Wednesday: New content brewing + the no backsies approach to pitching

Good morning and happy hump day!

I had an insanely busy day yesterday that culminated in the most fun of evenings - I attended a great event at 12 Chairs to celebrate their DELISH collab with Katz’s Deli and had the best time.

(It’s as I always say - thinking out of the box always leads the the best and most fun results!)

alywalansky

A post shared by @alywalansky

I have some new content pending - including some home related products - scroll down to pending assignments to read more!

Newly published this week includes my interview with the amazing Ian Somerhalder — for Forbes, we chatted about everything from sustainability to bourbon to coffee cocktails — you can read it here. Also new for Forbes, I interviewed celebrity chef Daniel Boulud about his exciting new partnership with Air France: Daniel Boulud Is Again Bringing The Michelin Experience To Air Travel.

Phew. OK. Moving on.

I have another busy day today - and fun dinner plans with a dear friend - so going to keep this short and sweet today (or as close as I get to that) and get right into it.

Wanted to share a little vignette from my inbox and discuss. It goes something along the lines of:

Dear Aly,

Hope you are well. We’d love to introduce you to X product, where can we send samples for consideration?

Me:

(Of course! …gives address)

Them:

Sorry, we are low on samples at this time.

or

Sorry, samples are not available.

Wait. what. I didn’t ask for anything. You offered and I accepted!

Now, this is not a specific episode or exactly how the conversation goes, but a variant of this happens pretty regularly and it makes the journalist wonder if samples are available …but not to them, and they just erroneously received that email?

Look: Samples are never required to be offered. That email could have easily been written in a way that offered an introduction, or said limited samples were available upon request or for pending stories or something along those lines…all that would have been fine. But to offer, or, to directly ask to send and then be NEVERMIND…it rings as a sting and makes the journalist wonder why and if it’s about them.

Don’t create a sour taste in one’s mouth when you don’t have to. Word your emails as you wish for them to be received and only offer what you actually wish to, and intend to, give, and avoid all that.

It’s easy as pie!

(Which, BTW, is rather hard to make, so that analogy makes little sense.)

Limited-time deals on consulting sessions and ad placement!

Reminder: I’m offering a limited-time special consulting session discount for paid subscribers: If you are a paid subscriber, you can for a limited time, get 25% off a virtual consulting session (where we can have your own private or agency-wide AMA session on anything you want to chat about!) — I have some slots open in the next few weeks, so if you or your agency is interested in booking one, email me today and we’ll chat details.

Flash sale: If you book a group subscription for your agency, you may be eligible for a FREE consulting session for your team (if you buy 12 or more seats as part of your annual group subscription). Email me so we can discuss!

I’m also 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!

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Thank you for helping get the word out!

We had an amazing turnout at our recent Mother’s Day gift guide pitching workshop — and there’s a full recording available for paid subscribers. If you are interested in me sending you the video link, drop me an email. Thanks so much for your support and happy gift guide pitching!

Related: We loved how many of attended you took the time to attend our webinar event last month, covering the upcoming ShareASale to Awin migration. We covered an overview of the migration process and timeline, pricing of networks, and choosing a network for your specific client needs. If you missed it, we do have a recording available for paid subscribers. Email if interested and I’ll share how to grab that recording as well!

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: Brother’s Bond Bourbon Looks To Stir Up Sustainability During Earth Month

• Forbes.com: Daniel Boulud Is Again Bringing The Michelin Experience To Air Travel.

• Forbes.com: 10 Gorgeous Cocktails To Enjoy This Mother's Day

• Forbes.com: Locally Sourced Ingredients Are Foundation Of Salad-Centric Culinary Program

• Forbes.com: 15 Lavender-Based Treats And Cocktails To Enjoy This Spring

• Saatva: The Best Ways to Remove Tough Stains From Your Mattress

• Apartment Therapy: I Tried the “Weight Rule” for Decluttering, and It Keeps My Small Apartment Clutter-Free

• Food Network: Jell-O Launches Its First-Ever Plant-Based Pudding

• Southern Living: We Asked Jewish Chefs Their Favorite Passover Dishes—They All Picked Classics

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

• HerMoney: How To Save Money On Groceries By Buying In Bulk

• Forbes.com: 5 Beautiful Cocktails That Celebrate Spring.

• Apartment Therapy: I Tried the Pomodoro Technique for Tax Prep — Here’s Why I’ll Never Do It Another Way

• Today.com: Best drugstore wrinkle creams 2025, according to experts

• Forbes.com: The Pizza Martini Creates A Sippable Version Of Everyone’s Favorite Snack

• Forbes.com: 15 Sustainable Cocktails To Enjoy During Earth Month

• Travel & Leisure: I Travel Solo Often, and I Won’t Stay in Another Airbnb Without Packing This 1 Safety Device

• Yahoo Life!: Best pedometers of 2025, tested and reviewed

• Yahoo Life: The best black tea to brew in 2025, according to testers and experts

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

• Apartment Therapy: The $3 Cleaning Gem I Use in Almost Every Room of My Small Apartment

• Travel & Leisure: In-flight Theft Is Unfortunately a Thing, but These 12 Items Give Me Peace of Mind When I'm Traveling by Plane

• Apartment Therapy: I Asked Pro Travelers to Share Their Packing Tips for Spring Break

• RetailMeNot: How to Save Money on Groceries in 2025: 10 Tips That Actually Work

• Southern Living: The Unexpected Reason I Always Travel With Duct Tape—And You Should Too

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.

Newsweek Reader’s Choice

As a reminder, I’m on the panel of travel and food journalists who chooses the nominations for Newsweek’s Readers Choice Awards and I’m working on nominations for several new home-related categories!

Best Mattress: For this one, I’m looking for mattresses highly rated by consumers and have no known safety issues at a range of prices, but also looking at Comfort: Is the mattress comfortable? What type of mattress it it? (Foam, innerspring, hybrid, etc.)
Durability: Will the mattress hold its shape and firmness over time?
Ease of Use: Is the mattress water-resistant and easy to clean-up? Is the mattress lightweight (easy to lift/change sheets)?
Safety: - Is it firm? Is it free from harmful chemicals? (Phthalates, lead, flame retardants, etc.). I’m generally looking for the newest/latest products for this one.

Best Sheets: For this one, I will consider the following factors: Material: The type of fiber significantly impacts the feel, breathability, and durability of the sheets.Weave: The way fabrics are woven impact their texture and performance: Thread Count, Fit & Size: Do the sheets come in varying sizes (king, queen, etc.)?

Best Vacuum Cleaner: I’m looking for a range of prices and types (stand-up, robot, etc. vacs) but staying focused on dry vacuums only, as we may do wet vacs at another time.

Forbes

Mother’s Day Gift Guide: Ways to treat a long distance mom to a perfect Mother's Day dinner date - think in-home wine experiences and private chefs but also like a situation where you can ship a complete meal that just needs to be prepped or heated. For this one, trying to avoid the giant broader businesses with ready-made meals but more specific, regional or niche ones like the Maine Lobster option would be great.

How To Enhance Springtime Recipes With Specialty Pantry Items And Chef-Approved Tips - this is more of a how-to/explainer than a product/shopping guide, but I’m still totally open to include products that serve the story, and very up for chef commentary!

I’m now accepting pitches related to Cinco De Mayo or Kentucky Derby inspired cocktails available at bars and restaurants nationwide. Please be sure to include name of cocktail, where sold (city, state, name of restaurant, URL), description, quote about cocktail, image and appropriate photo credit when pitching - no pitches will be accepted that do not contain ALL these components. Thanks1

<3

aly