Western Trail Blazer Day

Troy D. Smith

A few months ago, I decided to post a blog meant to be a tribute to Rebecca J. Vickery, founder and publisher of Western Trail Blazer and other imprints. Becca has been a great help to many western authors just starting out, and just as great a help for more established ones who were ready to expand their ventures into the world of digital publishing. I had no difficulty finding several Western Fictioneers members eager to sing her praises- you can read it HERE.

Since that blog was such a success, and since Western Trail Blazer is a patron, or "deputy", member of Western Fictioneers, I scheduled a monthly day to either highlight one of WTB's authors or talk about their new releases (hint: patron membership is available to other publishers and related professionals, as well.)

That date has rolled around again, but this time there are some changes to Western Trail Blazer I thought folks should be aware of. Becca has been suffering some serious health problems for awhile now, and it has impacted her ability to run the business the way she would like. She has very reluctantly decided to relinquish the reins of her western imprint, and focus her attention on her other publishing ventures instead. This was a terribly hard decision for her to make -WTB is her baby.

Beginning January 1, my wife Robin and I will be assuming the publishing duties at Western Trail Blazer. We will endeavor to maintain the proud tradition Rebecca (and her tireless associate Laura Shinn) began, working closely with authors to provide the finest in western novels and short stories to readers around the world. Over the next few months we will be making the transition with those WTB authors who choose to remain with us, and those who have submissions pending. Meanwhile, we will be accepting new submissions as well.

And as always, my hat is off to Rebecca, my favorite trail blazer.