Thursday: Last Chance To RSVP For Today's Dads and Grads Pitching Workshop AMA Zoom Event!

Plus: New job leads, one final Mother's Day gift guide I'm working on. And: A 20% discounts on my virtual consulting/lunch & learn sessions!

Good morning!

You’ll absolutely want to scroll down for some fun newly published content — including an air fryer related story where I share some of my most requested home recipes!

But first…

By now, everyone who has RSVP’d for today’s Zoom workshop should have received an email confirmation of their registration along with Zoom log-in details…if you haven’t, hit reply on this email and we’ll get you sorted out ASAP.

And if you haven’t been reading this newsletter the last few weeks and don’t know what I’m talking about: My dear friend and colleague (and a fellow listee on Muck Rack’s top 10 freelance journalists of 2024), Alice Dubin and I are teaming up again for another AMA Zoom session!

This session will be focused on pitching best practices for Father’s Day and Graduation Day gift guides, but we’re opening the floor to all questions in all areas (be it events, trips, mailers, followups, general pitching, what have you). The fun (and yes, it’ll be fun, we’re all about keeping things informal!) will be this afternoon: May 2 at 11 am PT/2 pm ET.

All are welcome to attend…if you are a paid subscriber of either one of our Substacks (monthly or annual can equally attend!).

And, speaking of Father’s Day gift guides…yes, I’m working on a few, and should have details to share within the next few days!

Lots of fun newly published content to share today, for Forbes.com: 20 Cocktails Perfect For Honoring That Special Woman In Your Life On Mother’s Day, for FoodNetwork.com: It Was Only a Matter of Time Before Velveeta Started Making Its Own Queso (this one makes so much sense, you have to wonder why it didn’t happen sooner), and for my RetailMeNot Saving Stars column: How Using My Air Fryer Makes Cooking on a Small Budget (and In a Small Space) Possible (lots of fun recipes, including some I haven’t shared before, in this one!).

In exciting news, I’m doing something I’ve never done before: I’m currently offering 20% discounts on my virtual consulting/lunch & learn sessions. Times are really tough and I am hoping to make these insights as accessible as possible to any of you who are interested. If you want to schedule a session for yourself or your team, to discuss anything from pitching to followups to events or press trips or anything else…drop me an email at alywalansky@gmail.com and lets chat!

Job leads!

Quinn is hiring an Assistant Account Executive - NYC and a Account Executive - NYC as well as an Account Coordinator – NYC and Senior Account Executive - NYC.

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!

• Forbes.com: 20 Cocktails Perfect For Honoring That Special Woman In Your Life On Mother’s Day

• FoodNetwork.com: It Was Only a Matter of Time Before Velveeta Started Making Its Own Queso

• RetailMeNot: How Using My Air Fryer Makes Cooking on a Small Budget (and In a Small Space) Possible

• Southern Living: How To Preheat An Air Fryer

• Forbes.com: Take A Break From The Classic Mint Julep With 12 Unique Cocktails Perfect For Kentucky Derby Viewing

• Soaps.com: 17 Hallmark Channel Gifts For Fans Who Watch Year-Round — Including Items Starting at $3

• Forbes.com: 20 Festive Cocktails To Enjoy On Cinco De Mayo

• RetailMeNot: How to Save on Food Delivery Apps: 10 Tips That Actually Work

• Today.com: These affordable drugstore wrinkle creams are recommended by derms and makeup artists

• Forbes.com: Mother’s Day Gift Guide 2024: The Best Gifts For The Mom Who Really Loves Salad

• Forbes.com: Mother’s Day Gift Guide 2024: The Best Gifts For Her Foodie She Shed

• Forbes.com: Mindful Consumption Gets A Bespoke Feel With New Loews ‘Free Spirited’ Program

• Clean Plates: The Best Healthy Snacks to Buy at Target, According to Dietitians

• Forbes.com: Mother’s Day Gift Guide 2024: The Best Gifts For The Mom Who Loves To Grill

• Southern Living: My Recipe for Air Fryer Green Beans (these are so good!)

• Clean Plates: The Healthiest Tomato Sauces You Can Buy at the Grocery Store

• RetailMeNot: How Growing My Own Herbs At Home Has Helped Me Keep Meals Creative Without Busting My Budget

• Clean Plates: How to Clean and Organize Your Fridge for Spring

• HerMoney: The Best Timing For Hotel Bookings - How To Save On Your Stay

• RetailMeNot: Savings Star Origin Story: How I Learned to Eat Well (In NY!) On a Shoestring Budget

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.

Southern Living

• Can You Freeze Baked Beans? A Comprehensive Guide to Freezing and Storing Baked Beans — I have a list of questions for this one, and I’d love if chefs and food safety experts can weigh in. Please do NOT send me commentary before receiving my rundown of questions.

• How Long Do Brown Sugar Substitutes Last? Storage Tips and Recipe Ideas — for this, I’m looking to explore different types of brown sugar substitutes, as well as the ratios and measurements for each substitute to achieve the right amount of sweetness and consistency, how to make homemade brown sugar substitutes. I also have a list of questions for this one I’d love a chef or related appropriate credentialed food expert to weigh in on.

Clean Plates

I’m working on a story pegged for July 4th/BBQ season, geared toward all my fellow Trader Joe’s lovers out there: Products at Trader Joe's RDs love for summer cookouts …I’m trying to focus on newer products coming out this spring that would be great for summer grilling or a summer cookout - obviously with a component that RDs are a fan, and why. So if you have a RD that will want to comment, please reach out!

RetailMeNot

Budget shopping and cooking/eating smarter: As you all know, I write a lot of content for RMN related to budget shopping and cooking/eating smarter. I’m going to be working on a monthly column on the subject of cooking/eating well on a budget, and I’d love you to pitch me products/ideas to consider for it - maybe a new meal-stretching product that is a good deal at a grocery store, an awesome product to try that may cut my meal prep time in half, other themes as far as saving money on food/cooking/eating and doing it in a way that is smarter.

Forbes

I’m sourcing for one final Mother’s Day gift guide:

The Best Complete Dinners You Can Have Shipped To Her Door: I’m looking for complete meal kits or readymade meals she just had to pull together or reheat and can have a full beautiful gourmet dinner ready without even having to leave home. Note, I’m NOT looking for restaurant takeout. This is strictly items that can be shipped/ordered online nationwide.

To pitch for ANY of my gift guides I’m currently sourcing for, please include:

• Name of product

• Link to retailer where it’s currently in stock and available, no pre-sale links please

• Description

• Price

• LINK to high res image (please make sure to remove restrictions so that I can access image, and also make sure the image will not expire for a few weeks, so it can be accessed when necessary. Also please try to avoid large galleries and JUST send the image being requested, no others…it’s the best way to assure the image used is the one intended!)

  Also for Forbes, I’m rounding up Bridgerton-inspired cocktails. I need name of drink, where served, a description, a quote about it, and an image of the cocktail. These cocktails MUST exist on a bar or restaurant menu in order to be considered.

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!)

Virtual (and now in-person!) consulting sessions...

Whether you need a consult as you plan your next event or trip or just want someone to take a look at the pitches you’ve been sending and give some feedback, I’m available for PR team virtual meetings to answer questions about pitching, events, followups, mailers and trips from a media perspective.  Note: I’m also available to travel for consulting sessions as long as travel expenses are covered. We can chat! This is available for entire agencies or smaller group lunch and learn type concepts.

<3

aly