True West's Submissions Guidelines

TRUE WEST relates our history back to the present day, to show readers the important role our heritage plays in keeping the spirit of the West alive during our everyday travels and adventures out West.

True West magazine is published 10 times per year with a bonus Annual Source Book. The magazine does not publish fiction or poetry.

True West magazine's features and departments tie the history of the American West (between 1800 to 1930) to the modern Western lifestyle through enticing narrative and intelligent analyses. True West publishes articles on Western travel, collectibles, artists, movies, apparel, firearms and Old West characters, and reviews Western-related movies and books (fiction, nonfiction and children's books).

We actively seek out creative writers, who can infuse their articles with personality and humor, to write True West features. Generally, the lead features in each issue relate to a specific topic, which is set by the magazine's editorial staff.

We encourage you to keep your ear to the ground and inform us about revelations concerning Old West icons and historic events and places. Here are the general themes for 2008, should you have an article idea that seems perfect for such an issue.

2009 Editorial Calendar
 

Jan/Feb: Top 10 True Western Towns
March: Western Train and Events
April: Annual Travel Issue 
May: Top 10 Western Museums 
June: Extreme History Vacations
July: Preserving the West: Then and Now
Aug: Entertainment Extravaganza
Sept: Collecting the West
Oct: Western Art
Nov/Dec: Indian Country

All writers should keep in mind the magazine's 6-month lead time. The magazine does accept unsolicited feature articles (query first; one idea per query) that are well researched and well written. Generally, shorter articles—2,000 words or less—are preferred. Articles that are accompanied by historical photographs, drawings, paintings, etc. receive more consideration than those without art. See below for more instruction on providing photos for publication.

The magazine seeks to establish long-term relationships with writers who do excellent research, give a fresh look to an old subject, write well, hit deadlines and provide manuscripts at the assigned word length. Such writers tend to get repeat assignments.

Send your query to: Meghan Saar

Via e-mail: 
editor@twmag.com 

Via mail (SASE): 
Managing Editor 
P.O. Box 8008 
Cave Creek, AZ 85327 

Payment is upon publication: features pay $150-$1,000. For stories accepted for a particular issue (not on spec) that are later withdrawn, we pay a kill fee of half of the original fee should the story have run in the publication. For work published in the print magazine, True West acquires first North American serial rights and archival rights.

Query Submissions 

When e-mail queries are received, you will be notified within one month whether the subject fits True West's upcoming editorial needs and is accepted or rejected. Queries received via mail may take up to three months; for a quick response, e-mail is recommended. Please do not send attachments via e-mail; paste all text in the body of the e-mail.

If you have not heard back from us, please send an e-mail one month after the work has been submitted, with the work included in that e-mail. If you still have not heard a response, please contact us via phone (888-687-1881) or via mail. The Internet does wonders, but e-mails do get lost in transmit or deleted as "junk" mail from time to time; and snail mail does get lost, as well. If you do phone, please be sure to leave a brief message, stating your name, your phone # (repeat twice, please), the name of the query you are concerned about and the date you sent the e-mail/mail.

We do not want to miss out on your wonderful story ideas!

Photography Submissions

 
We strongly encourage you to include a list of photography that is available for publication with the article (even better, send in the scans for us to review). Queries with publishable, quality art have a higher chance of becoming a feature in the magazine.

Images submitted to True West must meet the following publishing standards:

    • Scans must be a minimum 300 DPI optimal resolution scan. We prefer all photos be         8x11 at this size, but the starting point is 4x5.

    • We also accept slides and negatives, which we will scan.

In the case of historical photographs, please do not send in photographs of a photograph. The image must be the closest to the original photo as possible, either based off of the negative or the original photograph. We recognize that, in some cases, what you have may be all that is available. If that is the case, please indicate that in your query.

Book Reviews

If you would like to submit a book for review consideration, please send in books at least four months in advance of the publication month. Advance proofs are accepted, of course, but final copies of the book must be provided once they are printed.

Please include with the book a publisher’s statement and the following information:

• date of publication
• price
• hardcover/softcover
• toll-free phone # and website for ordering books.

 
If you are sending an advance proof, please include the contact for obtaining cover art.

Please DO NOT send in announcements about the publication of your book. We will not respond to these announcements. The committee must have the book on hand in order to decide whether or not to review it.

 

We appreciate your interest in submitting work to True West!