Thursday: Last call before summer mode. See you after the long weekend (probably)
The unspoken rules of pitching right before a holiday weekend.
Good morning!
It’s Thursday before Memorial Day weekend. I realize this means that a lot of you reading this are already mentally at a beach bar holding a spicy margarita and pretending you’re definitely not checking email.
If that’s you, good for you. I actually have fun lunch plans today - a rarity for me on a weekday - and I fully plan to embrace the moment and have a cocktail.
We all are already aware this is the final normal-ish workday before we collectively enter Summer Mode. Ya know, that magical stretch of the year where every inbox response takes days instead of minutes, everyone is “circling back Tuesday,” and nobody remembers what day it is until September.
So before we all disappear into airport lounges, delayed Amtraks, rooftop happy hours, family BBQs, and “working remotely” from what suspiciously looks like a pool, let’s discuss the unspoken rules of pre-long-weekend pitching.
I’m going to start by saying this is kind of delicate.
We fall into two categories today:
People trying to clean up loose ends before the holiday
People launching entirely new chaos at 4:52 PM
I am begging you: Do not be Person #2.
Nobody (and you know I love you!) wants to receive a 14-paragraph “quick opportunity,” an embargo launching Monday morning, a request for “thoughts ASAP before the weekend,” or a follow-up sent 11 minutes after the original email on the Thursday before Memorial Day.
At this exact moment, we’re all basically just trying to answer the important emails, confirm next week’s agenda logistics, locate our portable charger (wait, that’s just me?), and figure out whether they remembered to buy sunscreen.
This is not the moment for high-maintenance asks. In fact, I’d argue this is a rather big relationship-test moment.
People remember how you make them feel. Did your email create stress?
Did it dump urgency into someone’s inbox? Did it require six follow-ups and a PDF attachment the size of a feature film?
Or did you make someone’s life easier? Did you send clear logistics? Provide organized assets? Confirm details early? Close loops? Appreciate and acknowledge the reality of timing?
Most importantly, did you respect that people are humans with lives and travel plans and BBQ obligations and airport anxiety?
I know freelancers are especially visible online during weekends and holidays because many of us are still technically working. Hell, I’m the most guilty of all of this. I’lll 100% still be emailing and working a lot of the weekend. Including today post-martini lunch. But don’t take that for granted.
You may see us answering emails from airport gates, or you may spot us filing stories from hotel lobbies. You may witness us hotspotting from the backseat of an Uber, but this does NOT mean: “Perfect time to send that big ask!”
Just because my laptop is open, does not mean I’m emotionally available for added chaos.
Summer especially is where considerate and friendly professional relationships start separating themselves from transactional ones.
The people who thrive during this season are usually the ones who understand timing matters, tone matters, clarity matters, and not every email needs to become an emergency.
So if you need a little Thursday-before-a-long-weekend checklist, here you go:
GOOD things to send today:
confirmed logistics
finalized details
concise updates
easy-to-reference assets
thoughtful check-ins
Uber vouchers (obviously)
Things that can absolutely wait until Tuesday:
“just bumping this!”
massive asks
fake urgency
“following up on the below”
“did you see my last email?”
(sent 14 minutes after the first one)
Anyway, happy unofficial start of Summer Mode. May your inbox be calm, your out-of-office be respected, and your long weekend contain at least one very good drink.
See you Tuesday.
(Probably.)
(Don’t forget, I have an exciting panel coming up in a few weeks in NYC, and you’re all invited (email the address in the photo for an invitation and more information!)
Book your consulting session!
I still have some space available the remainder of 2026!
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.
Be sure to follow me on the Yahoo Creators platform. I’m 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 more than 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
It’s Gift Guide season. Get ready to pitch! The Recipe for Press Media Directory, is an invaluable and affordable database to top editors, digital editors and freelance writers in home, food, fashion, travel, business and lifestyle. Founded by former editor and author Amy Flurry in 2014, the directory features emails, titles, active social media addresses, and a notes section with submission guidelines. It’s widely used by leading publicists and entrepreneurs across the country. Annual subscription price is $195.
I partnered with Pitchcraft to be able to share a special offer just for my readers: Use code ALY200: new users will get $200 off their first month of the monthly PR Membership or code ALY400: This one offers new users $400 off their first year of the annual PR Membership. This is a great network to join because it’s a community of both PR professionals and journalists working together to find better ways to work together and share opportunities, and you know how much I believe in all of that
Exciting news from our friend Sarah Karger (who you’ve seen as the star expert panelist for several of our gift guide pitching workshops!) - she 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.
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!)
Yahoo: These Healthy Dinners from Trader Joe’s Take 10 Minutes or Less
Forbes.com: 25 Delicious Ways To Enjoy National Burger Month
Southern Living: 7 New Trader Joe’s Items You’ll Want To Try This Spring
Southern Living: Can You Eat Unripe Avocado? Here’s What To Know
Southern Living: The $4 Trader Joe’s Dip I Put On Almost Everything
Southern Living: I’m A Travel Writer, And My Friends And I Are Obsessed With This App For Tracking Each Other’s Flights
Apartment Therapy: This $3 Cleaning Gem Is a Staple in My Small Apartment
Travel & Leisure: This Brand Is Amazon’s Best-kept Secret for Roomy, Budget-friendly Travel Bags—and Prices Start at Just $19
Apartment Therapy: I Use This Living Room Staple as Pantry Storage, and It’s the Smartest Hack I’ve Tried
Apartment Therapy, I Used the 10% Rule, and Now I Never Overpack My Carry-On
Travel & Leisure: I Fly Around the Country for Work, and This Roomy Tote Is My No. 1 Airport Essential for Looking Put Together.
Travel & Leisure: I’m a Solo Traveler of 25 Years, and These Are the 18 Products I Swear By for Personal Safety in 2026
Travel & Leisure: In-flight Theft Is Unfortunately a Thing, but These 12 Items Give Me Peace of Mind When I’m Traveling by Plane
Travel & Leisure: Traveling Alone Can Be Expensive—Here Are 15 Budget-friendly Hacks That Save Me Money
Southern Living: The One-Pan Cheesy Meal I Make Whenever I'm Too Tired To Cook
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.
Before pitching: Please be sure to refer to my photo submission guidelines for help with photo submission best practices!
Forbes.com
It’s almost International Sushi Day, and I’m looking for the best and most creative/interesting sushi experiences, sushi rolls, and sushi presentations around. I’m also doing the same for National Caviar Day, International Falafel Day and National Lobster Day, as well as, of course, my personal favorite — National Martini Day (now, think out of the box on this one, amazing creative martinis are fab, but so are amazing dishes INSPIRED by martinis!)
To pitch for any of these please include:
Name of drink/dish
description
quote from chef/bartender about dish (and name and title of person being quoted)
and LINK to image, with an identifying file name, and any appropriate photo credits included
(I know I give these guidelines over and over, but every day I get dozens of pitches that disregard them, so it bears repeating! <3)!
Yahoo Creators
I’m sourcing for Father’s Day and Graduation Day gift guides. To pitch me for these, please be sure to include name of product, description, link to imagery, price, and retailer availability - even better if it’s available at Amazon or another major online retailer. If it’s available at several retailers, please share all the links.
Leaning toward gadget, tech, office, travel, culinary wellness, and home gifts in these ones. And, yes, these are ALL earned media. There are no fees for any of my guides. I’m also specifically working on a guide geared toward the dad who loves to make music or play with his band in the garage - think man cave, with purpose.
National Burger Day is this week and I’m also looking for chefs to weigh in on the biggest mistakes they think people make making their burgers at home — and what they should be doing instead!
Thanks!
Happy Almost MDW Aly!