Tuesday: Today's AMA day! Also: Seeking ASAP expert commentary for several stories + some fun newly published content to share.
Good morning!
A quick admin note before we get started: Seeking sleep experts, storage/organization experts, and chef/bartender input for pending stories - please scroll down below to pending assignments and check out what I’m working on and then please email me if you or your client may be a fit!
SO EXCITED to see many of you at this afternoon’s exciting Virtual Pitching Holiday Gift Guides for 2024 Zoom AMA Event. All who RSVP’d should have received their confirmation and log-in info yesterday afternoon. If you haven’t, please email me at alywalansky@gmail.com. And if you still want to attend today, there’s a weeeee bit of space remaining. Check out how to RSVP in yesterday’s reminder post.
This is generally our most popular Zoom event of the year and we’re so excited!
In other fun news, my latest for Travel & Leisure is now live: I Tried Amazon’s ‘Magical’ Sleep Mask on a Long-haul Flight — and Now It’s the Most Important Item in My Bag. (And yes, I did spend a day a few weeks ago taking selfies in sleep masks inflight!)
Weirdly enough, no one around me even seemed to notice.
Job leads
Go Social is hiring for two roles: A PR Specialist (3-5 years - Salary starting at $50K + ) and a PR Manager (6 - 8 years - Salary starting at $63K +). Both roles are media relations focused in the food and beverage world, with an emphasis on spirits. Both roles are fully remote and they also operate on a four day work week. They offer benefits as well including a 401K + match, and they are ideally looking for someone with past PR agency experience. (If you apply, be sure to tell them you saw the lead in Aly’s newsletter!)
Do you have a job listing to share? This newsletter goes out daily and has connected tons of amazing people with fantastic opportunities. Email me at alywalansky@gmail.com.
I’m offering a BOGO deal on new paid subscriptions!
As I mentioned recently, it’s tumultuous times all around. And we’re all feeling it pretty deeply.
If you show me some love (and this community some love!) by upgrading your free subscription to a paid one right now (either monthly OR annual), I have a gift for you: you can choose any friend or colleague to get the same upgrade — free.
How do you claim? Just upgrade your subscription (or upgrade a group) at the links below and email me at alywalansky@gmail.com — then give me the name and email address of a person you wish to upgrade. Buy an annual, give a free annual. Buy a monthly, get a free monthly.
Just my way of supporting the community and sharing the love whenever we can.
We all could use it.
The steepest discount I’ve ever offered on consulting sessions
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 planning an event, media dinner, or press trip to mailers, pitching best practices, followups to…well… anything else…drop me an email at alywalansky@gmail.com and lets chat!
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!
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
Southern Living: : How To Tell If Your Steak Has Gone Bad
Southern Living: Here's How To Store Bell Peppers So They Last Longer
Southern Living: Can You Freeze Feta Cheese?
Food Network: 16 Back-to-School Restaurant Deals and Freebies
Food Network: Starbucks’ PSL Is Back. And It’s Coming With a New Apple Chai Drink
RetailMeNot: 7 Ways to Save More on DoorDash
Plate Magazine: A Traditional Israeli Street Food Inspired This Shawarma-Meets-Foie-Gras
Today.com: The best drugstore eye creams to tackle wrinkles, dark circles and dryness, according to experts
Forbes.com: 9 Delicious Ways To Enjoy Avocado
Apartment Therapy: I Sent a Pro Organizer a Photo of My Messy Kitchen Junk Drawer — Here’s How She Fixed It
RetailMeNot: Which Stores Are Open and Closed on Labor Day 2024?
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
RetailMeNot: Why Costco Is the Ultimate Place to Shop (And Save) on Spices
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.
Saatva
Ways to Deal With Sleep Deprivation: I’m looking to interview a sleep expert for this one…would love to chat about how not getting enough sleep can be detrimental to your physical and mental well-being, and everything you need to know about sleep deprivation and how to treat it, as well as causes of sleep deprivation, most common symptoms of sleep deprivation, biggest physical and mental repercussions of sleep deprivation, strategies for managing sleep deprivation.
Are You a Light Sleeper? Here's What to Do About It: Would love to chat with a sleep expert for this one as well, as far as the concept of being a light sleeper and how to deal with it, what causes someone to be a light sleeper, how to manage being a light sleeper, etc.
Apartment Therapy
I Sent a Pro Organizer Photos of My Messy Cord Clutter, Here's How They Fixed It: My small apartment is OVER RUN with chargers and cables, and it's not only messy, it's dangerous and a safety hazard. I’m looking to speak to an organization expert about how I could go about (as someone who works from home and has a lot of tech) getting rid of extra chargers and consolidate, and then follow their advice (with before, after, during photos, much like my medicine cabinet story recently). Also open to product pitches as to products that may help with this messy cord clutter.
Forbes
I’m rounding up fun cheeseburgers to check out for National Cheeseburger Day on Sept. 18. ANYTHING pitched for these stories MUST exist on the menu at a bar or restaurant. Please keep in mind the following parameters: Name of dish, name of restaurant (city, state, URL), description, quote about dish (and who to credit for the quote), and an image (with photo credit) — via dropbox link, not as an attachment. (Please make sure to have ALL these components before pitching.)
I’m rounding up fun cocktails for tailgating and also fun cocktails for Emmy Awards viewing parties. Let me know if you have anything! Same parameters as above, please.
You may have recently seen my pieces about celebrity chef airline menu partnerships and everything from high tea to caviar service inflight. To that end, I’m also researching for a Fine Dining At 30,000 Feet roundup with the most luxurious dining options on different airlines. Please email me if you represent an airline and have something that may be a fit!
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!
I’m looking for “imperfection” pitches…unexpected substitutions that worked better than the original plan for the dish, what have chefs learned from their failures, “ugly” dishes and second-market produce..
I’m looking for salty pitches…as far as savory pastries, saline cocktails, and salt cooking techniques…maybe turn this on this nose in a different salty way, lessons that should be taken with a grain of salt…hit me!
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<3
aly