Monday: An important administrative note: Be a friend and a helpful community member and never do this, please :)

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!

Good morning!

Wow, what an insanely packed week this last week has been. I had the opportunity to connect with so many of you at NYCWFF the over the past days, and it was a busy, but wonderful festival.

But now we’re back to biz as usual!

I’m out of town the next few days on a regional work trip but as we’re in the height of HGG season, I’m still very much at work.

And now for a rather uncomfortable conversation that needs to be had…

On occasion, I will notice a subscriber upgrading to a paid subscription and then unsubscribing just a few minutes later.

In case anyone reading this is not (as a rule), nefarious minded, this is a not-so-cool way of reading years paid content and accessing our archive of webinars and recordings and workshops without being a subscriber.

Please never do this.

It’s really no different than going into a department store, buying a dress, wearing that dress to a party, and then returning that dress.

This is not Rent the Runway, and that is stealing.

And, seriously, a month’s subscription to the paid version of this newsletter costs roughly as much as the venti latte you pick up mindlessly at the airport or the the one glass of cheap house wine you grab at happy hour at your local corner bar…is it really worth damaging relationships and impacting someone’s livelihood just to avoid paying for the subscription you asked for?

Also, just this morning — rather than unsubscribing in the normal way, a subscriber issued a dispute with their credit card company. I’ve had this happen in the past, and when I reach out to the subscriber, usually get a response along the lines of…they had “forgot to unsubscribe” so this was their way of reversing the charges.

This causes significant fees and penalties on my end. More than the cost of your now-refunded subscription.

In this case, it’s not only buying a dress to wear and return and ultimately use but not pay for, but spilling red wine on it in the process that I then need to get cleaned out. It’s a really uncool thing to do to someone.

(I’m getting a bit too involved in this metaphor, forgive me.)

Of note, this subscriber who used a dispute through her credit card company to unsubscribe rather than the normal way, just had subscribed a few months ago and said she was doing so in a note because she “supports my work” and thinks I’m a “badass storyteller with an incredible gift for helping stories find their spotlight.”

Well, ironically enough that this episode this morning gave me a topic for today’s newsletter!

If you ever want to unsubscribe, just click unsubscribe. It’s super easy, I promise. If you can’t find that button, or don’t want to find that button, I’ll do it for you and take care of it from my end.

If you feel like you want to request a refund…please feel free to ask me directly, and I will handle from my end. But do not issue a dispute. There’s nothing to dispute. I have legit no means on my end to charge you for anything you did not willfully subscribe to receive.

Just to explain: Writers get charged fees by Substack/Stripe for hosting their newsletters. That’s a portion that comes out of all our paid subscriptions. When you issue a dispute, not only do we not get those fees back when you get your refund, but we also get charged additional fees — several times the amount of the dispute in some cases — that don’t get retuned even if we win the dispute! True story.

I get that we’re all struggling and going through tough times here and trying to save a few bucks wherever we can, but I’m self employed too (and I struggle as well!).

I love the opportunity to share my insights and commentary with subscribers regularly — but please don’t take advantage or STEAL from us — and that goes too for entire agencies of hundreds of people sharing one single individual paid subscription meant to be for one person versus asking for a group rate or an agency subscription (and I say us because I know similar has happened to other friends with Substacks). It’s not a kind or considerate thing to do and at the end of the day…being kind and considerate is all that really matters.

We’re all just trying to survive here, right?

Don’t make this any harder than it has to be. Don’t make LIFE any harder than it has to be. It’s hard enough. My life is hard enough, trust me.

This is especially true for those of us who are just here trying to help everyone. And, remember, at the end of the day — all we do here is about building and maintaining relationships, and taking advantage of someone is not the way to do it.

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 and November!

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

• Forbes.com: 8 Delicious Ways To Enjoy Salmon

• Forbes.com: 15 Plant-Based Dishes So Delicious, Even A Carnivore Would Ask For Seconds

• Forbes.com: 13 Dishes And Drinks That Support Breast Cancer Awareness Month

• Forbes.com: 15 Delicious Dishes To Savor On National Pasta Day

• 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

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

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

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.

Apartment Therapy

I’m working on a story on maintaining a packing audit/checklist before/after trips and would love any experts to weigh in on the best way to do this and its benefits.

Southern Living

Sourcing for 2 pieces:

1. I’d love southern chefs (that are chefs working in the south or from the south) to weigh in on their own favorite Thanksgiving dessert and why - feel free to be nostalgic here and it’s OK to choose something obvious — or send me something left field.

2. What Thanksgiving dishes are OK to cheat on a bit? I’d love southern chefs to weigh in — what dishes do they ‘cheat’ on or advise we ‘cheat’ on? Are there certain dishes they outsource or take short-cuts on? Advice to us non-chefs on how to do so as well?

   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 on new menu items, food product releases, and meal prep ideas or family meal type deals. 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 later this week!

I’m sourcing for Halloween-inspired cocktails. For these, I’m looking for interesting and inventive dishes on menus at restaurants/bars nationwide.

• 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 the best way to submit photos and 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.)

  Finally, it’s National Pizza Month and I’m seeking fun variations on this classic dish. If you have a really fun pizza, please let me know. Same pitching parameters as above!

have a great day <3

aly