Happy Monday, friends! I meant to send this email last week, but the great northeastern stomach virus that’s been going around hit my house like a ton of bricks and well, ya know, it slowed my newsletterin’ down. Back at full speed and holy moly, lots to work on!
Stories I need pitches for:
For the first Memorial Day sales pitch, please format like this:
Subject line: Memorial Day sales
Pitch “1234 Brand: From May 22 through 29, take 40% off all 1234 brand items when you use code MD2023 at checkout. Offer is valid on the entire site and shipping is free on orders of $50 or more.” (insert your own link, obviously)
Today’s Parent: All the best Memorial Day sales families NEED to shop. I want everything from kiddie items to mattresses, resort travel to health and beauty items. And most things in between. The catch? You/your client MUST be affiliate-ready and the discount MUST be significant (10% isn’t it, friend). Bonus points for being good about social media shares (and yes, you should call that out in the pitch). bryce@theluxuryspot.com
Today’s Parent: Best Father’s Day gifts for new dads. Again, affiliate-ready links are a must (Amazon preferred if possible!), and ideally under $300. Some splurges will make it in, but most will be real-world budgets. Bonus points for social media shares! bryce@theluxuryspot.com
Today’s Parent: Best Father’s Day gifts from Walmart—same as above, but must retail at Walmart.com and really make sense as a Father’s Day gift. Good for any stage of fatherhood/grandfatherhood! bryce@theluxuryspot.com
Newsbreak: Really wild/weird/over-the-top hotel suites for families in the US. Maybe a suite with a built-in pool and water slide? Goats you can sleep with? I don’t care—must have great images and a reasonable amount of facts in your explainer to go along with it. bryce@theluxuryspot.com
Today’s Parent: Must-have travel gear for hitting the road/sky with little ones. Again, must be affiliate-ready, and we’re looking for things like travel-sized shampoos/lotions parents and babies can share, neck pillows for kids, suitcases toddlers can ride on etc. bryce@theluxuryspot.com (btw, we’re going to shoot some of these and review a handful, so please be ready to send samples if called in)
Re: Mother’s Day: we’re all wrapped up except for hybrid affiliate inclusions. If you want the rate card or info, you can email me at bryce.gruber@stjoseph.com, but otherwise all done with Mother’s Day guides!
Alsooooo… got all your pitches from last week, still combing through rugs/vacuums/sandals. Still taking pitches for those stories too!
Here’s my toddler living everyone’s puppy-filled dreams, btw. Again, you didn’t ask, but I’m sharing. We had to change three times in about an hour because she kept getting peed on. The price we pay for joy.
Recently published:
Best nursing pajamas for every style/budget/size
The Tea Collection Rewear site is sort of brilliant for budget-minded eco-friendly kids essentials
Edited/updated/put out by our team
Jobs:
Booking.com/Kayak.com needs a new global head of comms. New York-area, salary around $140k.
VisitBritain needs a new NYC-area staff publicist. Salary around 80k.
Conde needs a communications manager for Vanity Fair and GQ. Salary around $100k.
Forbes Vetted needs a commerce editor specializing in tech, sleep and kids gear. Salary about $90k.
For the Affiliate Tribe:
I had loads of REALLY good questions roll in last week, so before I get to anything new I think we should start with what y’all have been asking for—a better understanding of why editors put certain parameters on pitches.
“Why do some outlets demand a minimum number of ratings on Amazon products?”
Glad you asked! We’ve covered this briefly in prior newsletters, but there are so many new faces and a handful of new reasons that it’s worth tackling again. At my prior publisher, the hard and fast rule was 500+ ratings with a 4+ star average.
At my new publisher, I set the commerce rules and have a bit more wiggle room, but I still want to see at least a couple hundred great ratings and a 4.2-star average or better (preferably a lot better!). Some reasons include: