🎁 Back by popular demand: Holiday Gift Guide Workshop

Get honest advice—straight from two journalists—on how to land your clients in 2025 holiday gift guides.

Joni Sweet is a seasoned writer, editor, and content strategist with 13+ years of media experience. In this newsletter, Joni reveals insider tips to help PR professionals sharpen their pitches, avoid rookie mistakes, land coverage for their clients, and build stronger relationships with writers. Book a Flash Consulting session with her to find a solution for your biggest PR challenges.

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Hi friends,

Remember that poll I posted in my newsletter two days ago? More than 50 of you voted unanimously that you wanted a live gift guide pitching workshop. Unanimously! That kind of response made it a no-brainer—I had to make it happen.

And I knew I couldn’t do it alone. So I roped in my co-host

Amanda Lauren- Your PR BFF

, because the gift guide event we ran together last year was such a hit—and, like me, she’s not afraid to tell it like it is. We’ve collectively written more than 80 gift guides for big-name publications. In case you missed it, here’s some of the feedback we received from PR pros who attended the 2024 gift guide workshop:

“I wanted to reach out to thank you for the amazing gift guide course yesterday, there were so many great tips that I plan to bring to my team, especially on how to grab the reporter’s attention in the subject line.”—associate at major PR agency

“Thank you for the excellent training yesterday on HGG pitching! Your comments and tips specifically about [specific publication we shared] had me brainstorming.”—PR manager

“Holiday pitching can often feel overwhelming, but you and Amanda made everything so clear and manageable—I’m truly grateful for that!”—account coordinator

“It was super informative and has me thinking much more strategically for holiday gift guide pitching.”—account manager at major PR agency

What to expect at the 2025 Gift Guide Pitching Workshop

Together, Amanda and I will give you the brass-tacks, no-fluff advice you need to navigate one of the most chaotic seasons in PR and media. Here’s what we’ll dig into during the session:

• How to position your products so editors actually pay attention

• The do’s, don’ts, and “please stop doing that” of gift guide pitching

• Tips on writing eye-catching subject lines

• What every gift guide pitch absolutely must include

• What’s changed for 2025 (and how to adjust your strategy)

• Insider timelines and how to know if you’re too early—or way too late

• How to stand out in a season when inboxes are fuller than Santa’s sleigh

You’ll also have the chance to submit your burning questions ahead of time (or ask them live at the event!) so you get the exact info you’re looking for this holiday gift guide season.

🎁 Bonus: Every participant will also get an exclusive discount on The Pitch Fix, my signature pitch critique service, to make sure their holiday pitch gets in-depth feedback to help it sparkle in an editor’s inbox.

This event is FREE for paid subscribers to both of our Substacks. (You’re welcome!)

Your exclusive invitation

Want to join the Gift Guide Pitching Workshop? Here are the details:

• Date: Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025

• Time: 1pm-1:45pm ET (10am-10:45am PT)

• Where: Google Meet link

• RSVP by Sept. 23, 2025

Oh, and you’ll need to attend live (no replay—it just wouldn’t capture the magic).

If holiday gift guide season has you bracing for a nightmare before Christmas, this event will help you feel like you can sleigh it instead. We can’t WAIT to see you there.

You know where to find me if you have any questions!

xx Joni