Thursday: Happy Birthday To Me! (And in today's honor, I have a gift for all of you!)
Good morning!
For starters, in honor of my birthday I’ve decided to give everyone who reads my Substack a gift: The greatest flash sale subscription upgrade sale of the year.
I’m offering - for one day only! - 50% off both new individual and group subscriptions, annual or monthly both can take advantage.
Today, I’m excited to spend my birthday-workday by ordering myself yummy takeout for lunch (one of the few times quarterly I break my own no-delivery rule) and spending the afternoon going through all the amazing cards and gifts I got from the amazing friends who came to my party the other night - and then, tonight, I have exciting dinner plans with a dear friend.
(Which will also be my final holiday-season Uber into the city of the year, a gift onto itself!)
All in all, it’s been a pretty great birthday so far!
But first, on the work front - because I know that’s why you are here: Today, for HuffPo, I was interviewed about 4 Secrets To Finding The Best Food On Vacation (you’re gonna want to read this one!), and also new today for Forbes: 6 Birthday-Themed Cocktails To Set A Festive Mood During A Busy Holiday Season. Also new today for Saatva, something I know a thing or two about (I was up ALL night last night having anxiety): 5 Ways to Deal With Sleep Deprivation.
Newly published or updated this week: For RetailMeNot, Stores Open Christmas Day + Christmas Eve Store Hours 2024. For Martha Stewart, 18 Coffee Table Décor Ideas That Blend Form and Function.
For Travel & Leisure: I Travel Solo Often, and I Won’t Stay in Another Airbnb Without Packing This 1 Safety Device. For Forbes.com: 17 Cocktails To Enjoy In Honor Of Mocha Mousse, Pantone’s 2025 Color Of The Year and 10 Foodie Treats That Present A Delicious Way To Celebrate Hanukkah as well as 6 Hanukkah Cocktails To Try In Honor Of The Festival Of Lights.
Finally, for Apartment Therapy: We Asked 7 Chefs for Their Go-To Cleaning Tips for Hosting, and Here’s What They Said and for The Spruce: How to Add Storage to Your Kitchen Walls and Make the Most of the Vertical Space.
In news you can use, I was recently interviewed for the Muck Rack blog, and we chatted about some best practices for PR to land all that holiday-related coverage and begin to look ahead toward 2025 media opportunities. We touched on timing, follow ups, targeting, and looking forward/not backward in pitching during this time of year — yup, all the stuff that always comes up in our consulting sessions and AMAs, so you may want to take a minute while refilling your morning coffee and check it out.
Looking to up your affiliate marketing game?
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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 Apres Ski Spots, Best Casinos with Live Music (outside Vegas), Best U.S. Wellness Resort, Best Packing Cube, Best Vodka, Best Gourmet Subscription Box, Best Mattress, and Best Outdoor Grill - more categories coming very soon!
RetailMeNot: Stores Open Christmas Day + Christmas Eve Store Hours 2024.
Martha Stewart: 18 Coffee Table Décor Ideas That Blend Form and Function.
Travel & Leisure: I Travel Solo Often, and I Won’t Stay in Another Airbnb Without Packing This 1 Safety Device
Forbes.com: 17 Cocktails To Enjoy In Honor Of Mocha Mousse, Pantone’s 2025 Color Of The Year
Forbes.com: 10 Foodie Treats That Present A Delicious Way To Celebrate Hanukkah
Forbes: 6 Hanukkah Cocktails To Try In Honor Of The Festival Of Lights
Apartment Therapy: We Asked 7 Chefs for Their Go-To Cleaning Tips for Hosting, and Here’s What They Said
The Spruce: How to Add Storage to Your Kitchen Walls and Make the Most of the Vertical Space
Yahoo Life: 50 best wellness gifts to encourage a healthy lifestyle
Apartment Therapy: 4 Popular Kitchen Trends Contractors Want You to Stop DIYing Immediately
Southern Living: The 9 Best Bottles Of Bourbon, According To Southern Chefs And Bartenders
Forbes.com: The Latest Holiday Dinner Hosting Trend: Outsourcing
Apartment Therapy: The Unexpected Items Pro Travelers Always Pack
Southern Living: Here's Why You Should Always Travel With Duct Tape
Apartment Therapy: We Asked 8 Pro Travelers What They Never Pack in Their Carry-On, and Here’s What They Said
Her Money: The best time to save on hotel bookings
Travel & Leisure: This $7 Luggage Accessory Helps Me Feel Safe When Traveling — and I'll Never Have to Replace It
Forbes.com: Holiday Gift Guide 2024: The Best Gifts For The Martini Lover
Forbes.com: Holiday Gift Guide 2024: The Best Gifts For The Starter Kitchen
Forbes: Holiday Gift Guide 2024: Beefy Texas-Inspired Gifts For The Southwestern Carnivore
Food Network: Trader Joe’s Finally Has a White Queso Dip and It Was Well Worth the Wait
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 Asked TK Organizing Pros to Share Their Biggest Organizing Regrets — Here's What They Said - I’m looking to chat with a few organizing pros about what their biggest organizing regret is. Like something in their household they got rid of, and regret getting rid of — why they got rid of it, and why they regret it. Could be a memento, an important document or photo, whatever. Drop me a note if you have someone who may like to weigh in!
Forbes
I won’t lie - I’m personally kind of dreading this new year (2025 is looking mighty Hunger Games-like already), but for those who are celebrating, I’m rounding up fun New Years-themed cocktails available at bars and restaurants. If you have any, please drop me a note!
Also, are any NYC-area restaurants doing any fun NYD brunches? Let me know!
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!
<3
aly