Thank you for your interest in contributing to our community publications. For those who are unfamiliar to us, here are some tips for getting your stories into our papers:

1. If you are considering submitting a story, may we suggest that first you take a look at some our back issues?
2. All of our stories need a local angle: Please take a look at our coverage areas. If your event or story idea does not fall into our area, chances are we won’t cover it, unless there is something especially noteworthy:  “Annex resident raises 2 billion dollars for the community with a party on the Danforth,” would be a good (albeit slightly exaggerated) example.
3. Did it pass the first test? Great. But, just because something falls into our area, does not mean we will necessarily cover it. Your favourite band from New York playing at Lee’s Palace does not a Gleaner story make. (It is a listing though!) If it turns out the lead singer is just pretending he grew up in Brooklyn and is really from Little Italy, yes, send it our way.
4. We don’t mean to imply that a person has to live in our community to be a part of it (although it does help).  Working counts too. Or significant playing. Or a historical tie. Basically, the more ways the story can be relevant to the area the better.
5. If you are sending a press release, please make it obvious to us why we would want to cover it. Include addresses, which paper you would like it in, if any of the individuals involved are part of our communities. NOTE: “Toronto” is not specific enough. If it takes us longer than thirty seconds to determine what it is, and why we would want to feature it, chances are we will delete it, and keep scrolling the billion other emails we received that day.
6. Give us as much advance notice as possible. We are, after all, a monthly.
7. We will consider unsolicited stories and columns for publication, but it is better to try and sell us on an idea.

Thanks and good luck!