Aly's Thursday Newsletter: Tons of new story leads and an important reminder
Plus a sweet deal: 50% off an annual subscription, for a limited time only.
Happy Thursday!
It's a busy day here -- and I don't just mean deadlines.
One of my assignments on deck for today is a "I tried this" sort of recipe piece. In these sort of assignments, I am tasked with taking on a trending recipe and trying to recreate it and perhaps improve upon it in some way. (This particular recipe I'm playing around with has a bit of a royal history, so obviously I'm excited about it.)
Later today, I'm attending a brand's virtual cooking event (yes, those still exist in mid-2022, and thank goodness for that — I love these kinds of events!), and it's with a chef I know and love, so it should be a fun time.
But outside of my kitchen (which is roughly the size of a postage stamp, so such projects are always an adventure), I have a few big stories I need to finish up before the weekend, and I wanted to touch on the topic of ghosting.
Ghosting is never cool, whether it's in relationships, friendships, or work situations. And, when you represent an expert and confirm you can answer interview questions by a specific deadline and then don't - but don't a writer you no longer can follow through, that causes a lot of problems on their end, as they have to scramble to find a replacement. I'm going through this right now with a source, and I'm half worried they were abducted because I've sent three followup emails that have not been answered either.
Moral of the story: Please don't ghost. If sending those interview responses or commentary is no longer possible, please let the writer know so they can proceed accordingly. If you give them that consideration and a respectable amount of notice, they may even reach out to you again in the future.
Special subscription deal!
For one week only, I'm offering a staggering 50% off annual subscriptions. This is a special deal I'm providing just because...we can all use a bit of extra love these days. Paid subscriptions get you access to added value such as Q&As, industry insight newsletters, and dedicated subscriber Zoom events where you can Ask Me Anything. Already have a subscription? Thank you! This is a good time to send a friend a gift or get a subscription for someone on your team.
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.
TODAY.COM
For Today.com, I'm working on the following stories:
I'm rounding up restaurant chains doing Memorial Day deals/freebies
Also I’m working on a list of restaurants open on Memorial Day (and their hours). Please keep in mind I mean CHAINS. Not standalones.
Restaurant deals/freebies for National Donut Day (which is the first week in June)
Looking ahead: I'm also going to be rounding up Father's Day and graduation related deals/freebies at chain restaurants (so if you happen to have those now feel free to send ahead!)
If pitching me restaurant deals/discounts for any of these holidays, please be sure to include what the deal is, how to claim the deal, and any disclaimers, as well as exactly how long it lasts and where it’s good. (I run into A LOT of last minute changes on these deals, so please be sure what you are pitching me is actually the deal being offered before proceeding…it helps us BOTH down the line.)
Forbes.com
Father's Day gift guides - I'll have around 4 different Father's Day gift guides happening for Forbes -- all related to spirits, food, cooking, kitchen, grilling, etc. Please stay tuned for tomorrow's newsletter, when I'll share specific details, deadlines, and pitching info for all those guides. I was hoping to be able to include today but I don't have all the info for them quite finalized yet - but will for my last newsletter before the weekend tomorrow! This will be a quick turnaround one because even tho I am sharing the info tomorrow, expect the stories to start publishing as soon as late next week.
Unless you've been living under a rock, you are probably aware that Her Majesty the Queen's Platinum Jubilee is being celebrated over the next few weeks. This is an incredibly historic event. For Forbes, I'm doing a roundup of cocktails/dishes being served at restaurants/bars/hotels around the world in honor of this MOMENTOUS occasion (sigh...what I'd give to be in London to celebrate...I can't even tell you.) - To pitch me for this story, please send me the following:
1 - Name of dish/drink
2 - Where being served (must exist on the menu or as a specialty at a bar or restaurant)
3 - Description
4 - Quote about the drink/dish (please don't forget to include a name of who is being quoted)
5 - High-res image of the dish/drink
Oxygen
I'm working on a story on how to incorporate your pet into your workout routine - in a sense that they are kept busy and exercised but are also a sort of accountability partner, We always use all our chores and life tasks as an excuse not to take better care of ourselves, but one way I've always found to "cheat" is to combine activities - and making pet time also be workout time can be one of those. Would love some expert sources to weigh in (by Friday, please!).
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.
Basically, for this story, I want to imagine that someone has gone keto and has kids and a partner who doesn't want to go keto. At the same time, we want everyone's meals to be healthy and balanced (in a keto way or in a typical way), so the concept shouldn't be that they just eat more meat, but maybe add almonds or olives to her meal (keep the keto balance in mind) and that a kid could maybe eat a cup of mac & cheese and not all the meat. Or whatever. I would love a nutritionist to comment on what a kid's dinner should look like or any other advice they might have (including that if you're going to do keto you should eat healthy fats not a bag of pork rinds).
I'm also going to do a sidebar on frozen dinners -- those you can find in a grocery store/Walmart/Target/Whole Foods. Deadline for this one - May 15.
To pitch me for ANY of these stories, please email me at alywalansky@gmail.com (and start a new thread, please!).
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!
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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aly