Assignment Update - And Last Call to Connect With Me Face to Face in April

Hi friends,

I’m nuts. I’m absolutely nuts. After 30+ hours of travel back from Indonesia on Tuesday, I was at the Smart City Expo in NYC by 8am on Wednesday, and again on Thursday. I’m still fighting jet lag and waking up at 3am, but I’m happy to be back home sleeping in my bed and working from an ergonomic desk instead of a hotel table.

I have a few quick updates, and then I need to get ready for my live call this afternoon. Have a good weekend!

Cassandra

---

Assignments Update

I think the most frequent question I receive from publicists is “What are you working on?”, which I know means “How can I fit my client into your current assignments?” I’ll be going into more detail on the call today about these assignments and who’s accepting what in general, but here’s a quick preview:

1. National Geographic: I currently have two assignments with NatGeo Travel. One is a destination-focused hiking piece I’m almost done with, and the other is a summer travel piece that I haven’t started yet.

2. The Daily Beast: I used to write two or three product reviews for them per month until they started having in-house editors do most of them. I went a year without an assignment, and now I have two within a three-month period. Exciting!

3. Insider: I’m working on one travel piece for Insider based on a recent travel experience.

4. Yahoo: I’m working on two sponsored content travel pieces for Yahoo. Given how few publications are accepting freelance pitches, I think SponCon is the future for most destinations and brands (especially small- midsize ones). We can talk more on the Zoom call today, or you can email if you have a budget for sponsored posts.

I also have pitches under review with Travel Age West, World Nomads, and a few other publications, but considering I’ve been gone for a month and only sent one single pitch out in March and a few more this week, I’d say I’m off to a good start.

---

Last call to connect with me this month

There’s nothing quite like face-to-face time, and my Ask Me Anything live question and answer calls are the only time I block out to talk with publicists each month. It’s a great opportunity to learn what I’m working on and to tell me a bit about what you’re working on and what you’re struggling with.

Here’s what to expect:

• Face-to-face intros: Introduce yourself and your destination or brand.

• Live pitch review: Share a pitch you’re struggling to land and get immediate feedback.

• Industry trends: Learn who’s commissioning now and what they want.

• Destination updates: I”ll break down my travel schedule over the next 6 months, and we can chat about how/whether your destination could fit in.

• What I’m working on: I’m increasingly relying on a Private Pitch Call List instead of mass pitch calls. Because these Ask Me Anything calls are a manageable way for me to discuss and get input on upcoming assignments, I also mention current assignments here (and destinations/brands that could be a good fit), that I haven’t blasted out to thousands of publicists on my newsletter. In other words, these intimate group calls give you an edge over the usual inbox pitching.

---

TODAY’S Ask Me Anything Live Q&A

Date: Friday, April 4th, 10 am PST/1:00 pm ET

FREE with a paid subscription (which is only $9 for the month, or $70 for the year).

---

Here’s the Zoom Call information: