I’m thrilled you’re interested in submitting stories at the Prairie Times. I usually answer manuscripts within 2-3 days, so please check your e-mail regularly after you submit.
Please also check your Spam folder. Because we are a .com, and I return manuscripts as Word attachments for the writer to make corrections, sometimes they go into Spam. If you’ve sent a manuscript and haven’t heard from me within 2-3 days, it went into your Spam folder.
If I want to accept a manuscript, I will return it to you with a list of suggested changes, for us to work on it together. (If you don’t want to do it yourself, you can tell me “Yes, I approve those” and I will place the story.)
Please submit in the middle of the month. The last week of the month, I put together the issue for the following month, which is a week of heavy editing, page layout, illustrations, and collecting ad copy from our advertisers. The following week is eaten up with billing, delivering the papers to post offices, etc.
Any manuscripts received in my deadline week will not be read or edited until after our next issue comes out. You will receive a notice that I will read it after X date.
Try to match your stories to the time of year. I will accept stories that are “out of season” but I prefer to place them in-season. If it’s November and you send me a spring story, you may have to wait to see it in print until March. But many stories are not seasonal, so I’ll place them wherever I have room.
I only accept one story per writer per issue.
Our files fill up months in advance, so try to think 4-6 months ahead. The following are the issues “open” for 2026.
2026
- Jan: Full.
- Feb: Full.
- March: Full.
- April: Full.
- May: Full.
- June: 8 spots left.
- July: 10 spots left.
- Aug: 12 spots left.
- Sept: 12 spots left.
- Oct: 12 spots left.
- Nov: 12 spots left.
- Dec: 12 spots left.
If you want to send a story really far in advance, I will open up a file for you if the story is good enough. I’d rather open a file early than have you not seize the moment.
I look forward to hearing from you! 🙂
