allen, and Lee Selders rolling up the bestseller charts… but what does that really mean? Well, to be on the top 100 Western bestsellers chart is to be a popular Western author. You remember when you used to buy records? You went to the store or bought a magazine and saw which record had hit the top of the billboard hit parade. Well, the Western top 100 is the same. That’s where you’ll find the bestselling Western novels in America. I don’t think many people truly understand how this works, so let’s talk about it for a while.
When a book is released and is starting to gain momentum, it may enter the Hot New Release chart. This is where contenders start to bubble and burn… you’ll see some books climb the Hot New Release chart and some books will fade out of it never to be seen again. Then, once a book has gained enough momentum, it’ll roll up and break into the top 100 Western bestsellers chart. This is where the action is, for a book in the top 100 can become a major hit. As the book increases in popularity, it can rise all the way to number one… or it can stay around the bottom of the chart just collecting sales.
And that’s basically the short and curlies of how the bestseller charts work. So, when you see a talented Western writer like Cherokee Parks placing four books in that bestseller chart, it’s a big deal. Four books scurried up the hot new release charts and planted themselves on the bestseller list. How did that happen? Well… it’s a dose of publicity, a dose of common sense, a dose of keywords, a dose of advertising and a dose of good writing. Put these together and you may very well get yourself a hit book. Now, Cherokee has a long way to go before he can match Paul L. Thompson who, at one point, had SEVENTEEN books on the bestseller chart… but considering most authors don’t even get one on the chart, I think Cherokee has done just fine. Don’t you?
So, what’s stopping your Western from hitting the charts? Let me ask you a big question. Do you have a few minutes to stop by and read an article I wrote about Western success? You don’t? Well… maybe we’ll talk again some other time. I know time is valuable and there’s only so much of it in each day. Come back any time you please. When you get a few moments, try this article about Western success. Just click here and see if this helps you some.
As always, it’s been a pleasure talking to you. I’m going to get back to work now. I’m glad we got to have our coffee break and talk about the bestseller charts. If you want another coffee, help yourself, and if you want to ask me any questions, just use the form below and send it on over. I’ll be with you as soon as I can.
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