Friday: A note to readers + new assignments + the one thing you should *never* ask a journalist to do when reimbursing travel expenses

Also: Lots of newly published content. Scroll down to see if your client was included in any of my recent stories.

Good morning!

HAPPY FRIDAY…TGIF, indeed…we finally made it.

First, an apology: I’ve seen a fairly significant cluster of unsubscribes in this past week, and as it coincides with a really rough time in my life, I worry I am off my game and I have not been giving the value I should to this newsletter in the past few days.

Whatever I’m going through personally, I should be here for all of you and my commitment to this community always - and I’m here to do that!

I’m going to try to bulk up this one more than I would on a typical Friday and hopefully give everyone what they came for! :)

Before I get into the juice of today’s email, an important FYI for those who don’t follow me on Instagram and didn’t see me share it in my stories: The government is sending out free COVID home test kits just in time for the holiday season! (Wahoo!).

Seriously, though, these are expensive but can be sent to you totally free, so get them while the getting is good.

Speaking of holiday season…!

Great reading just in time for HGG time: My dear friends Jill and Alice were featured in this great Muck Rack piece on gift guide pitching — I encourage you to give it a read, there’s some fabulous takeaways everyone use during this busy season.

And if you want more where that came from…Be sure to check out our full recording of our Holiday Gift Guide Q&A with Jill, Aly and Alice (sign up for access to this recording from August 2024) — you’ll need to be subscribers of all three of our newsletters to grab this recording but you’ll get tons of value!

Newly published since my most recent newsletter — for Forbes: Fine Dining At 36,000 Feet? Inflight Menus Have Gotten An Upgrade (spoiler: click through for some yummy eye candy!) and 20 Great Cocktails To Try In Honor Of National Vodka Day - which is next week, and as vodka is my favorite spirit, one I fully plan to enjoy!

Looking for more newly published content? There’s lots! Scroll to the dedicated section below.

I have a really busy Friday ahead of me as I’m recording a podcast appearance later this morning (will share link when it streams), and am wrapping up a few stories today.

Today’s tip: This is an important one because it’s one that comes up in our AMA discussions as well as private travel/food journalist conversation threads a lot — and it’s one that really stresses journalists out.

From time to time, journalists will have some out of pocket expenses for event or press trip-related travel.

Related: You may remember when we chatted about hidden costs of press trips…

Perhaps this is something along the lines of Ubers or rental cars. But it can even be something as big as laying out the money for a flight. They’ll then save receipts and it’ll be reimbursed by PR.

Pretty cut and dry, right?

However, every so often, the PR contact will then ask for W9 forms to be filled out to get those reimbursements.

As we all know (or should know) W9 forms are meant to be forms filled out for the purpose of taxable income, i.e. if we wrote some content or did some editorial work for a publication, not if we took an Uber to the airport to get to your press trip.

Reimbursements are NOT income. They are simply reimbursement for expenses.

This is a very, very different thing.

It also makes the water muddy in another way…we’re not working for you. Anyone attempting to go about quantifying a journalist being reimbursed for expenses as payment suggests we’re being paid to attend your event or trip…which is of course COMPLETELY not kosher.

The existence of a W9 alone means we'll get a 1099 for it if it’s over a certain income threshold, but even if it’s not, it still makes it money that will be counted on our taxes - that shouldn’t count on our taxes, as it’s not income. ALL this create major tax time headaches for us and put us at risk of getting audited.

By asking for a W9, it means you treating reimbursement not as a reimbursable expense but as income. It’s not kosher. Don’t do it.

I always encourage journalist friends to explain this distinction whenever the ask is made, as it’s erroneous - but it’s important to impart it upon your client as well, because this is something that actually happens surprisingly often in our industry.

(Case in point: Last year, one of my close friends received a 1099 for a flight a destination had booked for her for a press trip — that was then cancelled, no less!)

Make life easier on everyone: Just offer an Uber gift card or voucher for travel, and avoid the reimbursement issue altogether.

(We’ll love that too because it means we don’t have to chase after you for months to get that money back!)

Newly published or freshly updated

Since people are often asking about the status of stories from a while ago, and I only share stories in this newsletter that were published or updated in the current week, I have created a list of my author pages at various publications to which I contribute. Bookmark it and make your life a bit easier.

This list will live on my Substack URL and be updated as necessary. That way, you can see what I’m doing at any publication, at any time, from types of stories to general structure of stories to even volume and frequency of my content at that outlet.

This can also help you to target pitching a bit better. That makes your job easier, and mine too!

• Parade: Clueless About How To Use an Air Fryer? Consider This Your 101 Guide

• Greatist: Learn to Talk Dirty Without Wanting to Die

• Forbes: Fine Dining At 36,000 Feet? Inflight Menus Have Gotten An Upgrade

• Forbes: 20 Great Cocktails To Try In Honor Of National Vodka Day

• Apartment Therapy: We Asked 5 Pro Travelers How They Keep Their Luggage Clean, and Here’s What They Said

• RetailMeNot: 50+ Government Employee Discounts Worth Knowing in 2024

• Clean Plates: 20 Quick and Healthy Air Fryer Snacks You Can Make in a Snap

• Southern Living: Can You Eat Sprouted Potatoes? An Expert Explains

• YourTango: 10 Most Unique Wedding Locations Around The World

• YourTango: 18 Charming Places In America That Feel Just Like Europe

• Food Network: The Rumors Are True: Peanut Butter & Jelly M&M’s Are (Sort Of) Making a Comeback

• Yahoo: Get a handle on your sleep health with the best sleep trackers for 2024, tested and reviewed

• Forbes: 30 Dishes And Cocktails To Enjoy On National Lobster Day

• Forbes: TikTok Sensation Cucumber Bowls Are Now Available In Real Life

• Saatva: How to Improve Sleep Hygiene: 12 Best Sleep Hygiene Tips.

• Apartment Therapy: I Sent a Pro Organizer Photos of My Tangled Mess of Cord Clutter — Here’s How She Fixed It

• Travel & Leisure: This Flight Attendant-approved Jumpsuit Is My Go-to Comfy Airplane Outfit — and It’s Only $27 Right Now

• Today.com: 11 healthiest fast food breakfasts, according to dietitians

• Apartment Therapy: The One Thing You Always Travel with That’s Actually Disgusting (And How to Keep It Clean)

• Travel & Leisure: I Tried Amazon’s ‘Magical’ Sleep Mask on a Long-haul Flight — and Now It’s the Most Important Item in My Bag.

• Travel & Leisure: I Travel Solo Frequently, and This $18 Gadget Makes Me Feel Safer in Hotel Rooms

• Today.com: The best drugstore eye creams to tackle wrinkles, dark circles and dryness, according to experts

• Apartment Therapy: I Sent a Pro Organizer a Photo of My Messy Kitchen Junk Drawer — Here’s How She Fixed It

• Yahoo Life: The best cooling fans of 2024, tested and reviewed

• Travel & Leisure: These Arch Support Sandals Are the Only Shoes I Wear in the Summer — and They’re Only $47

• Apartment Therapy: I Sent a Pro Organizer a Photo of My Cluttered Medicine Cabinet, and Here’s How She Fixed It

• Travel & Leisure: You Don't Want to Step Foot in a Waterpark Without These 18 Essentials From Just $9

If you or your client are featured in any of these stories, I super appreciate any social media shares! Please remember to tag @alywalansky and 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.

Please remember when pitching me: Email me at alywalansky@gmail.com - do NOT just hit reply on this newsletter, or there’s a good shot your email will be lost in the heap. Give your email a subject line that makes it clear which story you are pitching me for — it’ll help you in the long run.

Please consult my industry insights guides on submitting expert commentary, sending emails that will catch a journalist’s attention, how to craft pitches journalists will say ‘yes’ to, and the right and wrong way to submit photos, if you need any extra guidance before sending your pitches.

Yahoo

I’m working on a roundup of the best black teas of 2024 - for this story, I’m going to test a variety of black teas to find the best in different categories. I’m looking to interview 2-3 RDs to discuss the health benefits of black tea and the reasons someone might want to incorporate it into their daily lifestyle; I also also want to interview a tea expert to discuss the best ways to make black tea, the advantages/disadvantages of bags vs. loose leaf, why prices vary so widely, how to identify a good brand, etc. Note: I cannot include expert quotes from individuals working for the companies of the products/services I’m considering including in this list — the experts I include will be unbiased/not affiliated with a particular product or brand. (Which, btw, is always the case, and yet seems to surprise people!)

Apartment Therapy

I Asked a Chef How to Best Organize My Fridge, and Here's What They Recommended - I would love to email with a chef and ask how to best organize my fridge (like a chef does and store food better/smarter to last). I’ll send a before photo/video so you have an idea of what I’m working with!

Forbes

National Gumbo Day is coming up and (spoiler alert) - gumbo is my favorite comfort food, but it’s also so hard to find a truly great one outside of NOLA. So, if you are a restaurant doing a really fun, unique, or just special (there’s nothing JUST about special, you guys) variation on gumbo, anywhere - please email me and tell me more about it. It will need to appear on a bar or restaurant menu, and I’ll need a description, chef quote, image, and photo credit.

Looking forward, National Potato Day is is in a few weeks and I’m looking for vary inventive or elevated dishes using potatoes as the star ingredient, same parameters as above!

Also: Do you know of an airport lounge that has an especially interesting F&B offering/feature? I want to hear about it!

Plate Magazine

I’m putting out bites/drinks of the week feelers, which is sort of a drink/dish spotlight piece. (Some examples are this Peruvian-inspired sweet potato in Savannah and a molecular banana daiquiri in Chicago.) Basically if you are pitching me something for this, think along the lines of: Is this dish/bite something new? What interesting techniques are used to make it come together? If the technique is simple, what’s the hook? An interesting ingredient? Something being made in house or in an interesting way? What’s the story behind the dish? What inspired it? Is there a cultural/family story behind the dish? An ingredient the chef got their hands on? Love to hear what you might have for me!

Looking to up your affiliate marketing game?

Affiliate marketing is complicated, and it seems that the landscape keeps changing. If you are looking to be prepared for gift guide season and all other shopping-related content, you may want to try the 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!)

<3

aly