Aly's Newsletter: Pre-holiday edition!

Happy Passover and Easter this weekend!

Happy Passover tonight to all who celebrate (and happy Easter to everyone celebrating this weekend!)

I'm going to be sharing a lot of cooking this weekend (and all week long) , but for starters, on my Instagram right now, I'm sharing my recipe for homemade beet horseradish -- it's a staple for everything for spreading on matzo to enjoying with gefilte fish.

alywalansky

A post shared by alywalansky (@alywalansky)

Newly published:

We try so hard to keep things healthy when we can, and salads always seem like a good idea. But what we put on our salads does matter. For Clean Plates, I rounded up some of the best salad dressings you can buy, according to nutritionists.

Additional newly published stories:

Forbes: Mother’s Day Gift Guide: The Best Foodie Gifts For The Mom Who Loves To Travel

RetailMeNot: 10 Gorgeous Pieces of Mother’s Day Jewelry Under $100

The Kitchn: Eggo Is Releasing a New Line of Waffles That You Won’t Even Need to Toast

Her Money: Convenience vs. Expense: How to save money using rideshare apps

Forbes: Here's where to find gorgeous Easter-themed cocktails around the country

As always, if you or your client are featured in any of these stories, I super appreciate any social shares.

Some housekeeping

Can we talk about something for a second? I've noticed a trend lately where some publicists sometimes like to cc groups journalists (sometimes just two of us, but sometimes a bunch) on a pitch if they know are friends or in the same circles.

While I realize that may seem like a time saver and I can totally respect how busy everyone is, it can sometimes create a sort of awkward situation. If people write for different outlets, perhaps even competing outlets, it feels kind of weird for them to be discussing their editorial plans in a group email. 

Imagine, for example, you were emailing two people who worked at two different law firms about taking on a case for you. Would you cc those two different firms in the same email? No, of course not.

Now, for social/fun reasons, doing this is totally fine, if everyone in the equation is acquainted with each other! I love getting emails suggesting a joint drinks date that involves me and media friends getting to know your team all at once. But if it's a "you should cover this specific news", and here's why it's great for your outlet" perhaps consider sending it as an individual email. 

ALSO: A reminder that my next subscriber-only Zoom event is MONDAY.  Want the details? check it out here.

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.

AllRecipes

For AllRecipes, I'm going to be working on a roundup of drinking glasses - everything from those regency-era coupe glasses I'm obsessed with to, like, stuff for water or juice (hydration is important, you guys).  My categories of drinking glasses will include (in the event this is helpful in your pitching) stuff like: "Best Overall for Everyday Use," "Best Budget," "Best Unbreakable" (think water glasses for these first few), "Best Insulated," ... then stuff like "Best for Bourbon and Whiskey," "Best for Beer," "Best for Wine," and "Best for Champagne".  For each item I include, I will be touching on a few specs (for glasses, specs would probably be Material:, Dimensions:, Capacity:, and Quantity:), i'm going to try to do a range of retailers for these, but limit to the major ones (think amazon, walmart, target, etc)

Forbes.com

• Mother’s Day Gift Guide: The Best Mail-Order Gifts For A Mother’s Day Meal At Home

• Mother’s Day Gift Guide: The Best Luxury Kitchen Gifts

• Mother’s Day Gift Guide: The Best Celebrity Chef Merchandise For Home Cooks

To pitch me for any of these, please be sure to start a new email thread, email alywalansky@gmail.com (NOT my substack) and let me know which one(s) you are pitching for. please be sure to include: 

• name of product

• where solid, link, price

• description, and why it's a good fit for this theme

• and a LINK to a high res image (dropbox preferred...just please make sure you are SHARING the image and not just cutting and pasting a URL...that will ensure I actually GET it and not ... a dropbox home screen lol.)

Today.com

I'm rounding up restaurant/food chain deals for Cinco De Mayo. I'm ALSO rounding up deals at restaurant/food chains for MOTHER'S DAY. 

For either of these, please be sure to send the name of the chain, what the deal is, and how customers can claim it. (Do they need a promo code? A rewards app? A QR code? etc)

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

Are you confused about affiliate marketing?

If you are having trouble learning how to navigate issues of affiliate marketing (trust me, we've all been there!), you may want to try out my friend Sarah Karger, a publicist, and former editor Dana Baardsen (and all-around fab girl!)'s Ultimate Masterclass and Introduction to Affiliate Marketing for Publicists. It's a brilliant course and it'll answer all your questions (including some you didn't know you had!)

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.

<3

aly