Happy Tuesday!

First of all, I want to send the biggest of thanks to EVERYONE who came to last night's Ask Aly Anything subscriber Zoom event.

We had a good turnout and I had a great time. I was really excited at all the insightful questions that were asked. I also loved that so many of the participants were not just interacting with me, but with each other, making it more of a community collaboration...and I think (I hope) everyone really got something out of it and had a good time. I'll keep everyone posted about the June date!

And...tonight is This Is Us night. The second-to-last This Is Us night...so expect a tearful recap in tomorrow's email....

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Some housekeeping

A reminder to never pitch or follow-up on pitches via Instagram or Facebook DM. I just went through my message requests folder on Facebook and found tons of pitches and follow-ups I had no idea were even there, because they were sent by people who I do not follow, and filtered to spam. That's all sorts of potential coverage for your client, lost. Just email me and give yourself and your client the best chance possible of a placement (I can't write about what I can't find!).

FYI!

HUGE thanks to my awesome friend Amber (who, in case you missed it last time I said so, is brilliant and has an absolute must-read Substack) for alerting me to this news: the USPS free COVID home test portal is active again, allowing all households in America to order a third round of tests (and this time we can order 8!). Order your tests here.

I have a practice of testing before and after travel, events, and group dinners - and it gives me a lot of peace of mind in navigating this strange new world we're in.

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.

Get 50% off for 1 year

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Newly published or freshly updated

Clean Plates: The Healthiest Fast Food Orders For When You’re On a Road Trip, According To Dietitians

Clean Plates: 7 Expert-Approved Ways to Avoid a Blood Sugar Spike (without Avoiding Carbs)

The Kitchn: Bean Box Is Releasing a Line of Seinfeld-Inspired Coffee

The Spruce: What Is a She Shed?

RetailMeNot: 40+ Memorial Day Store Hours and Restaurant Hours for 2022

If you or your client are featured in any of these stories, I super appreciate any social media shares tagging @alywalansky and the outlet.

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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.

If you do not have a client that fits these needs but have a friend or colleague that might, I super appreciate you forwarding this opportunity to them. Pay it forward, and someone may just pay it forward to you in the future.

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Clean Plates

For this story, I'm rounding up the Best Plant-Based Meats for The Grill, According to Vegans -- instead of interviewing nutritionists/dietitians, I'm interested this time in just which grilling products vegans actually seriously *love*. SO if you are a vegan, know a vegan, etc, please have them email me! And I'd LOVE to hear from some plant-based chefs for this as well. For people who aren't famous - but are regular folks who are currently plant-based, I'd love to know how long they've been plant based. So an example:

Aly W, a writer who lives in Brooklyn, has been vegan for 0 years. "My favorite vegan meat is actual steak," she says. "Because I could go vegan if my life depended on it."

Got it?

Also, just kidding. Please only respond if you are currently plant based and not just being obnoxious like me.

Also for Clean Plates, I'm working on a story on Why you should avoid certain sunscreen types for your health, according to dermatologists: This story will focus on chemical vs physical sunscreens (think physical blockers w/o nano particles). I'm looking to chat with environmentally-minded derms for this one. While I FULLY agree any sunscreen is better than no sunscreen, I'd love to focus on what's actually good for us in this one.

Today.com

For Today.com, I'm working on the following stories:

I'm rounding up restaurant chains doing Memorial Day deals/freebies
Also restaurants open on Memorial Day (and their hours).
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

I am working on a bunch of Father’s Day gift guides. My topics are:

Father’s Day Gift Guide: The Best Foodie Gifts For A Dad Who Loves History -- This can go in a lot of different directions. Perhaps it's a food or spirit with some incredible history behind it (tell me what that history is) - but maybe it's also a food/drink that celebrates a moment in history, like a commemorative bottle of wine or whiskey from some historic event.
Father’s Day Gift Guide: The Best Gifts For The Aspirational Home Chef
Father’s Day Gift Guide: The Best Martini Gifts

To pitch me for any of these guides, please email the following:

Which guide you are pitching
Name of product
description
link where sold, price
LINK to high-res image (no attachments please)

Unfortunately, due to the volume of responses I receive, if you do not have all these components, you cannot be considered (and if you think a pitch is just emailing me a stack of URLs, then you really can’t be considered).

The Complete Guide to Keto

ATTENTION RDs: I again have had RDs fall through at the last minute on a story. So, I'm seeking RDs to comment asap for 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. 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 would love a RD or nutritionist to comment on what a kid's dinner or other family members 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 - tomorrow, May 18.

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

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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!)

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.

Now available for iOS

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Aly’s Newsletter

Aly's Tuesday Newsletter: Seeking RDs…