So much bad news you may not want to open this

Bet you can't help yourself

Dec 05, 2024

Hi Friends,

Well, the week started off great! I had an amazing Thanksgiving, spent a lot of time with my mom in her nursing home, flew back Tuesday night, and went on an awesome seabird and seal wildlife cruise around Manhattan yesterday (pic above). I loved it so much that I already mentioned it in an article I wrote for Yahoo about Things to do in NYC in January.

But a gang of bad news has been going around the writing world and I’m the bearer of bad news. Perhaps I’m trying to warn you so you can better understand why freelancers aren’t responding to your pitches. Or, perhaps misery simply loves company. Either way, I’ll throw the bad news into a good news sandwich (good news bread surrounding the bad news burger).

Cassandra

RSVP Now: IMM Power Hour!

This event is good news for sure and I’m encouraged by all the RSVPs we quickly got for the event, along with all the interesting questions submitted in the registration form.

Are you heading to the International Media Marketplace (IMM) in New York in January? If so, you’ve got about 50 days before the travel industry’s biggest media event of the year. It’s such a big deal that I started receiving invitations to speak on panels, join dinners, attend after-party events, and schedule 1:1 in-person pitching and coaching consults back in September!

I’ve been attending IMM for five years and I want to help you get ready for the event, which can be fun and fruitful but also exhausting and time-consuming. If you’re making the trek out to the conference (and paying all that money to attend), why not ensure you’re getting the most out of it?

Join me and my friend and colleague, Joni Sweet for IMM Power Hour on Zoom at 1 P.M. (ET) on Wednesday, December 11, 2024.

We’ll be covering:

How to get appointments with top-tier journalists
Best ways to prepare for and structure your appointments
What to do if you don't get scheduled to meet with writers on your A-list
How to handle a canceled appointment
Ideas for creating an exhibition table that stands out from the crowd
Do's and don'ts of swag and handouts
Practical tips to making it through the big day
Tips for hosting a pre- or post-IMM media event
Streamlining your follow-ups

+ any other questions you have about IMM!

RSVP Now!

I am THRILLED to be co-hosting with my friend and colleague, Joni Sweet, who is one of the most talented and successful journalists I know, with bylines everywhere from TIME and Travel Weekly to Frommers and Forbes. She’s one of the key people I always reconnect with in person at IMM. If you don’t already know her, you soon will, and you’ll appreciate hearing her unique perspective on networking, building relationships, and putting on media events at the IMM Power Hour.

We met back in 2018 when our mutual friend, Debbie Arcangeles, invited us to be guests on her podcast, “The Offbeat Life.” I was just starting my freelance career, kicking it off in a very non-traditional way by writing a cycling guidebook to Cuba, Cuba by Bike, before I had even landed any bylines in digital or print pubs. Joni served as a mentor for me in my early days and I can’t think of a better person to host this event with.

The fine print:

This event is exclusively for paid subscribers to *both* of our Substacks. We only charge $9/month, so you could subscribe for a month for only $18 and get to join this event at no additional cost. Plus, you’d then get access to our full archives, upcoming subscriber-only content, and live Ask Me Anything calls.

Don’t want to go through Substack? Email me to purchase a single ticket for $25, which might be a good option if your company will expense an event ticket but not a Substack subscription (discounts available for groups).

Either way, please note that a subscription or single ticket entitles one person to attend the event, so if you’d like to attend with your clients or colleagues, please get in touch with us to discuss a group rate, even if it’s just you and one other coworker.

Once you’ve upgraded your Substack subscription or purchased a one-off ticket, please fill out this RSVP form to get on the list! See you there!

Upgrade to Paid

Bad News

In case you haven’t noticed, a lot of commerce publications have slowed or stopped taking commissions from freelancers. I used to write 2-3 articles per month for Forbes and another 1-3 per month for CNN and now I’m lucky if I can get one every other month. I also was a regular contributor for the USA Today commerce section, Reviewed, which shut down last month, in part thanks to Google’s new algorithm, which prioritizes Reddit and is completely throwing off search.

After all, if an outlet isn’t getting the traffic it once did then nobody is clicking on those affiliate links to buy products. As a result, if said outlet isn’t making the money they would have from commission kickbacks then they won’t pay freelancers to write new articles. Several of my editors have indicated that they are now writing and updating all content instead of working with freelancers. One editor from a major outlet has been doing this since March. Another major outlet just told me they are pausing all commissions at least for the next three months and they even have to pull confirmed commerce articles they had previously assigned (they asked me not to name names). Again, Google is part of the problem but for a different reason that I am not allowed to disclose yet. If I’m cleared to share more, I will.

Today, several of my editors at Thrillist were laid off, which is a big bummer for me and an even bigger bummer for them. The future of Thrillist as a whole is uncertain and that’s a real shame, since they put out really tremendous content. I actually just published a piece with them about Spilling the Tea on This Indian Ocean Paradise last month, and also commissioned a new piece on a Midwest Foodie Roadtrip that now may or may not see the light of day. Side note that publicists may not be aware of - in situations like these, writers may not be paid for the time they spent on an article because the full draft had not yet been submitted.

I don’t have a bright silver lining to share here. And I’m also crazy busy getting ready for a huge Lonely Planet guidebook research project in Costa Rica I begin this weekend, but I thought you all may appreciate a bit of an update.

Good News

I’ll do a separate article about Yahoo Creators in the future since it’s generated so much interest. I started writing for them this summer (here’s my profile) and some of my articles have raked up nearly 200,000 in views. The pay is absolute garbage (in most cases) but I have full control of my content, which allowed me to go in and add the wildlife cruise to a previously published article. Normally, this is not possible without first getting editor approval and hoping they have time to make the change on their end.

An article I wrote last week on gifts under $25 for people who have everything highlighted a bunch of products made from small businesses selling through their own sites, versus through Amazon. The article already has 25,000 views and I didn’t have to go through an editor to pitch this article. I chose the topic, researched it, and wrote it. This article I wrote on my favorite travel suitcase has over 100,000 views (same deal - I didn’t have to go through an editor to pitch the article and I can update it on my own).

Because the pay is so garbage, it’s often not worth writing for Yahoo, but I recently learned that Yahoo will sometimes allow writers to receive payment for the time they spend testing products, visiting places, and taking press trips. Wait, WHAT??? That’s a potential game changer right there but there’s a lot to unpack so that will have to wait for another newsletter.

Recent Articles

Thanks to those of you who helped me source products and quotes for these pieces. I’ve had a lot of roundups and reviews published recently and I don’t have the capacity to send personal updates but your brand or destination may be included below:

Thrillist: Spilling the Tea on This Indian Ocean Paradise

CNN: The Best Bike Lights of 2024, Tried and Tested

Range Best (gorgeous print mag): Scotland Slowly - Why the Best Way to Explore this Rugged Country is by Water

Yahoo: FeatherSnap Scout Smart Bird Feeder Camera Review: An Intelligent, Addictive Addition to Your Backyard

Midwest Living: 11 Must-Visit State Parks According to Locals and Pros

AFAR: This Canadian Island is a Dream Destination Best Explored By Sea

Yahoo: 8 of Canada’s Best National Parks (which got 185,000 views!)

Hilton: Embrace the Season in These Worldwide Winter Wonderlands

Hilton: Paradise is Calling: Elevated Experiences in Waikiki

AARP: Four Pumpkin Patches to Celebrate Fall

AARP: Adaptive Equipment to Make Mealtime Easier for Caregivers

Sierra Club: Leaf-Peeping for Hikers