March 2025 Newsletter
Namaste from India,
I'm wrapping up a two-week stay at an Ayurvedic clinic in Kerala for panchakarma treatment which is something I’ve been wanting to try for years. It’s been tortuous and painful at times, but mostly relaxing and rejuvenating. More on my travels at the end of the newsletter!
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WORK WITH ME
I offer consulting services to PR professionals, brands, and writers. I bring unique skills to the media industry, having worked in New York City as a publicist for seven years and as a freelance journalist for eight years. I deeply understand the inner workings of relationships between PR/brands and writers/publications.
Consultations for brands and publicists include insights on best practices for pitching journalists, how to foster relationships with journalists, media training, and more. I'm also available for hire to pen marketing materials such as press releases, media alerts, website copywriting, blog and social media content, and more.
For writers, my consultations include workshopping pitches and for writers to pick my brain about the industry. Writers who book consultations are added to my exclusive Facebook group, where I share editors' calls for pitches and provide access to an editorial database of over 3,500 editor contacts. Learn more here: LolaAnnMendez.com/Consultation
I'm also available for paid social media campaigns. I have a community of 21,000 followers across Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook who are interested in travel, sustainability, veganism, women's health, cannabis, and other industries.
MONTHLY STATS
In March, since the first time I started tracking my work in 2019, I didn’t write a single article. It wasn’t for a lack of trying as I sent 87 pitches. None were commissioned, five are being considered, 15 were rejected or garnered no response, and 67 are pending a response.
I did get a commission from a pitch I sent a year before for a UK edition of a print magazine, but not only have I already sold the story elsewhere, the rate was awful for print at .28/word.
I have two deadlines so far for April, thankfully! Both are travel articles about Southeast Asia for Time Out. I have 11 pitches editors are considering so hopefully some will be commissioned soon. I’m very available for assignments and especially last-minute Earth Day needs if any editors need writers to take on particular titles.
NEW ARTICLES
My portfolio can be viewed at LolaAnnMendez.com. In March, I had one print article published. I have upcoming pieces in new-to-me publications, including Scary Mommy.
CALLS FOR PITCHES & PR SOURCES
I always post my calls for sources on Twitter.com/LolaAnnaMendez. Newsletter subscribers get the first look at my current work. PR folks (and individuals, when relevant) are welcome to send pitches for the stories I'm currently working on.
— The best yoga retreats in Southeast and South Asia
WHERE IN THE WORLD IS LOLA?
I started the month in New South Wales, Australia on an epic press trip. Then I spent the majority of the month in India. It’s been my first time back in the country for eight years and it’s been so special to be back. I spent six months in India in 2016-2017 and I’m already plotting many more trips here. I spent about a month in Kerala going between Varkala and the Ayurvedic clinic. In between, I jetted off in business class to Paris for a very sexy trip that I hope you saw on my Instagram stories.
I have a few more days left in India before I return to a country in Africa, this time on a press trip for a new-to-me way of travel. Then I’ll be returning to my fatherland, Uruguay, for the first time in 2.5 years, which is bittersweet. At the end of the month I have a solo trip planned to my 95th country — El Salvador!
I’ll be based in South America through August and am super keen to go on press trips to the Atacama Desert, Bolivia, Mendoza, Buenos Aires, Guyana, Suriname, Nicaragua, Honduras, and the Caribbean while I’m in LATAM.
Follow my adventures on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Bluesky, and Threads.