Monday: and...we're back!
Good morning!
Hope everyone had a good holiday this week/weekend and (like me) are very back to get back to your normal routine.
After a week of playing (and winning!) what seemed to be the Jewish version of a Chopped challenge basket by finding all sorts of creative ways to enjoy matzo (my matzo lasagna was such a hit, we made it twice!), when sundown hit last night I was obvi very excited for that pizza delivery.
Emmy Squared’s Park Slope location was lovely enough to send me a dinner drop of their new spring menu last night just perfectly timed for the end of Passover (thank you so much to their publicist, who is a subscriber!) and I enjoyed a perfect date night with myself of Detroit-style pizza and the Tournament of Champions finale (yay Antonia!).
But now, back to biz, and I have a bunch of new content to share this morning!
For Forbes.com: 10 Gorgeous Cocktails To Enjoy This Mother's Day, Locally Sourced Ingredients Are Foundation Of Salad-Centric Culinary Program, and 15 Lavender-Based Treats And Cocktails To Enjoy This Spring. For Saatva: The Best Ways to Remove Tough Stains From Your Mattress (those of you who sometimes drink coffee or wine in bed are about to really love me), and for Apartment Therapy, another personal essay born out of small-space living! I Tried the “Weight Rule” for Decluttering, and It Keeps My Small Apartment Clutter-Free. (Also, you’ll get a glimpse of my beloved RPZL bowed coupe martini glasses - which were actually part of my inspiration for pitching this story. You’ll have to read the story to see what I mean!)
Last week was actually a pretty busy week, on the back drop of holiday time and “spring break” that also involved a super fun subscriber town hall (thanks again to so many of you who attended and gave me amazing feedback after!), as well as recording a podcast (I’ll share the link when it’s live - should be soon!), and lots of other good stuff — but no events or press dinners last week, for obvious reasons - so excited to have a packed week this week, with plans every single night (and a few days!).
It’s a busy time of year with lots of events happening, and I have stuff booked out in my calendar for the next few months (with some weeks busier than others, of course!). A reminder that the only way we can all keep on top of these agendas — and make changes if necessary — is maintaining communication. I’ve had several events and meetings and even trips lately where communication just lapsed midway through (sometimes for a period of weeks or months) and I lacked the information I needed to finalize and confirm plans — thereby making it so I had to leave other potential activities that could replace those activities in limbo.
We’re all playing a balancing act here, and it’s important to always close the loop, whether that’s something as basic as confirming time or location or answering questions as far as Uber vouchers or flight confirmations. Just in the past week, pending trips, events, and meetings I had scheduled were impacted by specifically this.
I totally get that sometimes arrangements can get stalled and you yourself are waiting on hearing from other people - colleagues, clients, and so forth. And that has a domino effect. But please always communicate as best as you can and keep the conversation going so we know what’s happening, too: We can’t finalize our plans until you finalize yours and if we’re left hanging, there’s every chance we’ll have no other option but to change our plans.
Remember, as Beyonce said, if you want to lock a journalist in to your event, dinner, or trip, you gotta put a ring on it. (Well, I mean, she didn’t say the journalist part, but you get my drift.)
Limited-time deals on consulting sessions and ad placement!
Reminder: I’m offering a limited-time special consulting session discount for paid subscribers: If you are a paid subscriber, you can for a limited time, get 25% off a virtual consulting session (where we can have your own private or agency-wide AMA session on anything you want to chat about!) — I have some slots open in the next few weeks, so if you or your agency is interested in booking one, email me today and we’ll chat details.
Flash sale: If you book a group subscription for your agency, you may be eligible for a FREE consulting session for your team (if you buy 12 or more seats as part of your annual group subscription). Email me so we can discuss!
I’m also 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!
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Thank you for helping get the word out!
We had an amazing turnout at our recent Mother’s Day gift guide pitching workshop — and there’s a full recording available for paid subscribers. If you are interested in me sending you the video link, drop me an email. Thanks so much for your support and happy gift guide pitching!
Related: We loved how many of attended you took the time to attend our webinar event last month, covering the upcoming ShareASale to Awin migration. We covered an overview of the migration process and timeline, pricing of networks, and choosing a network for your specific client needs. If you missed it, we do have a recording available for paid subscribers. Email if interested and I’ll share how to grab that recording as well!
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!)
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.
Forbes.com: 10 Gorgeous Cocktails To Enjoy This Mother's Day
Forbes.com: Locally Sourced Ingredients Are Foundation Of Salad-Centric Culinary Program
Forbes.com: 15 Lavender-Based Treats And Cocktails To Enjoy This Spring
Saatva: The Best Ways to Remove Tough Stains From Your Mattress
Apartment Therapy: I Tried the “Weight Rule” for Decluttering, and It Keeps My Small Apartment Clutter-Free
Food Network: Jell-O Launches Its First-Ever Plant-Based Pudding
Southern Living: We Asked Jewish Chefs Their Favorite Passover Dishes—They All Picked Classics
Travel & Leisure: This Flight Attendant-approved Jumpsuit Is My Go-to Comfy Airplane Outfit — and It’s Only $25 Right Now.
Forbes.com: 5 Beautiful Cocktails That Celebrate Spring.
Apartment Therapy: I Tried the Pomodoro Technique for Tax Prep — Here’s Why I’ll Never Do It Another Way
Today.com: Best drugstore wrinkle creams 2025, according to experts
Forbes.com: The Pizza Martini Creates A Sippable Version Of Everyone’s Favorite Snack
Forbes.com: 15 Sustainable Cocktails To Enjoy During Earth Month
Travel & Leisure: I Travel Solo Often, and I Won’t Stay in Another Airbnb Without Packing This 1 Safety Device
Yahoo Life!: Best pedometers of 2025, tested and reviewed
Yahoo Life: The best black tea to brew in 2025, according to testers and experts
Travel & Leisure: I Found the Perfect Walking Shoes to Prevent Sore Feet During Travel — Score Styles on Sale Up to 62% Off
Apartment Therapy: The $3 Cleaning Gem I Use in Almost Every Room of My Small Apartment
Travel & Leisure: In-flight Theft Is Unfortunately a Thing, but These 12 Items Give Me Peace of Mind When I'm Traveling by Plane
Apartment Therapy: I Asked Pro Travelers to Share Their Packing Tips for Spring Break
RetailMeNot: How to Save Money on Groceries in 2025: 10 Tips That Actually Work
Southern Living: The Unexpected Reason I Always Travel With Duct Tape—And You Should Too
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.
Forbes
Mother’s Day Gift Guide: Ways to treat a long distance mom to a perfect Mother's Day dinner date - think in-home wine experiences and private chefs but also like a situation where you can ship a complete meal that just needs to be prepped or heated. For this one, trying to avoid the giant broader businesses with ready-made meals but more specific, regional or niche ones like the Maine Lobster option would be great.
How To Enhance Springtime Recipes With Specialty Pantry Items And Chef-Approved Tips - this is more of a how-to/explainer than a product/shopping guide, but I’m still totally open to include products that serve the story, and very up for chef commentary!
I’m now accepting pitches related to Cinco De Mayo or Kentucky Derby inspired cocktails available at bars and restaurants nationwide. Please be sure to include name of cocktail, where sold (city, state, name of restaurant, URL), description, quote about cocktail, image and appropriate photo credit when pitching - no pitches will be accepted that do not contain ALL these components. Thanks1
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aly
Matzo lasagna! What a fun idea - saving this for next Hannukah