The Westrn's First Newspaper Ships on April 1 📰
A quarterly newspaper serving the outdoor community? Yep. We’re doing it. We. Are. Pumped.
Dear TW readers,
For months, we’ve been planning, scheming, and daydreaming about creative expansion. We came up with one idea, then another. We sat on hour after hour of weekly video calls, lamenting the impossibilities of the current evolution of online media and wishing we could go back in time to something more tangible and intimate.
“I’ll probably never work in a real newsroom,” Katie said at one point during one of our meetings. “I have graduate-level training for a world that doesn’t seem to exist anymore. I’ve never worked in an office, and I don’t know if I ever will.” (Katie’s recent piece dives deep into the context of her woes, and it prequels today’s announcement beautifully.)
I spent a full decade in office work before transitioning to a remote setup during the pre-pandemic dark ages of 2018, I felt for my young comrade. Poor Katie, missing out on the daily communion of lunch breaks, the low level drama between work frenemies, and the ennui-infused banality of in-person work. (Cue Dolly Parton.)
Kestrel felt the same. Their time spent interning and writing for highly regarded publications meant they too had experienced what we now consider an antiquated form of knowledge work.
I’m not sure which one of us brought up the concept of a newspaper, but it hit like lightning. It seemed so undoable in a way, so silly, so Ludacris. A newspaper! But active and highly popular community newspapers still exist, and they’re beloved. Each month, the Trader’s Dispatch shows up in my maibox. With a circulation of 20,000, it offers the agricultural community a space to celebrate FFA kids, share recipes and stories, keep up with their version of the Kardashians (seed prices, I think?), and directly connect to actual humans and businesses across eight states.
We love the model, and we can’t wait to put our own wild spin on it. We believe it’s easily applicable to a community that actually gives a shit about turning off their cell phones, putting on a heavy pack, and trekking into wilds unknown. We’re calling it “the backcountry of outdoor media.” We hope you chuck your phone across the room when it arrives in the mail.
We’re still keeping our Substack promise of two long reads per month. If you subscribe annually, you’ll receive all four print issues of The Westrn in 2025.
Welcome to the evolution! There will be plenty of opportunities for everyone to participate, to celebrate your loved ones’ outdoor achievements, to contribute, and to connect with like-minded outdoorspeople.
Below, you’ll find our best hack at answering some FAQs. Please ask any additional questions in a comment or email!
We’re excited, and we hope you are too —
Nicole Qualtieri
Editor-in-Chief, The Westrn
What will The Westrn look like in newspaper form?
The full-color, 32-page newspaper will publish quarterly. Printed in Bozeman, Montana, it will ship directly to your address of choice.
Expect fresh content in each issue.
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. Or, simply upgrade your TW subscription to the yearly paid option and submit your mailing address through the Google Form we send you.
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 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?
Letters to the Editor: You guys know what these are. Gripe, compliment, correct. Do your thing. We’re listening.
Field Brags: 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.
Expect full guidelines for personal contributions — including rates, how to pay, and submit — by February 1st.
How can I contribute as a professional freelance writer?
Please review our pitch guide here.
Managing Editor Katie Hill oversees the freelance content side of The Westrn. Please understand that space and budget will be limited. We’d rather pay one writer well than pay three writers poorly.
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 will advertising work?
We will 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.
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 upcoming timeline, please?
Fair question. We’ve thrown a lot at you.
Feb. 1st — Community Board Guidelines + Rate Card released.
Feb. 14th — Bulk order & purchase deadlines solidified.
March 1st — All deadlines finalized for inaugural April publication.
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.
Rad!
GREAT idea - I can’t wait to read!