Friday: Countdown to NYCWFF! Also: Some fun new published content + pending stories :)

PS: Don't miss out: The completely FREE recording of last month's Zoom webinar event covering pitching, trends, and all things holiday gift guide season is now available -- grab the link right here!

TGIF!

Hello, friends! I don’t know about you, but this has this been a positively insane week for me, and with NYCWFF being next week, that promises to be far more intense.

(Also: Who will be in town for the festival? I will be around the whole time and would love to connect if you will be too and our agendas overlap!)

Related: Ja Rule is judging this year’s NYCWFF Burger Bash: I chatted with him about what he most looks for in a great burger.

I don’t often send out a Friday afternoon email, but I actually have a lot to run down today and as next week will be a fairly non-traditional week for me (I’ll still try to publish daily, as best I can), I wanted to make sure to get as caught up as I can today.

You all know I’m on the panel of travel and food journalists who chooses the nominations for Newsweek’s Readers Choice Awards. Excited to share several nomination categories I sourced for last month have just published. These include: Best Winery Tour 2026, Best Tasting Room 2026, Best Wine Club 2026, Best Wine Bar 2026, and Best Overall Wine 2026.

I’m also working on nominations for a new category this week: I’m currently working on is casinos and this includes a handful of fun subsections - Best Overall Casino outside of Las Vegas, Best Hotel Casino, Best Players Club, Native American Casino, Best Steakhouse (inside a casino, to be clear), and Best Concert Venue (also, attached to a casino).

Think I should include you in my list of suggested nominations in these contests, drop me an email and tell me why (By EOD today, please!).

I’m also working on several new pieces and also had some content publish since yesterday’s email — scroll down for more information on that :)

It’s a great time to prepare your pitches by checking out our holiday gift guide pitching workshop — the whole recording is available below, for free — scroll down for more info!

Check out our complete holiday gift guide pitching recording - it’s available right here, right now!

For those who missed out, you can grab the whole recording of our best practices for pitching holiday gift guides this season webinar for free (yes, completely free!) as a benefit for upgraded subscribers - it’s well over an hour of commentary, Q&A, and tons of information you can use this season. Grab the details here.

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Book your consulting session!

I still have some space available for October!

I can join your team on Zoom, a phone call, or in-person and do a team Q&A and answer any of your questions about planning events, mailers, trips, pitching, followups, etc — giving you a very necessary media perspective. Email me at alywalansky@gmail.com if you are interested in chatting more and setting something up :)

We can switch it up in any way you or your team needs. While most of my calls do end up being virtual, I just did one where we did our session over a martini lunch! I’m available for whatever your team prefers. Lets chat.

I’m now contributing to the Yahoo Creators platform, writing a wide range of lifestyles topics: check out my author profile to see some of my most recent pieces! (This is updated daily - usually multiple times daily - so you’ll want to keep checking it out for new content!)

Limited-time deal on ad placement!

I’m offering a seasonal special on advertising in this newsletter. I’d love to place your sponsored posts and advertising in this Substack, which goes out to nearly 10,000 media professionals every single day.

Note: I do limit advertising to only what would be of interest to my readers, but am open to both short paragraph blurbs and dedicated posts - if you are interested in chatting details and scheduling something, please email me at alywalansky@gmail.com today!

Tools of the trade

Press Hook is where journalists, newsletter writers, and podcasters source expert quotes, hi-res images, product samples, affiliate info, and brand story angles — all from vetted brands in one searchable hub. It connects journalists and brands in what feels like a really user-friendly, organic way and I use it often to browse for sources and products aligned with my current projects and I’ve often found precisely what I need, when I need. Give it a try!

Exciting news from our friend Sarah Karger (who recently was a star expert panelist for our big holiday gift guide pitching workshop!) - she just launched her new course, Affiliate Marketing & Performance-Based PR for Publicists - It’s built specifically to help PR pros and agencies add affiliate management as a core capability, something we all know is completely essential in today’s media landscape. This is in-depth training that equips publicists with the exact strategies to:

• Set up affiliate programs for clients

• Pitch commerce editors with confidence

• Deliver measurable ROI through performance-based PR

It’s a must-have for anyone trying to navigate this ever-changing biz!

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.

• Yahoo Creators: Check out my author profile (I have several new stories a day across the lifestyles umbrella, so that’s the best way to stay updated!)

• Travel & Leisure: I’m a Solo Traveler, and I Tell All My Friends to Pack These Anti-theft Essentials—Up to 56% Off at Amazon

• Travel & Leisure: I Travel Solo Often, and I Won’t Stay in Another Airbnb Without Packing This 1 Safety Device

• Travel & Leisure: This $8 Flight Attendant-loved Hack Helps Me Carry More Bags at the Airport—Without Paying Extra

• Forbes.com: 6 Delicious Ways To Celebrate National Gumbo Day

• Apartment Therapy: 10 Products Pro Organizers Are Buying on Prime Big Deal Days (Starting at $8!)

• Forbes.com: 12 Amazing Ways To Enjoy Tacos On National Taco Day

• Forbes.com: 14 Perfect Cocktails To Enjoy On National Vodka Day

• Food Network: You Can Pre-Order Your Entire Thanksgiving Feast

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

• Clean Plates: The Best Plant-Based Meats for the Grill, According to Vegans

• Today.com: Best drugstore wrinkle creams 2025, according to experts

• Today.com: What Are The Best Drugstore Eye Creams? Experts and Editors Reveal Their Favorites

• Southern Living: The Best Potato Chips, According To Southern Chefs

• Southern Living: The Best And Worst Times To Go To The Grocery Store

• Southern Living: How To Cook A Perfect Steak Every Time, According To Southern Chefs.

• Travel & Leisure: 15 Amazon Business Casual Clothes for Summer Travel.

• Southern Living: The One-Pan Cheesy Meal I Make Whenever I'm Too Tired To Cook

• Travel & Leisure: 6 Best Business Travel Airplane Outfits, From $12

• Travel & Leisure: I’m a Travel Writer, and I Swear by These Packable Ballet Flats for Comfort, Support, and Long Days on My Feet

• Travel & Leisure: I Found the Perfect Walking Shoes to Prevent Sore Feet During Travel — Score Styles on Sale Up to 62% Off

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.

Newsweek Readers’ Choice Awards

As a reminder, I’m on the panel of travel and food journalists who chooses the nominations for Newsweek’s Readers Choice Awards. The focus for the category I’m currently working on is casinos and this includes a handful of fun subsections - Best Overall Casino outside of Las Vegas, Best Hotel Casino, Best Players Club, Native American Casino, Best Steakhouse (inside a casino, to be clear), and Best Concert Venue (also, attached to a casino).

Think I should include you in my list of nominations in these contests, drop me an email and tell me why (By Friday, please!).

Yahoo Creators

You all already know I do a ton of going to restaurants and trying foods and cocktails for various stories for various outlets, but for this specific outlet, I do a lot of “I tried this” type food-delivery type pieces. Here are some recent examples:

• Chipotle has announced an exciting new spicy sauce, and it’s pretty unexpected: I got a preview tasting!

• New Popeyes x Hot Ones collab is really turning up the heat: I got to try the limited-edition menu

• I tried Chipotle’s new build-your-own family meal deal and it is perfect for easy entertaining and meal prep

• I tried the Pizza Hut Crafted Flatzz: They are a great value for anyone who appreciates an early bird dinner

My recent focus has been family meal type deals and those good for repurposing as meal prep. If you have any that you want me to consider, let me know!

Also: I’m beginning to source for a variety of holiday gift guides for this outlet.

While I don’t have specific categories and subtopics completely ironed out yet, I’m currently interested in receiving gift guide pitches in the following categories: Travel-related gifts, gifts for your man, home/kitchen related gifts, tech gear/gadgets, office-related gifts.

To pitch me for these guides, please be sure to include the following:

• Name of item

• Links to major retailers where sold (it’s in your best interest to include several retailer link options when pitching)

• Link to image and any necessary credits

• Description why it’s a fit

Item must be currently available and currently in stock (and if you want any guidance on how to pitch for gift guides more successfully, be sure to check out the webinar recording linked above — it’s free!)

Forbes

Before pitching: Please be sure to refer to my photo submission guidelines for help with photo submission best practices!

FYI: Forbes gift guide topics and pitching instructions coming by next week!

But first: I’m sourcing for National Salmon Day, Halloween-inspired cocktails. For these, I’m looking for interesting and inventive dishes on menus at restaurants/bars nationwide. I’m also looking for dishes/cocktails at bars and restaurants that honor BCA month (and support it in some way other than just being a pink cocktail).

• Name of dish/cocktail

• Restaurant, city, state, website

• Description of dish

• Quote from chef about dish/cocktail (plus name and title of person quoted)

• Image and photo credit (I prefer links to attachments and remember to follow my instructions on how to label your file names, thanks!)

  I’m also working on a story on enjoying lower ABV cocktails in December. I know a ton of people (not me, obviously) are doing Sober October, as a way of having a total body reset before the active holiday event season, but another option is to try to moderate a little in December by focusing on lower ABV versions of your favorite drinks, made with low or mid-ABV spirits. So if you work with low-ABV spirits that have low-proof (vs. zero proof) holiday cocktails on the menu at bars/restaurants, please drop me a line! (Same pitching format as usual.)

have a great day <3

aly