Charles Ray Pens New Guidebook To Help Would-Be Western Authors
April 11, 2024|Authors, DSP Articles
After years of the asking—Charles Ray has finally done it. He has penned his first writing guide for would-be Western authors with all the hints, tips and tricks a top selling Western author can come up with to help new writers on their writing journey.
With the Western going through something of a rebirth, it seemed to be just the right time for an author to put together a guide to writing Westerns for the modern audience. The guide is certainly not definitive and doesn’t promote itself as such—it is a starting place for those who are interested in riding down a trail that will lead them in front of a growing and vibrant new audience.
With more readers tuning back into the Western genre each and every day, it was inevitable that a guide such as ““How To Write Westerns For The Modern Reader” would be released—and we are proud that the first writing guide of its kind will be released by DSP and was penned by Charles Ray, a mainstay in the top one hundred bestseller list with his popular series, including “Jacob Blade: Vigilante,” “Caleb Johnson: Mountain Man” and “Rusty Rhodes.”
“This is a book we will be giving to all of our new signings,” DSP Chief Publicist Nick Wale explained when asked about the writing guide. “‘How To Write Westerns For The Modern Reader’ should help all authors get off on the right foot and write books that will connect almost immediately with our readership.”
“How To Write Westerns For The Modern Reader” will be released next week and will be available as a Kindle e-Book from Amazon.
The year 2023 has been an exceptional one for Western hitmaker Charles Ray. His books have continued to please Western readers around the world, with many of them placing inside the top one hundred bestseller chart and putting smiles on the faces of fans of Old West fiction. His philosophy of using a “rotation” strategy to bring readers three different books each month, continuing his three most successful series, has proven to be a solid strategy and only one that an author of immense concentration, drive and charisma could pull off.
“Texas Ranger J.D. Pettit,” “Jacob Blade: Vigilante,” and “Caleb Johnson: Mountain Man” are all booming brands for Ray, with readers constantly waiting for the next book in the series. The work that Charles puts into these series make them must-read, addictive reading.
Hard work makes for a lot of the Ray success—he’s always working on that next book. Rarely a week goes by without a new Charles Ray adventure, and readers love that consistency. Often we get emails asking about the next Caleb Johnson—his most popular series—and we can always assure the reader that the next adventure is literally just around the corner.
Even with his own busy personal schedule, he manages to keep his readers entertained—and in a business where people’s personal lives often intrude into their writing lives, Charles shines as an example of separating his writing from his business life, never letting either down.
So, what is next for Charles Ray? Well, more of the same, of course. In 2024, he will continue his rotation. As long as the world keeps spinning, we will keep seeing brand new adventures from the very talented Mr. Ray. In fact, there’s one on the way right now—“Rusty Rhodes: Bounty Hunter: The Bone Wars.” You see, as this article was written, he wrote another book!
Check the following link for an interview I did for Dusty Saddle Publishing, an imprint of DS Productions. Tells all about how I got into writing and my writing techniques.
October 13, 2021 – DS Productions (DSP) – the home of some of the biggest selling Western authors in the genre – is excited to announce that they will be hosting a multi-author virtual signing event, Best Sellers Live! The event will be a historic first for the Western genre and a revolutionary step forward for Western authors, readers, and publishers.
About the Event:
Six best-selling Western fiction authors have teamed up with DSP to put together The Signature Classic Collector’s Edition: Hunt of the Mountain Man. Each author has contributed a short story featuring the popular heroes from their Western novels. Each book purchased for the event will be signed by all six of the authors.
The virtual signing will take place on Thursday, November 18th at 9:00pm Eastern Time via Zoom. Everyone who purchases a book for the event or wishes to attend the event will receive a Zoom link to join. The authors participating in this highly anticipated event are none other than C. Wayne Winkle, G.P. Hutchinson, William Joiner, Charles Ray, Peter Turner, and David Watts.
You can visit the webpage for the event to purchase your book and for more information:
C. Wayne Winkle is an Amazon best-selling author of Westerns that depict the heroism and dangers inherent in the American West of the 19th century. He was a board-certified family psychologist with over 40 years’ experience prior to retirement. His intent in his writing is to bring back the history (good, bad, and indifferent) of the American frontier. He is married to the same wonderful woman for 50 years. She has been, and continues to be, his anchor in this wild and wacky world. Their six grandchildren keep both of them busy when he isn’t writing. His Christianity forms the basis of his life, even though he falls short of its ideal on a daily basis. His motto? ‘I can’t not write!’
G.P. Hutchinson
A resident of Texas for a number of years, Hutchinson’s visits throughout the West have only served to deepen his enthusiasm for the region and his appreciation of its people, history, and folklore. He’s currently a resident of upstate South Carolina, along with his lovely wife, Carolyn. Besides writing, Hutchinson enjoys forays into the mountains, horseback riding, and exploring the history of America’s national pastime, baseball.
Peter Alan Turner
Maybe it’s because Peter Alan Turner lives on Rattlesnake Ridge. Or perhaps it’s because he grew up watching television Westerns that he was drawn to writing about the Old West. As a former history teacher, Peter strives to be authentic, create likable characters, and tell a good story. With more than a dozen books and a four-plus star rating on Amazon, he must be doing something right.
Peter lives with his wife of fifty-three years and their cat Moxie in Western Maryland. Peter is lucky that his children, grandchildren, and great-grandson all live close by. When he’s not writing, Peter enjoys woodcarving, fishing, and pampering his classic Jaguar. Mr. Turner donates a portion of the profits from his books to Veteran’s charities.
Charles Ray
Charles Ray is a man reborn. After 20 years in the US Army and 30 years as a diplomat, he has reinvented himself as an author. He has been writing since his teens, but really got into it in 2008 as he was approaching the end of a half-century government career. Ray writes in a variety of genres, both fiction and nonfiction, but in a further reinvention, this Texas native who now calls Maryland home, is currently best known for his tales of the western frontier. He writes stories that are historically accurate and reflect the diversity of the Wild West, but never lets history interfere with telling a compelling story. Ray currently lives in Woodbine, Maryland.
David Watts
David Watts grew up in Texas and participated actively in farming and ranching. As a teen, he watched cowboy movies every Saturday at the Ritz Theatre. He has published nine very successful Westerns, drawing upon his range of personal experience and is currently working on a chapter-challenge collaboration with William Vlach. Previously, he worked in poetry, short stories, mysteries, Christmas memoir and radio commentary. He is an accomplished musician and composer and a retired television and radio host. His professional life is in medical health care.
William H. Joiner Jr.
Other than summer jobs as a teenager, Bill has always been in business for himself. He has owned businesses that included: residential and commercial construction; brokering and trading commodities; owning and operating multiple insurance agencies; horse breeding, syndicating, training and racing; dog breeding and field trialing; owning and operating multiple gyms; owning and operating oil wells; brokering, researching title and consulting (regarding the buying and selling of oil and gas properties); as well as brokering and facilitating international fuel purchases.
He finally found his calling as an author, drawing on life’s experiences for the inspiration for his books.
About the Publisher:
DS Productions (DSP) is a leader in Western fiction with a strong catalogue of authors and Western novels. DSP has consistently placed their authors inside the top one hundred and is also known for taking new authors and turning them into a success using their sales formula. Their personalized, winning publishing techniques have made them one of the leading publishers in Western-themed fiction.
