If you are an RMFW member, one of the many perks of membership is you can submit a story for inclusion in our next anthology! RMFW publishes an anthology on even-numbered years, and each anthology has a theme. The 2024 theme was “Colorado’s Changing Climate.” Before that, the theme was “Wild.” This year, our theme is “True Story.”
What are we looking for? The theme can be interpreted in a variety of ways, and that’s intentional. We wanted to make it as broad as possible with just enough of a nudge for inspiration. The most literal interpretation is to start with a real incident or famous person in the West or Rocky Mountain region and spin off of that into a completely original story. If you want to write a Sasquach story, maybe you spin it based on a sighting at a summer camp where a counselor was struggling to figure out what would give their life meaning, and finally realized they wanted to study giant mammals. You can even come up with a story about a legal case in the west that emphasizes the subjective nature of what is true.
When I asked Deb Courtney if she had specific tips for this post, she said that the most important thing for her is that the setting plays a key role in your story. It can’t just be a backdrop and your story can’t just be set in “Anytown, USA.” That doesn’t mean that it needs to take place in Colorado. The stories can be set anywhere in the West or the Rockies. They can be contemporary, historical, futuristic, or some blend of all of those.
I would like you to think about moments when you’ve had to question the way you view reality. What was that like? How might that fit into a story? How does that affect what you accept as truth? What do you think when someone tells you that some ridiculous thing they shared with you is a true story? Do you have someone in your life who does that all the time? Maybe you are that person.
Have fun with this. Play with ideas. Stretch yourself.
We will host an information call on May 17 at noon. You can sign up here. If you are unable to attend, we will post a video of the recording on the anthology page. You can also email us questions in advance.
All submissions must go through the online portal by 7/15 at 11:59 p.m. MDT. Please remove all identifying information from your manuscript. We’re trying not to play favorites with our friends. The portal form has been updated to include genres. Just take your best guess on what fits your work. We will not penalize you if we disagree with your genre selection.
One question that has come up recently is the question of reprints: if the piece fits our word count limit and fits the theme, we will consider it, but please let us know it is a reprint and make sure that you have easy access to information on the rights. Most magazines and anthologies revert rights back to the author very quickly, but others do not, and we want to make sure we don’t end up in a rights battle over stories.
Original works are highly encouraged. We want new writers to get some exposure. Enjoy the process and send us your best.
Photo by Julia A. Keirns on Unsplash
