A Western Perspective: Good Guys, Bad Guys, White Hats, Black Hats

 Howdy Everyone, 

I hope you all are having a great summer so far! 

For a lot of westerns, there is an easy depiction of who the good guys are and who the bad guys are. The good guys have the white hats and the bad guys have the black hats. Sets these two groups far apart as you now expect the guys in the white hats to do good deeds, right wrong and be the hero while the guys in the black hats you expect them to do evil things. It is like a melodrama where the hero comes onto the stage and everyone claps and cheers and when the villain comes on the stage everyone boos and hisses at them. 

Now don't get me wrong, I am a huge fan of the classic westerns with the white and black hat formula and just saw a melodrama in Cripple Creek Colorado this past weekend where there was a lot of cheering for the hero and booing for the villain. These classic themes in story sets us up to know that good will prevail in the end and that the bad guy will in some way have to answer for all the wickedness they have played part in. 

When I was younger, I tried to apply this lens to historical figures and events. The biggest one that comes to mind for me was the famous gunfight in Tombstone Arizona known as the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral even though it was more so the Gunfight on Fremont Street. For a long time, I took it as gospel truth, that the Earps and Holliday were the good guys and the McLaury's and Clanton's were the bad guys. Now right off, I just have to say it that the Earps and Holliday were wearing black hats and more than likely the McLaury's and Clantons were probably wearing lighter color hats. 

My last time in Tombstone Arizona, I noticed a plaque near where the famous gunfight took place that had Frank and Tom McLaury on it. It was a plaque in their memory that was erected by the McLaury family and friends and has a quote "One owes respect to the living, but to the dead, one owes nothing but the truth." This reminded me of the paragraph's in history books that says something about an event where people died but it is strictly that. Not how it is sad those people died, how their families were impacted or expected to survive and so on. From there, I went to a book store and found a book called "Murdered On The Streets Of Tombstone" written by Joyce Aros. Seeing that plaque and reading this book challenged the way I saw the McLaury brothers. Most of what is universally known about the famous gunfight comes from Wyatt Earp's testimony in the case that followed the bloodshed. The famous saying is that history is written by the victor and that proved to be true in this case. Now I am not going into Wyatt's testimony but I do think it is important to really try and view all historical figures and events with a keen eye and try and view them from different perspectives. What I learned about the McLaury's was that they were ranchers and had befriended the Clantons but were not necessarily straight up outlaws as they have been portrayed. That actually on that cold October day, they were in town to make a deal on their beef they would be providing. The Clantons are difficult to find something showing them as a completely innocent party but the McLaury's seem to have both made the wrong friends and been in the wrong place at the wrong time. There is even some evidence showing that the McLaury's were trying to leave town but never got a chance to. Once the gunsmoke settled, they were no longer breathing and were not able to explain their side of the story or defend themselves. They were laid to rest and over the next one hundred years or so, they were branded as common outlaws who got on the wrong side of the Earps and were shot down because of it. 

There is debate back and forth on this and so many other things within the gunfight on Fremont street. It is fun to challenge others and to in turn be challenged as well. This kind of out of the box thinking is so important to view historical figures and events to hopefully help us learn and grow as individuals and as a society.  It was very eye opening for me to view the McLaury brothers as normal people and not straight up outlaws who would cut you down faster than you could blink. Sometimes the good guys and bad guys are not as cut and dry as we may like to think. Both sides are humans and both sides made mistakes and had their faults. Viewing both sides in this light shows more so a struggle for survival rather than a struggle between right and wrong.   

Challenging my historical perspective was great as it gave me an idea for a short story I wrote for the Saddlebag Dispatches Magazine Winter Issue 2023 called "My Friend Tom." In this story, I explore who Tom McLaury was through the eyes of a young boy. This story was recently announced to be a winner of a 2025 Will Rogers Medallion Award. Challenging our historical perspective is a great way to not only grow but to possibly get fresh ideas on topics that have been written about in so many different ways. 

Well pardners, that is this months Western Perspective. I hope you all enjoyed this take on historical perspective and I look forward to seeing you all down the trail a ways. Adios! 🤠

 

Opening Lines

Post (C) Doris McCraw aka

Angela Raines

Image (C) Doris McCraw

I thought it might be fun to share some opening lines from books I've read over the years. Some are recent, while others date back to a long time ago. What do you think of how these various authors begin their stories?

Image (C) Doris McCraw

"The drenching cloudburst ended as abruptly as it had begun."  A Pride of Men - Peter Dawson, Bantam Books

Image (C) Doris McCraw

"He was asleep and then he was awake." Utah Blaine - Louis L'Amour, Bantam Books

Image (C) Doris McCraw

" "What do you care, anyway?" asked Reeve-Howard philosophically."  The Lure of Dim Trails - B.M. Bower, G.W. Dillingham Company

Image (C) Doris McCraw

"The pendulous lip of rock overhang cast a silhouette of sylvan shade down across the walls of the Spruce Mountains and out in a pointed, arrowhead shape over the range of Reno Balfor." Terror Trail - Lauran Paine, Leisure Books

Image (C) Doris McCraw

"My father spread his homesickness like a disease." My Heart Lies Here - Laurie Marr Wasmund, Lost Ranch Books

"The horse herd broke and began its run right after topping the crest of the pass." Black Rock Desert - L.P. Holmes, Blackstone Publishing

Image (C) Doris McCraw

"It was a time of great and exalting excitement." The War Prayer - Mark Twain  

What are some opening story lines you remember, or perhaps like or dislike, excluding "It was a dark and stormy night."

Until next time.

Doris

 

Angela Raines - Amazon

Doris A. McCraw - Amazon

Western Fictioneers Announces the Peacemaker Award Winners

Western Fictioneers is proud to announce the winners of the 15th Annual Peacemaker Awards, presented for the finest in Western fiction published in 2024. Congratulations to all the winners and finalists, and special thanks to the judges who make the Peacemaker Awards possible.

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT PEACEMAKER

Douglas Hirt


BEST WESTERN NOVEL

Winner: THE MEDICINE LINE, John Hansen (Summit Creek Press)

Finalists

PALO DURO MUSTANGS, Alice V. Brock (Pen-L Publishing)

THE BIG DRY, Patrick Dearen (TCU Press)

LEGEND OF LOST BASIN, Bruce Hartman (Swallow Tail Press)

HANGING MAN, Rod Miller (Thorndike Press)

BEST FIRST WESTERN NOVEL

Winner (Tie): THE MONTE BOYS, Robert M. Brunelle (Robert M. Brunelle)

LEGEND OF LOST BASIN, Bruce Hartman (Swallow Tail Press)

Finalists

RENEGADES, RUSTLERS AND ROGUES, Joanne M. Fralick (Joanne M. Fralick)

EMBERS IN THE WIND, Dawson Gallow (DWG Publishing)

AMERICAN COWBOYS, Aaron Rhodes (Rhiannye Aubree Publishing)

BEST SHORT FICTION

Winner: “Valiant-For-Truth”, Elisabeth Grace Foley (THROUGH WESTERN STORMS, Lohman Hills Creative LLC)

Finalists

“Fortunate Man”, Kimberly Burns (SADDLEBAG DISPATCHES)

“Rattlers”, Bruce Hartman (SADDLEBAG DISPATCHES ANTHOLOGY)

“Noah’s Lament”, Preston Lewis (THROUGH WESTERN STORMS, Lohman Hills Creative LLC)

“Hurricane at Hogg’s Holler”, Scott McCrea (THROUGH WESTERN STORMS, Lohman Hills Creative LLC)

“White City”, John D. Nesbitt (THROUGH WESTERN STORMS, Lohman Hills Creative LLC)

 

On This Day in the Old West - Friday June 13

 This Friday, I thought we could look into the origins of the superstitions about Fridays in general, and Friday the Thirteenth in specific. The scientific term for this belief is friggatriskaidekaphobia. The belief in Friday as an unlucky day and thirteen as an unlucky number both predate the belief that Friday the Thirteenth is especially unlucky—and both superstitions are so old it’s almost impossible to determine exactly where each came from. 

The idea that Friday is unlucky might have come from the biblical tradition that Jesus was crucified on a Friday, a tradition that led to Friday as a fasting day in Christian tradition. Friday is not considered unlucky in most other religions, nor in countries where the majority religion is not Christianity. Many cite the Bible as proof that the number thirteen is unlucky as well, claiming that Judas, who betrayed Jesus, was the thirteenth guest at the Last Supper. However, there is no evidence in the Bible of which guest arrived at which time, so there is no proof that Judas was, in fact, the thirteenth. There were thirteen at the table that night, though, so that could be behind the idea of unlucky thirteen.

In actual fact, however, there is good evidence that thirteen was associated with misfortune and death in many Catholic countries before the Reformation. In Tarot Cards, for example, Death has been numbered thirteen since at least 1565, when its number “is mentioned in Francesco Piscina’s Discorso Sopre l’Ordine Delle Figure de Tarocchi (Discourse on the Order of the Tarot Trumps).”

One idea about the unluckiness of thirteen is mathematical. Twelve is a number with many divisors, making it both a “superior highly composite number” and a “colossally abundant number.” It is divisible by two, three, four, and six, and so is useful for many applications, which we can see in the division of the year into twelve months, the clock face into twelve hours, the foot into twelve inches, and so on. “Skeptical researcher Joe Nickell and others suggest that because of the symbolism of twelve as perfect completion, thirteen might represent ’the first departure from divine completeness or the initial step towards evil.’” There is, however, no proof that this explanation is the correct one.

Folklore specialist Stephen Winick introduces the concept of metafolklore: folk stories about folk beliefs. The story about thirteen being compared with the perfect twelve is an example of this concept, as is the idea that the Code of Hammurabi, an ancient Mesopotamian law text, omitted Law #13 and skipped from #12 to #14. This seems to foreshadow the modern practice of skipping the thirteenth floor on a building and would suggest that the belief in unlucky thirteen is nearly 4,000 years old. However, the truth is that the laws in this code are unnumbered on the original stone on which they were carved. Any omission in numbering, therefore, occurred after the code was rediscovered in the Twentieth Century. The story of the code’s connection to the belief in unlucky thirteen is modern metafolklore.

Another “metafolkloric” explanation for the number involves Norse mythology. In this case, the idea is that of another dinner party, this one with twelve gods instead of twelve disciples. The trickster god Loki supposedly arrived uninvited—the thirteenth guest—and engineered the death of Baldr, The problem with this story is that neither the prose nor the poetic versions of the Edda (the primary source material for the story of Baldr’s death) feature a dinner party, nor do they specify how many gods were present when he was killed. As Winick says, “Perhaps this was an attempt to make the tradition seem older than it is. If so, this is creative metafolklore at its best.”

Metafolklore also has an answer for when Unlucky Thirteen and Unlucky Friday were combined into the belief that Friday the Thirteenth is especially unlucky “Search the web,” says Winick,” and you’ll find lots of sites relating the origin of a belief in unlucky Friday the Thirteenth to the destruction of the Knights Templar, which occurred on Friday, October 13, 1307.” This theory has been popularized in Dan Brown’s novel The Da Vinci Code, but historians have never been convinced of its truth. The date of the initial attack on the Templars is accurate enough, but nobody seems to have connected this date to the belief that Friday the Thirteenth is unlucky—until the 20^th Century. 

Winick himself believes that the idea of Unlucky Friday the Thirteenth came to us via France. The earliest clear references he has found come from French works, two of which date from 1834. In one, an article in the Revue de Paris, a murder on Friday the Thirteenth was explained with the phrase “Ce sont toujours ces vendredis et ces nombres, treize qui portent malheur!” (“It is always Friday and the number thirteen that bring bad luck!”). And in a play from the same year, Les Finesses des Gribouilles, a character states, “Je suis né un vendredi, treize décembre, 1813, d’ou viennent tous mes melheurs!” (“I was born on a Friday, December 13, 1813, from which come all my misfortunes.”). Later examples show that by the middle of the 19^th Century, the idea that Friday the Thirteenth was unlucky was a common one in France.

This resulted in a belief in the United States that Europeans, especially the French, believed in the unluckiness of Friday the Thirteenth. This was later generalized to “superstitious people” instead of Europeans, and, often, articles debunked the belief. People even formed clubs to disprove the belief, such as the Thirteen Club of New York, which first met on Friday, January 13, 1882.

The founder of The Thirteen Club was one Captain William Fowler, who had attended Public School 13, built thirteen structures over his career, fought in thirteen Civil War conflicts, belonged to thirteen clubs, and, whenever possible, did significant things on the thirteenth of any month. According to a write-up in the New York Historical Society, the inaugural meeting of Fowler’s club took place at 8:13 in the evening, in room 13 of a building Fowler owned called the Knickerbocker Cottage (although it was on Sixth Avenue and Twenty-Eighth, not Thirteenth Street). Attendees passed underneath a ladder and consumed thirteen courses (including a coffin-shaped lobster salad). A year later, the club secretary reported that “out of the entire roll of membership…whether they have participated or not at the banquet table, NOT A SINGLE MEMBER IS DEAD, or has even had a serious illness.”

So, nobody knows where the belief in Unlucky Thirteen or Unlucky Friday actually came from, but “superstitious people” still believe that Friday the Thirteenth is especially unlucky. Is your character a superstitious person or a nay-sayer? It might be interesting to note.

 

J.E.S. Hays
www.jeshays.com
www.facebook.com/JESHaysBooks

A Western Perspective: Rust

         Howdy all! I hope you are all having a great start to the week. For this month's A Western Perspective, I thought it would be a good time to review the newly released western movie Rust. Yes, this is the western that stars Alec Baldwin that was hit with extreme tragedy when cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed in a on set accident involving the movie prop firearms. I think it is very important to reflect on this tragedy and hopefully movie sets will always strive to be as safe as possible and to not allow live rounds on set at any time. 

         Please know that this is not a post to defend or condemn any party involved. I pray that from that dark day, peace, grace and forgiveness can be found for all impacted. Instead I am wanting to help celebrate Halyna Hutchins' legacy and beautiful work on this western film.

        From the very beginning, this movie has great locations and really gives you that feel of the west in the late 1800's. The story is about a teenage boy named Lucas, who is trying to take care of his younger brother while keeping the family farm afloat. Through the beginning of this movie it tries and succeeds in showing just how hard that would be on one person let alone someone of such a young age. In great classic western fashion, Lucas stands up for his brother who was being bullied which turns out to be the catalyst for this movie. Lucas defends his brother by injuring the bully whose dad has come calling for the Lucas stand for the injured sons tasks and chores. The movie moves pretty quick at this point when the bully's father is shot down accidentally by Lucas. Set to hang for this, Lucas is saved by none other than his estranged grandfather, played by Alec Baldwin who is an outlaw himself. From here the movie is a chase to the end filled with lawmen with troubled home lives to a preacher like bounty hunter with dark methods throughout the story. 

        The cinematography of this movie is great in setting the era and place but also the mood at the same time. As dark toned as it is, the light comes in with little glints instead of encompassing sunshine. Even though this style was present in other movies that Haylna Hutchins' worked on in the past, for this film it adds a melancholy feeling to it.

        Alec Baldwin in this movie is also top notch. I have a soft spot in my heart for grandpa/grandson stories as it was my grandpa who got me into westerns in the first place. Baldwin's deliverance of an outlaw who will not stop at killing when it comes to his and soon his grandsons survival, gives a gritty performance. He really shows that even someone who commits dark deeds has a soul deep down somewhere. That through all the violence and darkness a light can be found for those that you love. Baldwin did a great job and I would love to see him in more westerns moving forward. 

        This movie on its own is wonderful. It makes you feel sad and hopeful at the same time while giving reconciliation at the end. I highly recommend this movie to anyone who loves westerns but also anyone who enjoys great film in general. Story, music, location, cinematography and the acting are all top notch in this film. 

        It is such a sad ordeal that happened on this movie set and not something that should be forgotten or made light of in any sense. I do think that celebrating Haylna Hutchins' legacy with this movie was a great idea and I am glad that the movie got to see the light of day for audiences. The movie is available on Amazon Prime to rent or buy.   

        That is it for this months A Western Perspective. I hope you all have a great week.

        Adios pardners 🤠

And...I share

Post (C) Doris McCraw

aka Angela Raines

I thought I'd interrupt my regularly scheduled post to slip in some fun, maybe. My regular job has been offering classes, etc., on the ethical use of AI. With the discussion about marketing, and more, I thought I would share some of the answers to some prompts I asked AI about the tropes and other pieces of this puzzle. Please tell me your thoughts on what transpired. (If anyone wants the complete set of answers, just let me know.)

Here are three standard tropes commonly found in the Western genre:

1.     The Lone Gunslinger
A solitary, often morally ambiguous hero with a mysterious past who lives by a personal code of honor.

2.     The Frontier Town
A dusty, isolated settlement that represents the edge of civilization, usually threatened by lawlessness or encroaching forces.

3.     Showdown at High Noon
A climactic gunfight, often in the center of town, that resolves major conflicts—typically between good and evil.

Three Historic Western Genre Suspense Tropes

1.     Wanted Man Among Us
A member of the community is revealed to have a bounty on their head—or a bounty hunter comes to town, turning everyone against each other in a tense standoff.

2.     The Ghost Town Secret
A deserted town holds dark secrets—abandoned mines, massacres, or cover-ups—and someone is willing to kill to keep the past buried.

3.     The Saboteur
Someone is sabotaging a railroad, telegraph line, cattle drive, or wagon train—creating suspicion, accidents, and growing paranoia among the group.

Here are three classic tropes tailored to Historic Western Mystery stories—where grit, dust, and justice intersect with secrets, investigations, and twists:

1.     The Silent Frontier Grave
A body is discovered in an unmarked grave (or hanging from a tree, etc.), prompting an investigation that uncovers old rivalries, hidden crimes, or land feuds.

2.     The Disguised Killer
A respected member of the community—preacher, doctor, rancher, or lawman—harbors a dark secret or double life, complicating the search for justice.

3.     The Vanished Prospector
A gold miner disappears, leaving behind a map or journal. Was it murder for a claim? A setup? A tragic accident—or something more sinister?

Historic Western tropes and common Young Adult (YA) tropes can intersect in rich and dynamic ways, often creating a compelling blend of adventure, identity, and transformation. Here's where they most commonly intersect:

---

1. Coming of Age / Rite of Passage

• Western: A young protagonist must "prove themselves" by taming a horse, surviving in the wilderness, or confronting danger alone.
• YA: The main character undergoes personal growth, often through struggle, finding their place in the world.
• Intersection: A teenage character must survive frontier life, perhaps after being orphaned or separated from their family, and in doing so, matures emotionally and morally.

---

2. Individualism and Self-Reliance

• Western: The hero is often a rugged individualist who resists authority and carves their own path.
• YA: Teens assert independence from adults, often questioning authority and forging their identity.
• Intersection: A young person may run away from an abusive home or restrictive society, heading west to create a new life, echoing both personal and literal frontier journeys.

---

3. Outsider Status

• Western: Drifters, outlaws, and loners populate the frontier—characters who don’t fit in civilized society.
• YA: Protagonists often feel misunderstood, marginalized, or out of place.
• Intersection: A mixed-race character, or someone with a hidden past, may face discrimination or isolation in a frontier town, using that tension to fuel their growth.

✨ Sample Marketing Hooks for YA Westerns:

• “What if Katniss had a six-shooter and rode into town looking for justice?”
• “In a town with no sheriff and no rules, one girl is about to make her own law.”
• “Frontier justice isn’t just for outlaws — it’s for angry teens with nothing to lose.”

Until Next Time

Doris 

Angela Raines - Amazon

Doris A. McCraw - Amazon

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15th Annual Peacemaker Award Finalists and Lifetime Achievement Peacemaker Award

 THE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT PEACEMAKER

Douglas Hirt

 

15th Annual Peacemaker Awards Finalists

For Western Novels and Stories Published in 2024

 

 

BEST WESTERN NOVEL
 
PALO DURO MUSTANGS, Alice V. Brock, (Pen-L Publishing)
THE BIG DRY, Patrick Dearen, (TCU Press)
THE MEDICINE LINE, John Hansen, (Summit Creek Press)
LEGEND OF LOST BASIN, Bruce Hartman, (Swallow Tail Press)
HANGING MAN, Rod Miller, (Thorndike Press)
 
 
BEST FIRST WESTERN NOVEL
 
THE MONTE BOYS, Robert M. Brunelle, (Robert M. Brunelle)
RENEGADES, RUSTLERS AND ROGUES, Joanne M. Fralick, (Joanne M. Fralick)
EMBERS IN THE WIND, Dawson Gallow, (DWG Publishing)
LEGEND OF LOST BASIN, Bruce Hartman, (Swallow Tail Press)
AMERICAN COWBOYS, Aaron Rhodes, (Rhiannye Aubree Publishing)
 
BEST WESTERN SHORT FICTION
 
“Fortunate Man”, Kimberly Burns, (SADDLEBAG DISPATCHES)
“Valiant-For-Truth”, Elisabeth Grace Foley, (THROUGH WESTERN STORMS, Lohman Hills Creative LLC)
“Rattlers”, Bruce Hartman, (SADDLEBAG DISPATCHES ANTHOLOGY)
“Noah’s Lament”, Preston Lewis, (THROUGH WESTERN STORMS, Lohman Hills Creative LLC)
“Hurricane at Hogg’s Holler”, Scott McCrea, (THROUGH WESTERN STORMS, Lohman Hills Creative LLC)
“White City”, John D. Nesbitt, (THROUGH WESTERN STORMS, Lohman Hills Creative LLC)

Winners will be announced June 15, 2025 on the WF website (www.westernfictioneers.com) and on this blog.

Western Fictioneers (WF) was formed in 2010 by professional Western writers, to preserve, honor, and promote traditional Western writing in the 21st century. Entries were accepted in both print and electronic forms.

The Peacemaker Awards are given annually. Submissions for the Peacemaker Awards for books and stories published in 2025 will be open in August 2025. Submission guidelines will be posted on the WF website. For more information about Western Fictioneers (WF) please visit: http://www.westernfictioneers.com.

Western Fictioneers would like to thank the judges for their excellent work and James Reasoner for being the Awards Chair.

The Coming Demise of the Mass Market Paperback

What started this if you missed the Publishers Weekly article.

In effect this says midlist titles will vanish. There won't be any mass market paperbacks other than bestsellers.

I decided to throw out the question of how we, as western writers, can continue to write our tales of the Wild West and get our work in front of readers. My basic worry is one of demographics. My starting point is that our readership won't migrate to ebooks due to lack of/contempt for technology. This same group might also find it difficult to be upsold to trade paper, which can cost twice what a mass market pb goes for now. I may be wrong. I hope I am, but back in the day when trade pbs were introduced I thought this would cannibalize pb sales. It didn't. Trade pbs turned out to be a new market that expanded sales.

So, it is quite possible I am completely wrong and expanded printing in this format will reach a different market. That doesn't take away the need for us to find alternative markets and new ways of reaching readers. As I see it, pbs are our bread and butter (and jam and...)

Many thanks to Jeff Mariotte, Cheryl Pierson, and Richard Prosch for their fine counsel and sharing of experiences.

Cheryl hit the nail on the head. Series sell. The question is how to get those series in front of our readers, especially since most series now are published in mass market pbs.

It's clear that there's not a single path forward. But elements are showing up that seem to be in the mix.

We need a coalition working to sell everyone else's work, as well as working on our own titles. How can WF help in this?

I believe Amazon ads work because someone who *wants* to buy goes hunting for something to read. The step of convincing that would-be reader to come over and look has already been done. But ads on Facebook and elsewhere require an extra step since people aren't primarily going to FB or elsewhere to buy.

Along with this is the notion of Kickstarter titles (way to go, Jeff!)  I just got this in my email. Looks like Prism is a promising idea.

Jeff’s input: "I agree with AI that weird westerns are the hottest thing going at the moment--but the audience for them is not the same as for traditional westerns. It skews younger, for one thing, and more tech-savvy. Major publishers putting out traditional westerns are practically extinct, but some of them will still publish weird westerns. I'm essentially the go-to reviewer for weird westerns at Roundup and True West, and a lot of what I see are academic treatises about weird westerns--which means the universities are getting in on the act. I have one waiting for me to review that's specifically about sex in weird westerns. It's a 350-page hardcover from the University of Nebraska Press, retailing for $99. And there aren't even any pictures!

"So there's definitely potential in that arena...it's just not likely to carry over to traditional western work. I enjoy writing both and would hate to just write the weird stuff."

More thoughts from Jeff: "It's interesting that you called out the Prism anthology. That's from Crazy 8 Press, with whom Silverado Press is loosely associated. Crazy 8 started with 8 friends who all wrote sf/fantasy stuff, and organized as a loose authors' consortium. The principals all have their own individual websites, I believe, but there's also a Crazy 8 website at which all their books receive coverage and can be ordered. If one of them puts together an anthology, the others all have open invitations to submit. They all support each other’s projects, cross-promoting to their individual fan bases (many of whom have become Crazy 8 fans rather than just reading one author, because there's enough commonality in the type of work they do--although over the years they've expanded their initial genre focuses).

"When Howard Weinstein and I talked about forming Silverado Press, we went to Crazy 8 because we're both friends with most of them, and they agreed to take us on as a separate but related imprint. We get some cross-promotion from them and a small presence on their website, and when we conceived the Silverado Press Presents anthology, they were all invited to participate. Several of them did, because even people who don't usually write westerns like writing westerns. Crazy 8 was also instrumental in setting up the Kickstarter, which I had never done.

"If Western Fictioneers could adopt a similar approach, it could be very beneficial to the organization and its members. Western Fictioneers as a brand name would be good to slap on our books, if it was understood to mean quality fiction of the old west. We have enough members that people cross-promoting one another's projects, participating in an anthology, providing blurbs, etc., would probably have an impact on sales and help us reach readers we can't find individually. It would require some retooling of the organization's structure and value. If only we knew somebody with a leadership position in the organization...

"Anyway, the Crazy 8 model, which the Prism book represents is, I believe, one good way to increase readership and sales for everyone who takes part. None of the Crazy 8 folks are becoming millionaires, but they're getting consistent sales and have a ready-made market to reach out to." {End of Jeff's musings....}

Back to my maundering on potential sources of income from our stories:

Grants may be a source of funding. But something I am, in my old age, learning, we don't have to do it all ourselves. There are grants experts out there. Every university has a phalanx of them. Maybe hiring someone to cull through certain classes of grants would be worthwhile for a writers' coalition?  I know of one western fan who specializes in compiling bibles for western series. Is finding suitable grants that much different in terms of sourcing?

I just ran an AI search and got the following (shows a start on finding freebie money). I am sure more can be found drilling down into individual states and maybe asking about companies and specific in-house magazines.

My first shot at the AI prompt: You are expert in finding monetary grants from state, city and federal sources. You will not list any contest or competition nor will you list any source requiring an entry fee or other money paid up front by the author. The grants you list in a bullet point format seek fiction of any length set in the wild west in the era 1860-1920. Provide links to each source found.

And the ChatGPT AI response:

Finding grants specifically for fiction writers focusing on the Wild West era (1860–1920) can be challenging, as many funding opportunities are broader in scope. However, here are some grants and programs that support fiction writers and may accommodate projects centered on this theme:

- **National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Literature Fellowships**: The NEA offers fellowships to published creative writers, providing $25,000 grants in prose (fiction and creative nonfiction) and poetry. These highly competitive grants are intended to support writers in their creative endeavors. [NEA Literature Fellowships]

- **Sustainable Arts Foundation Awards**: This foundation offers grants to writers and artists who are parents, providing unrestricted funds to support their creative work. While not genre-specific, writers focusing on historical fiction, including the Wild West era, are eligible to apply. [Sustainable Arts Foundation]

- **Arizona Commission on the Arts Grants**: Given your location in Scottsdale, Arizona, the state arts commission offers various grants to individual artists, including writers. These grants support the creation of new works and professional development. [Arizona Commission on the Arts]

- **Regional Arts and Culture Council (RACC) Grants**: If your work has a connection to the Portland, Oregon area, RACC offers grants to writers and artists for project-based works. Historical fiction writers focusing on the Wild West era may find opportunities here. [RACC Grants]

- **Wyoming Arts Council Creative Writing Fellowships**: For writers residing in Wyoming, the Arts Council offers annual creative writing fellowships. These are merit-based and intended to support writers in various genres, including fiction. [Wyoming Arts Council]

When applying for these grants, it's essential to highlight how your project aligns with the grant's objectives and how it contributes to the understanding or appreciation of the Wild West era. Carefully review each grant's eligibility requirements and guidelines to ensure your project is a good fit.

That's a start, at least. Depending on grant money is hit or miss, but it comes closer to the medieval pattern of a patron of the arts supporting writers/artists/sculptors than we have now. Unless you already have a "sugar daddy" paying you to write. If so, does your patron need another peon writing about the Old West?  Let me know. <g>

Other places to explore:

Anthologies: problem is that they don’t sell very well and are few and far between.

University presses and small presses: quality work, very few openings, not much in way of money.

Kickstarter: a good place (see Jeff’s comments above how he is doing this) but Kickstarter projects require a considerable dedication of time and careful planning. They are more complicated than just toss it out and expect people to give you money. Benefits can be that the fans signing up work to find others to contribute through various levels of incentives and stretch goals.

Patreon: start putting up stories or serialized chapters for a $1 or two a month. Or more words at a higher price. This is a way to get paid regularly (by subscription) and keep in closer touch with your most fervent readers. The problem here is one of demographics again. How many western readers will go online and jump through the hoops to set up a Patreon account?  OTOH, if you entice a few hundred patrons each chipping in a couple dollars a month, in a year this is about the advance on a full-fledged paperback. The problem is getting eyes on your account initially. "Cross pollination" with others following this route would help. "Can I borrow a cup of fans, please?"

YouTube: The same as Patreon. Set up your own channel. You can take subscriptions like Patreon, but there's another way to get paid on YouTube. You must join the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) and link your channel to an AdSense for YouTube account.

Meet YouTube Partner Program Eligibility

Before applying, ensure your channel meets these criteria:

·   1,000 subscribers    

·   4,000 valid public watch hours in the past 12 months  

·   Adherence to YouTube's policies and guidelines  

·   Linked AdSense account: Once eligible, apply for the YPP through YouTube Studio.)  

The more eyes YouTube gets, the more willing they are to pay you and find advertisers. I suspect this is a bridge too far for most of us, requiring many thousands of viewers, but maybe western apparel stores or other related businesses might be enticed to drop a few ad dollars. But eyes!  This needs lots of eyes to achieve.

 Audiobooks: Amazon seems to be making this easy now, but, like print books using an Amazon ISBN, it’s not portable—you can’t take the product and sell it somewhere else. This might not be a problem, but Amazon’s deal is vastly favorable to Amazon. You can do your own audiobooks using AI. Go from text to voice using services such as Elevenlabs.io   You can clone your own voice and then use it to read your work. This sounds nice but in today’s e-scam world, I’m not sure I want anyone getting such a long stretch of me reading anything. Deepfake voice, you say?  But I am paranoid. The point is you can produce audiobooks without personally recording with your own voice.

Series: absolutely. But if mass market print is cut off, this forces us into ebooks. Monthly series in trade seems a hard sell to me. Ebooks have the same problem of cutting through the static and getting noticed which brings us back to ...

...Indie selling: Amazon, Draft2Digital, etc. This requires us to do everything to get the book out. Writing, cover, formatting … and marketing. Simply putting a book up on Amazon won’t sell unless you’re named Louis L’Amour and have the wind of 320 million sales at your back. Your current competition is something like six million other titles on Amazon, plus the backlogs of L’Amour and Zane Grey and everyone else who has written a western. I’m experimenting with ways to use AI in ads. After a bit more poking and prodding, I’ll report on how that’s gone. (Preliminary results seem to be small success for sci-fi titles, far less than exciting for westerns.)

Cross advertising each other’s works using a hashtag on the various social media (and announcing our own releases) might give a real boost. This might work best with a Patreon account on the receiving end of the PR.

I hope this isn’t an exhaustive list. Chime in with your own ideas. Because we write about the Good Ole Days doesn’t mean we can't use all them danged modern gadgets. And services. And ways to sell.

Feel free to whisper among yourselves, pass notes in class and let us all hear your thoughts. But no spitballs, please.

Bob Vardeman

president WF

Jackson Lowry Amazon Page

Karl Lassiter Amazon Page