How to Pitch The Westrn
Thank you for your interest in writing for The Westrn! We genuinely can’t wait to hear from you.
Before you pitch us, please read this guide in its entirety and familiarize yourself with our work. If you don’t already subscribe to The Westrn, please consider doing so.
If you’re curious about the structure of the newspaper, our yearly timeline, different ways to contribute, or anything else, you can find our FAQs here.
Note: Tight Timelines for First Issue!
Due to a tight turnaround associated with our initial launch, stories for the April 2025 issue must be able to fit the following timeline:
Pitches due: Monday, February 3, 11:59 p.m. MST
Stories assigned by: Friday, February 7, 11:59 MST
First draft deadline: Friday, February 21, 11:59 MST
Final draft deadline: Wednesday, March 5, 11:59 MST
We encourage you to pitch us for our next issue if this timeline feels too restrictive for your idea. Thank you for your understanding!
The Westrn publishes writing about:
outdoor adventure and recreation
hunting and fishing
wildlife and wild landscapes
environmental science and conservation
rural lifestyles and livelihoods
agriculture/private land management
sustainable foodways
what we’ll call “outdoor culture” and counterculture — literature, media, art, food, industry, policy, governance, and community centering on the outdoors
The Specifics
Write the pitch in the body of the email. No attachments please.
Ideal pitch format: Send an email to katie@thewestrn.com. Format the subject line as PITCH: [Potential headline].
Ideal pitch length: One to three paragraphs for the story pitch, then introduce yourself and your background in an additional paragraph below.
Ideal story length: 600-1,500 words.
Rates: $300-$750, determined by depth of story and writer experience.
Response timeline: If you haven’t heard back by the end of February 7th, please feel free to take your pitch elsewhere.
Likelihood of acceptance: Honestly? Not very high right now. We’re new. We would rather pay one writer a fair market rate for a stellar piece than pay three writers poorly for mediocre or half-baked stuff. A rejection does not mean we dislike you or your ideas. In fact, please continue to pitch us. We’ll take notice.
What We’re Looking For
A sharp news hook dragging a broad net behind it. What are the greater implications of This One Small Thing? Why does it matter to the outdoor community at large? Please include some smattering of a reporting plan and explain why this piece will still be relevant three months down the road.
Essays, criticism, op-eds, thought pieces. Please make them meaningful and somewhat timely. Center your pitch around something new, a new idea about something very old, a unique narrative structure, or an especially wild story told especially well. We also love surprises, delight, and independent, stray-from-the-pack thoughts. If you don’t see your community or perspective represented in outdoor media, we want to hear from you.
Cool people doing cool things. Profiles rock. Tell us all about the taxidermist who named their dermestid beetles, the latest, greatest bootstrapping outdoorsy entrepreneur, the woman who circumnavigated Mars on her gravel bike. Please be ready to explain why this person stands apart from all the other people doing the same thing they do.
Unflinching, uncensored humanity. We get enough of peoples’ perfect lives on social media. Tell us about a time something went horribly wrong. Tell us about the times you cried, tripped, missed a shot, DNFed, got lost, or were wrong about a person, place, or idea. Life’s messy, don’t sanitize it.
A story, not a topic. A story has voice, tension, and a roster of key players. Topics are more general umbrellas under which stories can be categorized.
What We’re Not Looking For
Anything that falls outside of our main focal points.
Basic hunt, fish, or adventure come-along writing. Don’t get us wrong, we’d probably love to be out there with you. Want to tell an adventure story? Read our “That’s the Breaks” series to understand how we shared one hunt from three different perspectives. Katie :: Kestrel :: Nicole
How-to articles, reviews of any kind, or “Best of” roundups. If/when we publish occasional instructional content, gear love, book or podcast reviews, or roundups, we’ll either write them in-house or outsource them to someone we deem a serious expert. If you have expertise in something unique and you’re really passionate about sharing it with others, feel free to let us know.
Fast-paced breaking news or stories about social media content. Today’s newspaper is tomorrow’s fire starter. But since we’re a quarterly rag, your news pitches need to have a slow burn. And please, please, please don’t pitch us a story about a crazy video you saw on Instagram.
Writing that is exclusionary, offensive, or polarizing for the hell of it. This speaks for itself.
Free writing, published work, completed work, or pitches already in consideration elsewhere. This includes work already published on Substack.
Ignoring our guidelines. Period.
The Not-So-Fine Print
Your pitch will be read by three very human editors. We are all freelance writers and journalists whose pitches have been rejected countless times. We aim to communicate with you effectively, respectfully, and with a dose of warmth. We love workshopping ideas and we will occasionally have some insight of our own to share with you, even if we do reject your pitch. If we decide to buy your idea, your work will be edited in a collaborative manner, no matter what.
We reserve the right to kill any piece of in-progress or completed work prior to publication. A small kill fee will be issued for time and effort, determined on a case-by-case basis.
Questions? Email katie@thewestrn.com.
Our Preferred Pitch Structure
Feel free to copy and paste this. Actually, we’d prefer it if you did!
Subject: PITCH: Short, punchy headline
Dear Katie,
Paragraph 1: Present immediate, core tension of story
Paragraph 2: Present context, characters, and wider importance of issue
Paragraph 3: Summarize and close. Include word count. If you have a reporting plan, include it here.
Paragraph 4: Intro/bio.
Bio example: I'm Nicole Qualtieri. I'm an award-winning writer and editor based outside of Anaconda, Montana with a decade of freelancing experience. My work has appeared in Outside Magazine, Men’s Journal, USA Today, Modern Huntsman, and other publications. I’m also the founder of a new outdoor publication called The Westrn and the former hunt and fish editor of GearJunkie. Find my portfolio with writing samples here! (Link to work if available.)
Thanks so much for your consideration —
Nicole
Find a PDF copy of these guidelines here:
