Write for Us

Toy Tales will consider stories from freelance writers and collectors who have a special interest in nostalgic toys and games and reimagined classic brands. This includes (but is not limited to) stories about entertaining toys and games, the people who brought them to life, and the modern-day individuals and toy companies that uphold their legacies.

Please keep the following guidelines in mind when you pitch a story idea to us.

Editorial Focus

You may propose unique and engaging content that will amuse, entertain, and educate our readers within our area of focus: nostalgic toys and games and re-imagined classic brands.

Please note these policies:

  1. Toy Tales publishes original content only. Unless pre-approved, please do not submit content that has appeared (or will appear) elsewhere.
  2. Your story should fall into one of these general themes:
    • Vintage games, toys, or ads
    • Popular culture as it relates to nostalgic toys and games
    • Reviews of books, movies, podcasts, etc.
    • People and places
  3. Your writing should match the “toy journalism” tone of the site. This means we value well researched, informative, and factual content that is also playful, positive, and upbeat.
  4. Unless pre-approved, articles that promote the writer or a commercial venture of the writer are not permitted.
  5. Toy Tales reserves the right to edit content for brevity, clarity, or other reasons determined by our editors.
  6. Toy Tales pays a nominal fee for original content by freelance writers. This is determined once we have reviewed and expressed interest in a story idea.
  7. Toy Tales retains the rights to text and images of all posts published on toytales.ca and in our Play Patterns weekly email.

Weekly Schedule

Toy Tales publishes fresh content daily. View the weekly schedule.

How to Get in Touch

First, please send us a summary of your proposed content – a few sentences will do. Introduce yourself, your interests, and tell us about your idea. If you have a relevant writing sample, please include the link.

If we give you the green light to proceed, please follow these guidelines:

  • Be creative! Stories should convey your unique voice.
  • Content must be between 250 and 500 words.
  • Include no more than two website links within your post.
  • Do your research, write accurately, and provide references when helpful.
  • Citations to research should be incorporated casually into your article. As a non-academic site, Toy Tales does not use footnotes or bibliographies.
  • Toy Tales will provide the graphic elements required for guest posts. You may include suggestions.

To pitch your story idea, email editorial@toytales.ca.

All enquiries to write for Toy Tales are appreciated. Due to demand, not every enquiry will receive a response.