Monday: The deadline domino effect - and why meeting those deadlines is so important.

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

Good morning!

Lots of new content to share on this busy Monday but first, a fun share that I hope adds some value to your morning coffee routine.

Recently I did a virtual Q&A session with a PR team (one that subscribes to this Substack and reads regularly - so, hi friends!) and they shared some takeaways on their Instagram.

Related: Do you want me to host a Q&A session for your team? Email me and we can discuss!

It covers some key aspects of pitching best practices — and I bet some of their questions are some of yours as well.

sharpthink

A post shared by @sharpthink

As I’m working on a FEW stories right now where sources missed a deadline by submitting late or ghosting altogether, I thought we could take a few seconds this Monday morning to discuss the deadline domino effect - and how a miss here can irrevocably harm a PR/media relationship.

Deadlines are a topic I’ve touched on before, both in weekly industry insights emails and my daily one — and for good reason. It’s the cornerstone of what we do.

We all have deadlines. Writers have them, editors have them, publicists have them, your clients have them.

Along that chain, anyone missing a deadline can ultimately have a sort of domino effect to everyone else's deadlines.

Much like with dominos -- then cause everything to pile down.

(We see that every time we go to a doctor's office, right? Or an airport. As soon as the schedule is a little behind, everything behind it just piles on and becomes more backed up as the day goes on.)

Years ago, I remember I was working with a publicist I was semi-friendly with on getting interview questions answered by her dermatologist client for a  time-sensitive story I was doing for a major women's outlet. It was the sort of story where I got the assignment in the afternoon and had to turn around the story by the next AM (which, I know, is not THAT time sensitive being I have hour-turnaround food news stories most mornings, but due to the subject matter and time of day, it was). 

Anyway, the publicist committed that her client absolutely positively could participate and answer those questions by the deadline I gave her -- EOD, so I could write that story that night and publish in the morning. By midnight, I had never heard from her. So, I reached out and asked if all was OK. 

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. She couldn't do it."

I ended up having to scramble -- AT MIDNIGHT -- to find someone who could turn around questions at that hour, so I could still meet my deadline and publish in the morning. (I actually did, I turned to a west coast contact, where it was 9 pm there - still late, but not ungodly late) - and met my deadline.

Crisis averted.

I'm not telling this story to shame that publicist for flaking, because obviously I've moved on and have actually used her clients in a bunch of stories since (though obviously nothing time sensitive!), but to make this a helpful teaching moment and offer this guidance.

1 - Who do you think I contacted the next time I had a super short deadline? Obviously the person who was helping me out at midnight, not the one that left me hanging! Be the person who comes through in a pinch, not the person who does the pinching.

2 - Deadlines have a domino effect. You missing your deadline will cause me to maybe miss mine. If you are going to miss a deadline (life happens!) tell me as soon as I know so I can find another source while there's still time.

3 - Treat people the way you hope yourself to be treated. No one wants to be the friend that is stood up at a bar, or left hanging on an email response. Just keep people posted and communicate, and everyone wins. 

4. Remember deadlines are not arbitrary suggestions but when we need all the deliverables necessary so we can complete our own work and submit to meet our own deadlines. You are quite possibly messing with our relationship with our own editors and our future assignments by dropping the ball on this one. Be kind and respectful and honor that!

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!

• Newsweek Readers Choice: Best U.S. Wellness Resort (I was on the panel that created the list of nominees! as well as those for Best Gourmet Subscription Box, Best Mattress, and Best Outdoor Grill - more categories coming very soon!

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

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

• 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: 10 Most Magical Wedding Venues In The USA

• 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

• 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. If you represent a black tea, please email me so I can try it out!

For this story, I’m also 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!

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<3

aly