Tuesday: I'm rewatching ER - here's some insightful reminders it offered about OUR industry.

Good morning!

God, it’s hot out. It’s like 95 degrees before 10 am. Thankful that the event I have planned to attend later today is rather, well, “chilly” in focus.

(More on that soon, but it’s a fun one!)

Some content I’m working on right now is directly tied into the heat wave (scroll down to pending assignments below), but for the purpose’s of today’s email, I wanted to get a little retro.

The last few weeks, I’ve been somewhat nostalgic and have been re-binging a classic — ER.

And aside from being team Doug and Carol now more than ever, I realized that this show, which dates so far back that important relationship communications happened via fax machine (but for real, it did…even weirder than SATC’s Post It), there’s some timeless reminders we can take from it about our own industry:

It’s our lives that inspire our stories, and our pitches. The creator of ER created a lot of ER’s most memorable stories from his own experiences in a hospital emergency room. That’s what made the stories cut so deep, hit so hard, and BE so timeless. Perhaps our own industry doesn’t have such life or death stakes, but a reminder that our insights, personal experiences, and observations shape so much of what we do. That’s why targeting is so important, and making trips, events, and mailers be meaningful and informative matters so much.

The importance of doing our homework. Always. In making ER, they actually hired real ER doctors to make sure they got all that crazy jargon right, but in our reality, it’s a reminder to do your research and be credible and informative in your media outreach and pitching. We can always tell when you have AI write your pitches for you — and yes, it erodes our trust — but also, we can tell when you try to shoehorn a off-topic pitch into our current needs. If it doesn’t fit, it doesn’t fit. And we can absolutely tell when you manipulate your expert’s credentials or your data or product to fit something that it just doesn’t fit…and it will impact our relationship.

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 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!

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: 7 Tea Martinis That Are Redefining Cocktail Culture

• Yahoo.com: Pickles are the latest hot trend to hit fast food

• Forbes.com: 8 Creative Sushi Presentations To Try This Summer

• Forbes.com: New Oceanfront Dining Concept Embodies Turks & Caicos As Hot Dining Destination

• Apartment Therapy: 10 Things I Got Rid Of After 45

• Apartment Therapy: Summer Packing Tips from People Who Travel for a Living

• Forbes.com: 9 Special Omakase Experiences To Enjoy In Honor Of National Sushi Day

• Forbes.com: Martini Variations That Are Sure To Hit The Spot This Summer

• Clean Plates: 11 Best Seafood Picks at Trader Joe's, According to RDs

• Travel & Leisure: 6 Best Business Travel Airplane Outfits, From $12

• Yahoo Life: Best sleep tracker for 2025, tested and reviewed

• YourTango: Frequent Travelers Are More Likely To Succeed At Work Because They Share These 7 Traits, Experts Say

• YourTango: 14 Budget-Friendly Home Upgrades That Instantly Transform Your Space, According To Experts

• Yahoo Life: The best cooling fans of 2025, tested and reviewed

• Travel & Leisure: I’m a Travel Writer, and This Seat Cushion Is My Secret to Arriving at Destinations Pain-free

• Travel & Leisure: 13 Best Solo Travel Safety Devices on Amazon From $10

• Travel & Leisure: I’m a Travel Writer, and I Swear by These Packable Ballet Flats for Comfort, Support, and Long Days on My Feet

• Travel & Leisure: This Flight Attendant-approved Jumpsuit Is My Go-to Comfy Airplane Outfit — and It’s Only $25 Right Now$150 and Under

• Travel & Leisure: I Found the Perfect Walking Shoes to Prevent Sore Feet During Travel — Score Styles on Sale Up to 62% Off

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 tips, ideas, and products for staying cool in a small apartment situation that may or may not have AC during a heat wave (Yeah, you can say this story may take on a first-person element!).

I’m also working on a roundup of must-have toiletries, beauty, hair, skin, and otherwise to keep as staples in your carryon when you travel. This, too, will have a first person element and there’s some of my faves I travel with non-stop that I’m absolutely including.

Forbes

I’m working on a roundup of July 4th inspired cocktails available on the menu (even as a limited time special) at bars and restaurants.

Also…

National Fried Chicken Day, National French Fries Day, National Caviar Day, and National Mac and Cheese Day are all in the coming weeks.

I’m accepting pitches for fun and unique presentations of each (so not the basics please!), at restaurants/bars nationwide. To pitch me for any of these, please make sure your pitch includes ALL of the following.

• Name of dish

• Where found (so: restaurant name, city, state, URL)

• Description of dish

• Quote about what makes this presentation special (plus name and title of person being quoted)

• Image of dish and appropriate photo credits

<3

aly