Aly's Newsletter: Back In New York City! Derby recap, and a bunch of super-short-turnaround nutrition stories pending.

Happy Monday!

Happy Monday!

I'm back from Louisville and had a BLAST at the Kentucky Derby!

I'm normally not a big fan of sporting events in general (or at all, to be fair), but having the opportunity to dress like I'm going to an English garden party and have fun cocktails? That's my kind of sport.

I’m not sure who was watching this weekend, but the Derby ended up having a pretty exciting turn of events! Can turn anyone into a sports fan…it really is the most exciting two minutes in sports. No lie there.

As for the result of the poll I did on Friday, I ended up wearing the pink hat on Friday for the running of the oaks, and the red one for the Derby itself on Saturday. Here's the final looks:

alywalansky

A post shared by alywalansky (@alywalansky)

alywalansky

A post shared by alywalansky (@alywalansky)

And now I have hats to break out any time I can conjure up a worthy excuse to wear them...anyone want to have a gathering to celebrate the Queen's platinum jubilee perhaps?

Anywho...it's a busy Monday. It's back to work, and back to reality...

Newly published

Food Network: Krispy Kreme Is Buzzing With Adorable Bee-Themed Honey Doughnuts

Food Network: This One’s for the Superfans: Taco Bell Is Making a Musical About Its Mexican Pizza

SheKnows: New to Sex Toys? These Intuitive Vibrators Are Perfect for Beginners

YourTango: 22 Best Slimming Swimsuits That Hide Tummy Bulge & Boost Confidence

Here's what I'm working on:

Be sure to read the below list carefully. Many are stories I posted about yesterday, but some of yesterday's stories are no longer listed and a few new ones have been added since yesterday. This (below) is everything that is still a currently open opportunity as of today.

Clean Plates

For Clean Plates,  I need RDs to comment asap!

TIME SENSITIVE: I'm working on a story on Hacks for Avoiding a Blood Sugar Spike (and Still Having Your Dessert) - Blood sugar has become such a trendy term even for those who aren't diabetic / pre-diabetic — I would love to chat with an RD who dives into this a bit and notes the value of considering your blood sugar levels, and also touches on ways to avoid a blood sugar spike even if you want to eat blood sugar spike-y foods sometimes (rice and bananas are delicious and totally part of a balanced diet, after all!). 

 I'm also working on a story on Ways to Make Simple 15-Minute Dinners from Trader Joe's. This can be a mix of healthy recipes and products that go together in an easy way. For instance, the TJs cauliflower gnocchi + their seriously bomb pesto = great base for a meal. (This one would be great with suggestions of adding, say, their organic green vegetable foursome and some of their frozen shrimp or chickpeas for protein).  Would love RDs to comment! For guidance as to the format this story will take and the kind of comments I'm seeking, please take a look at this similar story I did recently.

The Complete Guide to Keto

This is a *print* magazine to be published by Centennial Health in August 2022. I'll be working on a story on Meals for All Eaters -- How to Feed a Food-Loving Family. It's essentially advice on creating meals that allow one person to be on keto while everyone else is eating non-keto meals. Maybe adding pasta to meat and veggies, or making two easy casseroles?. I'd love to talk to an R.D. re: how to do this, and also how to balance nutrition for kids/teenagers/men and a keto dieter. I'm also going to do a sidebar on meal delivery services. Deadline for this one - May 15.

Retailmenot

For RetailMeNot, I'm rounding up Memorial Day store hours for 2022. This is the Memorial Day version of the Easter store hours story I did for them, so take a look at that one for format, but I'll have 3 sections - Stores Open on Memorial Day + Store Hours, Stores Closed on Memorial Day, Restaurants Open on Memorial Day + Hours. This Memorial Day story is an update of this piece from last year. So if you represent a store or restaurant in that story, it'd be so helpful if you can reach out with your Memorial Day info if you have it handy.

To pitch me for ANY of these stories, please email me at alywalansky@gmail.com (and start a new thread, please!).

PR Pros: 

Receive Affiliate PR training + your Qs answered in real-time in the Affiliate PR Club - a monthly membership dedicated to supporting and training PR pros as they pitch, manage and scale Affiliate PR programs. Membership includes two 60-min live sessions (one training, one Q&A) as well as access to all past training recordings + a private Slack community for ongoing support.

NEXT LIVE TRAINING: May 11 at 3pm CST - will cover how to audit and strategically pitch products (even with minimal brand awareness!) to secure coverage.

RESOURCE HUB: Watch last month's recorded Q&A training with Bryce Gruber. 

You can find more details and sign up here! Only $111/month (discounted annual payment option available too).

Virtual consulting sessions...

Over the last six months or so, I've popped into a fair amount of PR team meetings and made myself available to answer all sorts of questions about pitching, events, and trips from a media perspective.  If you are interested in setting anything up for your own team in the coming months, please email me and we'll get something on the books!

Download the Substack App!

Good news! This newsletter is now available via app. That means you can keep up with everything you are reading from your phone. Download the app for iPhone and iPad here. For Android users, sign up for the waiting list here.

Housekeeping

There's been a lot of chatter of late about some Substacks that are acting in ways that are unethical, as far as charging for leads, or only including sources that are paid subscribers in stories. There's some other shifty dishonesty at foot as well. Bryce started a practice of sharing some Substack newsletters each week that she herself trusts and subscribes to, and I wanted to take a moment to do the same. So, here's some I recommend!

Bryce

Amber

Jill

Zlata

Alice

I subscribe to many -- some that are lifestyles related or follow interests of mine, from chef things to royal things -- and others that are more industry-specific, so I'll be sure to include a sampling from time to time of those that I recommend you try out as well (and you can always view my list of recommended Substacks on my newsletter's main page as well!)

<3

aly