Monday: A load of fresh assignments going into the week + last call for Caviar Day pitches!

Good morning!

I hope everyone had a relaxing and fun long weekend, and more importantly - I hope those of you with pets had as little duress as possible during any fireworks, wherever you are located.

I know it’s a controversial stance, but I do not enjoy fireworks…at all. I can’t even begin to find joy in anything that causes so much fear and stress in our beloved animals, as well as those people suffering from anxiety or PTSD. I’ve even written about how to protect our pets during these times at length over the years.

My Lily (who will be 18 very soon!), doesn’t hear very well at this point, so she did pretty OK with this year’s fireworks - but, really, I wish that we could do them like some European cities do, and if fireworks have to be a thing, lets try the silent kind instead…

This newsletter goes out to well over 8,000 engaged publicists, business owners, and journalists each and every day. If you are looking to sponsor a daily installment of this newsletter or have a dedicated section about your client or product (assuming it’s an organic fit for the interests of my audience!), that is now available. Email me at alywalansky@gmail.com to discuss.

Fresh content this week includes some fun pieces perfect for the season. For Forbes.com: 15 Delicious Dishes To Enjoy On National Fried Chicken Day, and for Travel & Leisure: I'm Stocking Up on Comfy Travel Pants Thanks to These Sweet Fourth of July Deals on Amazon. For Today.com: Do drugstore wrinkle creams really work? Experts weigh in, and finally, for RetailMeNot: How Bulk Buying Helps Me Maintain My Household Grocery Budget – and Stay Well-Stocked .

The steepest discount I’ve ever offered on consulting sessions

In exciting news, I’m doing something I’ve never done before: I’m currently offering 20% discounts on my virtual consulting/lunch & learn sessions. Times are really tough and I am hoping to make these insights as accessible as possible to any of you who are interested. If you want to schedule a session for yourself or your team, to discuss anything from planning an event, media dinner, or press trip to mailers, pitching best practices, followups to…well… anything else…drop me an email at alywalansky@gmail.com and lets chat!

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!

• Forbes.com: 15 Delicious Dishes To Enjoy On National Fried Chicken Day

• Travel & Leisure: I'm Stocking Up on Comfy Travel Pants Thanks to These Sweet Fourth of July Deals on Amazon

• Today.com: Do drugstore wrinkle creams really work? Experts weigh in

• RetailMeNot: How Bulk Buying Helps Me Maintain My Household Grocery Budget – and Stay Well-Stocked

• Travel & Leisure: This Genius Gadget Is the Travel Accessory Everyone's Wearing to Stay Cool in the Heat — and It's 20% Off

• Clean Plates: 7 Cookout Faves from Trader Joe’s That Dietitians Love

• Clean Plates: 11 Best Seafood Picks at Trader Joe’s, According to RDs

• Apartment Therapy: We Asked 6 Travel Writers for Their Best Packing Hacks, and Their Tips Are Ingenious.

• Travel & Leisure: I Always Wear These Comfy, Wide-leg Amazon Pants on Flights — Plus, 13 More Pairs I'm Eyeing From $12

• Travel & Leisure: Frequent Fliers Say This Genius Hack Makes It Feel Like They've Upgraded Their Seat — and It's Only $35

• Apartment Therapy, I’m a Travel Writer and This Is My Time-Saving Packing Hack

• RetailMeNot: Don’t Spend a Fortune at Those Salad Places: How I Build My Own Salads At Home

• Travel + Leisure: The One Safety Item You're Likely Forgetting to Pack, According to a Longtime Solo Female Traveler

• Saatva’s Sleep Enlightened: 6 Surprising Sleep Mask Benefits

• HerMoney: How to get cheap hotel rooms when traveling

• RetailMeNot: How Using My Air Fryer Makes Cooking on a Small Budget (and In a Small Space) Possible

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.

Southern Living

How to clean grapes: Would love to chat with a chef or food safety expert, ideally southern, please - I have a list of questions to ask, so please email me if interested but please wait on sending commentary until you hear back from me.

How long does cut cantaloupe last? - Ditto!

Yahoo! Health

I’m going to be working on two roundups - best cooling fans and best sleep trackers. I don’t have all the details on these assignments yet but will update when I have that info in the next few days. But this is going to be a “tested” best sort of roundup in both cases, so I will be sourcing some to try out for consideration for these stories…and will know more about what I’m looking for shortly. But meanwhile, feel free to email me if you represent products in either of these categories!

Apartment Therapy

I’m working on two kind of personal projects!

I Sent a Pro Organizer a Photo of My Cluttered Medicine Cabinet — Here's How They Fixed It: I’m looking to get advice from a pro organizer on how to fix my "cluttered" medicine cabinet, then fix it! Email if you are game and I’ll send a photo to give them a better idea of the space.

I Sent a Pro Organizer a Photo of My Messy Kitchen Junk Drawer — Here's How They Helped Me: Similar! Also..about me. And being messy. I’m looking to get advice from a pro organizer (just one) on how to fix my messy kitchen junk drawer, then fix it! I will send them a photo to give them a better idea of the space.

Forbes.com

National Caviar Day is very soon, and I’ve been rounding up some fun dishes AND cocktails involving caviar! This is going to be more fun than in years past because caviar is just seen in SO MANY unexpected places these days. If you have a drink or dish involving caviar (must exist on a bar or restaurant menu), please send me name of dish, where it can be found, description, and a quote about the dish with name of person being quoted (and a photo, also with appropriate credits).

I’m also looking for fun cocktails and dishes inspired by or in honor of the upcoming Paris Olympic games. These must exist on a menu at a bar or restaurant, even if only for a limited-time special. Please email me if you have anything that may fit!

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<3

aly