We know it's getting harder and harder to find someone who will publish your western or historical stories. Well, if you're looking for an opportunity to get your work shown, you've come to the right place. You give us a story, the right to publish your work online, maintain it in our archives, and include it in a print reproduction, such as in an anthology. We'll put it out there for the world to enjoy.

What: We're looking for well-written stories, stories that have some conflict in them. We want to see the hero, and everyone has a hero inside — but heroes only come out when they have to. Maybe your hero has to fight off the bad guys to save the town. That's fine. Maybe he has to fight to keep from taking that drink or else the family farm will be lost. That's fine too. Just give us conflict to be overcome. Then show us how the hero fares. And, it's OK for a hero to lose once in a while. But give us something with a beginning, a middle, and an end. The beginning sets the stage. The middle shows us the problem, the conflict to be dealt with. The end shows us what the hero does and how it all turns out.

Always remember: a day when nothing happened, when no one was discomforted, when there were no worries, might be most people's ideal — but it's not a day you tell anyone about. Why? Because it was boring. Give us action! Don't bore us.

This is a Western magazine. We're interested in Western stories, Western biographies, etc. The key concept here is the interaction of the frontier with civilization and the adjustments people had to make in order to find a way to survive. There was a time when living in New York meant surviving a brush with Seneca warriors. A story about that would be welcome. However, a tale about a fight between a New York State Assemblyman and a Seneca Nation Councilor that occurred last year would be inappropriate. Please bear in mind the difference.

How: Email your story. Send it to editor@frontiertales.com.

Paste your story into the body of the email. No attachments, please.

Size: No absolutes, but your story should be between 1,500 and 5,000 words.

Bio: Bio: Please include a bio of up to 100 words. Readers love to have links to your web pages so provide one or two if you can. Please send an updated bio with each story. Put it in the body of the email, immediately after "the end."

Teaser: We ask all authors to create their own teasers. Please model them after the ones you see on the left side of the Frontier Tales home page. You want to introduce the protagonist(s), the antagonist(s), tell us the problem, and hint at the resolution—all in 50 words or less. Don't include the title or your name in that 50 words. Here's an example:

     The hands from the Rocking T set about to lynch Danny and Bobby, no matter that they had a bill of sale for the bull. Danny had about lost all hope when things got even worse—a party of bloodthirsty Comanche stopped by. But worse for who?

     The protagonists are Danny and Bobby; the antagonists are the hands from the Rocking T; the problem is Danny and Bobby are about to be lynched; and the resolution involves the bloodthirsty Comanche. Now, doesn't that make you wonder what's going on and how it's going to turn out?
      Include the teaser with the story submission.

When: You will be notified as soon as we decide whether we can publish your story or not. It is taking as much as six months for us to get to submissions. That's good news for readers (lots of submissions!) but it's difficult for you writers. We understand. Please be patient.

Editing: We routinely edit for spelling, grammar, incorrect word usage, and the like. Simple factual errors, if they can be fixed quickly and easily and do not significantly change the style or content of the story, will also be fixed. If your story has significant structural editing required, we will notify you so you can decide what to do. We will not publish any story which does not meet our standards.

Queries: Please don't send queries. Just send the story.

Rights: By submitting a story to us you are giving us the right to print your story, maintain your story in our archive, and print your story in a collection of other stories. This does not mean we own the rights to your work from now on. It means exactly what it says. Prior to your story being published at Frontier Tales, you are free to remove it from the publication process. You may submit your story to other venues at the same time (multiple submission) but we do ask you to let us know if it is published elsewhere unless you still want it published here. Can you publish the same story here as well as somewhere else? We have no objection. That's up to you to decide. We're here to help authors and to entertain readers.

Payment: We do not pay for stories. However, if your story is chosen for inclusion in one of our anthologies, you may purchase as many copies of that anthology as you wish. The amount you pay will be the author's cost plus shipping. You are then free to sell those copies at whatever price you choose to set. In this way, you can earn money on your story.