Aly's Newsletter: Wednesday Edition

Tomorrow is Purim AND St. Patrick's Day. Hope you have your cocktails ready!

Hi friends!

It’s a GORGEOUS day in New York City today, and I hope it is as well wherever you are. It’s also the eve of two holidays pretty revelry-centric - both Purim and St. Patrick’s Day. Hope your cocktails shall be flowing!

I wanted to share the below quote I scrolled past on my Facebook newsfeed a few nights ago. It really resonated with me, and I think it might as well for many of you.

Being in our field presents a unique set of challenges. You can have outlets (or clients, depending on your gig and focus) go from assigning you 8 stories (or projects, as the case may be!) at a time to ghosting you completely in the blink of an eye. You can in the space of 24 hours have one client gush over your work and someone else rip it to threads. You may have people in your life who have no idea what you actually do for a living or even believe that you have a job at all, at least enough to take it seriously. And, any freelance writer will tell you, we get FAR more rejections or non-responses than we get assignments.

Considering all this, even after decades in the industry, you can have serious bouts of imposter syndrome and self doubt.  This is more true than ever after the extreme isolation and solitude so many of us dealt with this past two years, when so much of our life and career and work felt like existing in a vacuum.

I'm constantly doubting myself. Even with being blessed enough to have a pretty solid roster of work and clients I love, those lingering self-doubt issues always find a way to creep in. Am I good enough? Do people really like me? Do I still fit in? It never fully goes away and those ugly voices in your head are always there when you least need to hear them.

This is all to say, I think that making and keeping connections are an essential way of not feeling out of touch or lost.  This is true both in a personal relationship way, and in an industry sense.

Last night, I went to my first press event in months and it was so good to see old friends and colleagues and email contacts in the flesh again. I still love and appreciate virtual events for a lot of the same reasons -- the incredible value and importance of human connection -- and in fact have two I'm attending over the next 24 hours. But it's just so good to actually physically be able to connect with people again.

The event last night was a pretty intimate and chill one — celebrating the new aperitivo hour at a Brooklyn-based bar/restaurant, and it was exactly what my soul needed. (PS: That martini below? Those olives are stuffed with truffle gorgonzola mousse…can you even?!)

alywalansky

A post shared by alywalansky (@alywalansky)

I also have accepted my first few post-lockdown(v.2) press trips of 2022. Lets hope this latest variant holds off long enough I actually get to attend them!

 I think the last two years, we all did a great job of pivoting and finding ways to do our craft as best we could without being ‘out in the field’ so to speak…experiencing the destinations we are writing about or the food/drinks we are covering. I went from covering restaurant openings to writing about how to shop my pantry. We did what we had to do. (And to be honest, I love pantry stories!)

But writing stories in a tangible sense, seeing, and tasting, and feeling, and touching…it just feels so much more authentic; and I’m so grateful to be able to do it again. At least for the time being, alas.

Here's some stories that were newly published or updated this morning:

For Forbes, I wrote about the new Manhattan location of Katsuya:  Swanky Katsuya Has Finally Opened In New York City

For Food Network (and for journalism), here’s the rundown on Megan Thee Stallion’s new H-Town Hottie Pie.

Tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day, and for Today.com, I rounded up a bunch of fun food freebies and deals in celebration. For Forbes, I also rounded up some great dishes to enjoy in celebration (including fun ones you can have shipped, like a green bagels and lox brunch in a box!), and also some fun cocktails in honor of the occasion.

If you or your client are featured in any of these stories, please share on social and tag me (I'm @alywalansky basically everywhere, please follow me!), and also please remember to tag the outlet.

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

I'm looking for RDs to comment on three different pending stories: 

• The best bottled salad dressings you can get at Whole Foods, according to nutritionists

• The Best Items To Buy From Trader Joe's For Really Fast, Low-Lift Lunches According to Nutritionists 

• Vegan Items at Trader Joe's That Are Totally Nutritionist-Approved 

Please email me and I'll give you a rundown of specific questions and what I'm looking for.

Today.com

I'm working on a  big roundup of restaurants open on Easter. We’re looking for a big list of big and small chains across the country –high and low. It's the Easter version of this story we did for Christmas, if you want an idea of the format I'm looking for.

I'm also looking for restaurant chains nationwide doing special deals/discounts for tax day (i have a few weeks to play with this one...a rare feat!)

Forbes.com 

 For Forbes.com I'm rounding up Kosher For Passover wines and spirits for an upcoming story. I'm also doing a story on fun finds in Kosher For Passover snacks/treats/new products. These items must exist online and they MUST be shippable. And please please make sure the item is kosher for passover certified (that's a different thing than kosher, so if something is kosher, it's not necessarily KFP) - I'll do a dedicated newsletter soon explaining the difference for anyone who doesn't quite understand. But meanwhile, you can always email me questions. And, please, pitch me!

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!)

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A happy St. Patrick’s Day and Purim tomorrow to all who are celebrating (may you be tipsy and happy all day!)

<3

aly