The Times are A’changing

A few new developments are happening at Windsor Hill Publishing, all related to marketing—the most disliked word in fiction writing. Writers write because they have to; once the bug bites them, they keep writing until they drop dead (some do), before doing anything else like eating or having sex. I mean it. Look at the writers out there; they clearly aren’t eating.

But when it comes to shilling their work, we writers fall on our faces—smack. So we are attacking this marketing thing one step at a time, an old, old dog learning new tricks. We are deep into Amazon ads, scary, but so far, so good. Hundreds of experts will gladly take your coins to teach you, but this dog needs to understand what it all means—again, so far, so good. Thank goodness for YouTube videos.

The next marketing frontier to conquer is the vast world of Facebook, Instagram, and a dozen others. I will let you know what is best for ROI (return on investment).

 

Last year, after leaving a well-known publisher on my terms, I refreshed my covers, developed a strong visual identity and branding for the five different series, and made a big push with the new mysteries we published over the past year. Here are a few before-and-after examples. Look to books on the right side for the new, updated covers.

The old cover

The new cover

 

 

I am working on a new Sheriff Jordan Tynes modern western. She has become my greatest seller (by double and triple factors). While I would love some love for my other characters, it’s delightful to learn how much people enjoy these stories. Other ideas are in development. 

My other characters are demanding to be read and heard: Detective Tony Alfano is losing patience, Sharon O’Mara, the other redhead in my life, wants more time, and Alex Polonia wants to continue taking on the world and stop injustice. And what would WWII be like without Max Adler and Sophie Norcross? Many stories are in outline and even started – unfortunately, they don’t make the hours longer.

 

I have been participating in a few book clubs and presentations, and as always, I would like to do more. I can be reached via email at rpd@lmi.net.

 

I have a dear friend with whom I’ve been working on producing his memoir. Claude has had a wonderful, if not enjoyable, life. But at 94 years old, his story, like many others, might have been lost if he hadn’t sat down and written it. It is a classic Horatio Alger story. He and his family escaped Nazi Germany in 1938, and they had to sell everything to the Nazis to leave. His story is an American story of Love, Sex, & Economics. It is available on Amazon (here).

 

All the best and have a great summer.

Gregory C. Randall

Seven Books - One Year

Welcome back and Happy New Year. 

I must blog more often – that was my new year’s resolution, and here it is March, and I am finally getting to it. So much for that.

 

It has been a busy fourteen months since the start of 2024. Over this period, I’ve published seven books as of March 18, 2025—hard to believe. (I’ve got blisters on my fingers!)

 

The first three were the Sheriff Jordan Tynes modern western mysteries under our publishing house, Windsor Hill Publishing. The fourth comes out on March 18, Fire on Breakneck Mountain. Jordan has indisputably and shockingly become my best-selling series (sorry, guys and gals of my other five series—patience). It is what the public is reading nowadays, and my mantra is what the Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises wrote almost a hundred years ago: “The market is supreme,” i.e., give the public what they want—so I am working feverishly on Book 5. The series' success has surprised me; I’m pleased but still surprised. You can get them starting here with One Yellow Dog: https://tinyurl.com/mpjed27v

 

The other two were a Detective Tony Alfano mystery (Book 5), Chicago Back Beat, and a World War II romance, Wars Amongst Lovers, that I have been working on for years (long, long, story and I won’t bore you). But it is published and out of my mind, and the reviews have been good.

 

We just finished offering Four Women Named July (new this past fall) for free through Written Word Media and Freebooksy. I was stunned to see that we gave away 4,227 eBooks. I sincerely hope that these get read. The free book idea gets my name out there, that’s true. But my intention is that the story gets read. That’s why we are in this business—our novels must be read. And being in a Kindle or iPad, they can get lost in the dozens, if not hundreds, of other novels stored there. We can only hope and occasionally remind readers we are still out there pounding away and publishing.

The Four Bodies in the Freezer

Later this year, I’m bringing back my Marigold Gang for a new case: The Mystery of the Missing Monte Carlo. It is a nostalgic trip back to the days of rock and roll, muscle cars, and fast women. I’m getting to like these five old guys. Their first case was The Mystery of the Four Bodies in the Freezer. Here’s the blurb:

You’ve seen them, you may even know them, those fellows sitting together in the back of the diner early Wednesday mornings. They have known each other for years and have been friends for over half a century.

They call themselves the Marigold Gang.

They grew up on Marigold Court in the village of Lincolnville, Illinois in the 1950s and have stayed true friends. They took the moniker The Marigold Gang because it sounded tough for a bunch of twelve-year-olds. They have been by each other's side through high school, college, marriages, families, grandchildren, and death.

After the tragic passing of one of their own, Allen Fisher, they are asked to clear out his house. Bravely, the Gang faces clearing a hoarder’s house filled with the debris of Allen’s complicated life. What they find, suitcases of money and rich quantities of treasure, baffles them. And in the basement, it is even worse.

 

The Marigold Gang allows me to indulge in my favorite pastimes: historical research and nostalgia. You can be sure there will be, in these “cozies,” rock and roll, muscle cars, fast women, and sharp-dressed men. They let me reflect on my youth and tell stories (some true, some not) from the past. Pick up the first mystery on Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/y2zn8j95.

Here is the trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuFPX5_W67Y

 

I’ve neglected but not forgotten Sharon O’Mara, Tony Alfano, Max Adler, Alex Polonia, my standalones. They keep waking me up in the middle of the night with new ideas. Having one voice in your head is enough, but with five more, sometimes the cacophony is deafening.

 

All the best and stay tuned . . . . .