Relevant? It Depends

Post (C) Doris McCraw

aka Angela Raines

Photo (C) Doris McCraw

Relevant? It depends. I've been thinking about relevance lately. With March as National Women's History Month, the question of women's relevance in Western History is important to me, but is it the same for others?

Relevance: important to the matter at hand. This is the definition that a search brought up.

When we read Westerns, the stories are usually male-oriented, with lots of action, etc. If the story is female-oriented, it seems the same action, etc., or, my personal pet peeve, the woman is 'violated' and needs to be saved or seeks revenge. 

How true or realistic is this in actual history? How many times have men gone off and it's the woman who does her job and his while he is gone? Think about Abigail Adams, Civil War Wives, or any number of occasions when the woman is placed in the position to make the decisions. 

What are your thoughts on the subject? 

Photo (C) Doris McCraw

Part 2:

Blogs, relevant? As the first part mentions, it is important to the matter at hand.

Blogs are a great way for a writer, new or experienced, to showcase their abilities. At the same time, what is contained in the subject matter is also something to consider.

I write about history. Almost everything I post on a blog, Substack, or other social media is usually history-focused, so most of my work will show up on searches. 

Tagging is also relevant to ensure the quality of what you are sharing. The keywords, the means of searching for your work, are also important.

So, Blogs? Relevant? Love to hear your thoughts. Too many blogs, no time? Commenting? Do you like to know how people respond to your work? 

Until next time.

Doris McCraw

Angela Raines - Amazon

Doris A. McCraw - Amazon

The Times They Are A-Changin’

 

Again

I’ve been lucky in my career.  I began writing in the middle of the 1970's fantasy boom.  I caught the tail end of the men’s action/adventure books.  Then I saddled up for a long ride with Jake Logan and other series westerns.  These were all done by traditional publishers selling mass market books in ways that have their roots in the Depression.

 The first major change in the business came with the introduction of ebooks.  I started putting titles up on Amazon and other indie venues about 15 years ago, with moderate (to no) success.  But it was an education I needed in producing the book from the ground up.  I coined a term VIPUB–Vertically Integrated Publishing.  The author had to do it all.  Writing, editing, cover, formatting, publishing and promoting. Along with messy business things like how to take money over the internet (and dealing with state taxes on those sales).  The whole enchilada, as we say in New Mexico.  That covers a lot of talents/skills and I am not all that good at many of them.

But the major book publishers still provided paying markets.  For me, over the past 10 years I increasingly focused on the westerns.  But the series began drying up.  No more Jake Logans.  No more Ralph Comptons.

 Smart phones and audio books and Kindles all provided new and different markets, but the bedrock was still the mass market paperback.

 Only now that is changing and we need to figure out what to do as authors, selling our own work.  If you missed it, this is the Publishers Weekly article that details how the publishers and distributors intend to “winnow” mass market pbs by 2026.

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/97179-book-publishers-plan-for-a-reduced-mass-market-paperback-footprint.html

 What I read here is that the only print will be trade and hardcover.  In 50 years of writing and over 350 titles published, I have had 3 books (2 westerns) that came out first as hardcovers.  YMMV.  But for me this looks like an asteroid heading for earth (mass markets).

 Original anthologies don’t sell well.  You know how well you do with original ebooks.  Amazon (and others) lets you do Print on Demand.  But sales are nowhere near what the major publishers can offer for mass market originals.  And we have to do VIPUB.  All that work when we could be writing new fiction.

 I don’t have any answers how to survive in a world where mass market (and midlist) books disappear.  So I am asking for discussion from the rest of the Western Fictioneers.  What works best for you?  Are your sales of ebooks and others strong?  What did you do?  Are small presses the answer?  Ads, newsletters, giveaways, podcasts, Kickstarter?  What formats and lengths and topics are most viable?  Is there something you think is a wild idea that’d never work?   Please share it.  This may be the time for wild and crazy ideas.

 We’re all in this writing corral together.  Sharing ideas can be the way we all survive the changing markets.  What can WF do?

 Bob Vardeman

president WF

Jackson Lowry Amazon Page

Karl Lassiter Amazon Page

On This Day in the Old West March 14

 For today, let’s be a little hedonistic. On March 14, 1896, the Sutro Baths opened outside of Cliff House in San Francisco. The baths, the world’s largest indoor swimming pool establishment, were built on the western side of San Francisco by the wealthy entrepreneur and former mayor, Adolph Sutro.

The baths were situated in a small beach inlet below Cliff House (which was also owned by Sutro at that time). Today, both Cliff House and the baths site are a part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, operated by the US National Park Service.

In a 1912 article by J.E. Van Hoosear of Pacific Gas and Electric, we learn that Sutro used 100,000 square feet of glass, 600 tons of iron, 3.5 million board feet of lumber, and 10,000 cubic yards of concrete to build his baths. Facilities included:

·      Six saltwater pools and one freshwater pool. The baths were 499.5 feet long and 254.1 feet wide for a capacity of nearly 2 million US gallons. They were equipped with seven slides, 30 swinging rings, and one springboard.

·      A museum displaying an extensive collection of stuffed and mounted animals, historic artifacts, and artwork, much of which Sutro acquired from the Woodward’s Gardens estate sale in 1894.

·      A 2700-seat amphitheater, and club rooms with capacity for 1100

·      517 private dressing rooms

·      20,000 bathing suits and 40,000 towels to rent

 

During high tides, water would flow directly into the pools from the nearby ocean, recycling two million US gallons of water in about an hour. During low tides, a powerful turbine water pump, built inside a cave at sea level, could be switched on from a control room and could fill the tanks at a rate of 6,000 US gallons a minute, recycling the water in five hours.

At one time, the baths were serviced by two rail lines. The Ferries and Cliff House Railroad ran along the cliffs of Lands End overlooking the Golden Gate, from the baths to a terminal at California Street and Central Avenue (now Presidio Avenue). The second line, the Sutro Railroad, ran electric trolleys to Golden Gate Park and downtown San Francisco. Both lines were later taken over by the Market Street Railway.

Sutro was a colorful character with “passions for art and natural history,” and he incorporated his interests into his baths. According to the National Parks Service, “The front entrance contained natural history exhibits, galleries of sculptures, paintings, tapestries, and artifacts from Mexico, China, Asia, and the Middle East, including the popular Egyptian mummies. In addition to swimming, Sutro Baths offered visitors many other attractions, including band concerts, talent shows, and restaurants.”

After Sutro died in 1898, Sutro Baths struggled for years, mostly due to the astronomic operating and maintenance costs. The facilities were sold to a succession of owners, with each trying various ideas to make money. Eventually, the southernmost part was converted into an ice-skating rink, with a wall separating it from the now-dilapidated swimming pools. In addition to financial struggles, the baths became the focus of a significant civil rights battle in 1897, when John Harris sued Adolph Sutro after being denied entry due to his race. Harris won his case, making it a landmark victory against racial segregation in public facilities. This case “set an important precedent for future civil rights actions, underscoring the growing demand for equal treatment and access to public spaces.”

In 1966, a fire destroyed the building, which was in the process of being destroyed to make way for high-rise apartments. All that remains to this day are concrete walls, blocked-off stairs and passageways, and a tunnel with a deep crevice in the middle. The fire was determined to have been caused by arson, and shortly afterwards, the developers left the city and claimed insurance money. The land was eventually purchased by the National Parks.

If you’d like a special treat, watch this 1897 film of the baths by Thomas Edison!

 

J.E.S. Hays
www.jeshays.com
www.facebook.com/JESHaysBooks

 

Hartman, Sierra, “Rare Photos of Sutro Baths on its 119^th Anniversary,” The Bold Italic, https://thebolditalic.com/rare-photos-of-sutro-baths-on-its-119th-anniversary-the-bold-italic-san-francisco-9237ef8da4be

Martini, John, “Signs of Sutro Baths,” Open SF https://www.opensfhistory.org/osfhcrucible/2016/12/

Middleton, Chris , Amber Wright, and Clio Admin. "Sutro Baths." Clio: Your Guide to History. April 16, 2017.Accessed February 23, 2025. https://theclio.com/entry/15208

        

A Western Perspective: Why Do We Western? March 3rd, 2025

At three years old I was introduced to the Western through watching John Wayne in Randy Rides Alone and then right after Angel and the Badman. My grandpa, who showed me these, had no idea that this simple action of sharing these with me would create an obsession with not only the Western genre but with American West history as well! 

The Western has been now a part of my life for thirty three years and with all the people I have met that shares that passion, I was struck with a question, "Why do we western?"

It sounds like a very simple question and one that I could easily answer. I was actually asked on a third date what drew me to the Western and once I started speaking, I realized that my answers were coming up kind of hollow in the sense that I could not cover in depth what I felt towards the genre and history. I can be sitting on a bench in an old mining town in Colorado, the smell of rain and camp fire on the air, watching the pine trees sway back and forth and feel myself transported one hundred plus years ago. I can imagine those who have been long gone while being in an old pioneer cemetery and imagining the lives they had. Explaining that to someone who might not fully understand, will look at me like I am crazy. 

I then explained my love for the Western through the lens of story with movies, TV shows, books and song. How strong characters reflect the real people who made the West their home. How they fought the elements, animals and each other to hold onto their land, possessions, dignity and lives. How the landscape is just as much as a character as the figures in the story.

The west was so vast and expansive and represented a promise land to some and at the same time was a sacred place worth dying for. Clash of cultures that at times were peaceful but a lot of the times it was filled with horrific violence. The blood that has soaked into the ground might have a historical monument commemorating the lives lost there and giving the people of today a chance to remember and reflect. Some places however have a shopping mall or parking lot over them and the sacrifices made on that same spot are lost to the pages of history or known by very few. 

The answer to me as to "why we western" Is not something that can be easily explained and the reason for that is because there is so much to the why. Maybe it is enjoying an old movie with legendary actors on the screen. Hollywood gunfights in a dusty town and romantic kisses all embraced by the landscape of desert, plains and mountains. Maybe it is getting transported to the West through a book and letting your imagination set the stage. Visiting historical sites and the majestic terrain. Eating biscuits and gravy to wash down with some cowboy coffee or drinking a cold sarsaparilla while walking down the boardwalk of an old ghost town. Wearing cowboy hats and boots every chance you get. 

Why we western can literally have thousands of reasons why. It is also very unique to each person. It can be the representation of freedom or the stance of bravery that draws us in or also the realistic view of how hard life can be but we can stand strong to face it like those from the past did. It is a way to remember those before us and the sacrifices they made in search for a better life or those who stood to defend their home and loved ones. The west is a place that we can celebrate cultures and people. From a deeper understanding of life to a friendly wave passing by vehicle to vehicle on an old dirt road. 

So for whatever your reason is to western, we are truly blessed to have this sacred history and genre that we can claim as our own and continue to write, read, eat, drink,dance, sing, talk, explore, ride, and enjoy our western heritage. So keep Westering on 🤠