The Paper: FAQs
The Westrn’s inaugural community paper ships on April 1. The full-color, 32-page newspaper will publish quarterly. Printed in Bozeman, Montana, it will ship directly to your address of choice.
Our focus is on connecting the grassroots outdoor community, whether you’re a hiker, hunter, angler, or a once-a-year national park visitor, we think you’ll find something you love in our pages.
How do I subscribe or purchase the paper?
You can purchase individual issues for $10 via our store.
Subscribe annually to our Substack and receive all four issues published in the next 12 months, in addition to supporting and receiving our digital content.
When will The Westrn arrive?
Our 2025 ship dates are April 1st, July 1st, October 1st, and December 1st.
Is The Westrn tied to geography?
No. We serve the outdoor community writ large, regardless of our namesake. We have editors in Montana, Texas, and New York, and we welcome any outdoorsperson into our circle — whether they live in a Brooklyn studio, a remote yurt in Alaska, or a beachside hut in Hawaii.
A newspaper?! Have you all gone mad?
Not at all, though we appreciate the concern.
How will distribution and privacy work?
We’re keeping it simple. The print product will be available to all annual paid subscribers as a perk of their subscription.
Annual paid subscribers will receive a Google Form in their inbox where they can submit a mailing address. If you want to receive the newspaper and are not currently a yearly paid subscriber, please upgrade your subscription.
We’re abiding by Substack’s terms of service, and we’ll make you a certifiable, undeniable, absolutely positive promise that we will never sell any of your personal data to anyone. Ever. We are not a lead list generator; we are a community builder.
Can I buy extra copies or bulk copies for my business, friends, etc.?
Yes. You can preorder individual copies on The Westrn’s store. And if you’d like to buy more than 15 copies, reach out to nicole@thewestrn.com and she’ll get you sorted with a bulk discount.
How will this connect me more deeply to an in-person outdoor community?
Our Community Board section will feature a 90-day event calendar, classified and personal ads, a place to celebrate outdoor achievements, a youth section, and other community-building elements. We’re also negotiating discounts for Westrn subscribers with advertisers, events, and more.
We hope people and organizations from across the country will help us build robust opportunities for people to get together in like-minded and in-person spaces.
How can I contribute as an individual?
You can find examples, breakdowns, links, and more via our Community Board page.
Letters to the Editor: You guys know what these are. Gripe, compliment, correct. Do your thing. We’re listening at editor@thewestrn.com.
Revelry: We expect big fish photos, a snapshot of your first elk, a cross-country ski moment in Alaska, or a volunteer moment on a trail crew. Include a brief caption so people know who to be jealous of. You’ll want to cut these out and hang ‘em on the fridge.
Personal Ads: We’re pumped to offer a full personal ad section for outdoorsy types looking for love and friendship. Meet your love match, find your ideal hunting partner, or connect with adventurous BFFs. Space will be limited!
Classified Ads: Do you raise bird dog pups? Want more people to read your outdoorsy Substack or listen to your podcast? Do you make paracord survival bracelets on the side? Our Classified Ads section will offer an affordable and fun way to connect with a niche audience.
Youth Section: We’re opening up an entire spread where outdoorsy kids publish art, writing, photos, comics, or even jokes. We want to encourage the next generation of outdoor writers and storytellers.
Story Leads, Profiles, Ideas: Maybe you’re not a professional writer, but you have a lead you’d like us to look into, a profile you’d love to read, or a general idea for the paper. Send any of these to editor@thewestrn.com with LEAD in the title of the email.
Community Aid: We want to serve people and organizations in need in our community. We’re dedicating a half-page of our Classifieds section to the effort, no fee required.
How can I contribute as a professional freelance writer?
Submissions for the spring issue are currently closed, but feel free to send us a pitch for the summer issue. Please review our pitch guide here.
Managing Editor Katie Hill oversees the freelance content side of The Westrn. We pay fair market rates for writing, but we’re limited in scope with just four issues of the paper in 2025. If we reject your pitch, we’re ready to hear your next idea. Please keep us posted.
Sorry, we’re not interested in free writing, pieces that have published or are in consideration elsewhere (yes, that includes Substack), articles written on spec, or completed work.
How does advertising work?
We have dedicated space for paid advertising — like every newspaper that’s come before us and every newspaper that will follow. We believe in the power of organizations to foster community between humans, and we want to create new avenues of partnership in that vein.
Ad space will be limited, however, as our main focus is quality writing and community building. Discounted rates for display ads will be available for nonprofits, small businesses, and tax-exempt organizations. These rates start at just $200 for 1/8 page ads. We want to create affordable and accessible advertising opportunities for every business serving our community.
We also occasionally work with partners on The Roundup, our monthly newsletter, if they’re offering something directly to our online community.
Please contact Editor-in-Chief Nicole Qualtieri for an ad rate card at nicole@thewestrn.com.
You’re still publishing on Substack, right?
Yes! You will still receive at least two long reads and one newsletter per month. Despite our gripes about digital media, we still hope to reach as many interested readers as possible. This is the great upside of being on Substack. We love it here.
Will monthly Substack subscribers receive the newspaper as part of their subscription, too??
Unfortunately, no. We absolutely love our monthly subscribers, but we need a baseline amount of income to cover print, shipping, and production costs for the year. We think $50 is a pretty good deal for what we’re offering.
And if you’re a yearly subscriber but don’t want the newspaper, you are always welcome to opt out while still enjoying our online content. Just ignore the Google Form.
Is everything mentioned above set in stone?
Simply put, no. We’re taking a leap and trying something new, which we feel emboldened to do thanks to our amazing readership. In that sense, we’ll ask for some grace as we get underway and work the kinks out.
Our core, unwavering promises to you are as follows:
We will continue to publish two long reads and one newsletter each month online. These are always accessible to everyone for the first two weeks and then stored in a paid archive.
Yearly paid subscribers will have the opportunity to receive all 2025 newspaper issues, free of additional charge. That includes current annual subscribers.
We will never sell or share your personal information to anyone.
Our reporting and storytelling will never be influenced by third-party interests. We believe in the clear separation of editorial and advertorial content, and our work will continue to reflect that belief.
All monetary support goes directly to the dream of building fair wages for our team, the freelancers we hope to work with, and the many needs of a budding small business. Your financial support means the world to us.
Recap the publishing timeline, please?
Spring Issue ships April 1
Summer Issue ships July 1
Fall Issue ships Oct. 1
Winter/Holiday Issue ships Dec. 1
Any more questions? Please add them in the comments section below!
Or, if you’d like to reach out directly, please email us at editor@thewestrn.com.