Anna Mahan is the Associate Commerce Editor at Country Living
On this episode of Coffee with a Journalist, we sit down for a chat with Anna Mahan, the Associate Commerce Editor at Country Living, calling in from Alabama. Anna gives us a behind-the-scenes look at her role as a “shopping editor”—from curating gift guides and product roundups to navigating the chaos of her inbox, especially during peak shopping seasons like Amazon Prime Day and the holidays. She shares what makes a pitch stand out (hint: keep it personal, relevant, and don’t forget those price points!), her favorite subject line strategies, and the importance of affiliate partnerships for getting your products featured. If you want to unlock the secrets to pitching (and catching the eye of an editor at a major publication), you won’t want to miss this conversation!
Click below to listen to the full conversation and read below for highlights from the interview:
What Anna Mahan Covers
[00:03:25] BB:
Well, specifically for you then, Anna, going into the commerce vertical—we’ve had a handful of reporters or editors from more like the commerce component to it, or the commerce element, which maybe involves, you know, affiliate links and selling products and listicles and things of that sort. So bring us into your world now, and your function as it relates to, of course, Country Living.
[00:03:55] AM:
Yeah, so I’m in the commerce world. A lot of people who aren’t in the media world hear ‘commerce editor’ and they’re like, wait, what is that? So I tell people, a lot of times, I’m a shopping editor.
[00:04:04] BB:
Yeah.
[00:04:06] AM:
So I get to cover all things online shopping—product reviews, trending products, gift guides. A celebrity was seen wearing this and everyone wants to know where it’s from. Here’s where we found it. Here’s where it is. Here’s where you can find it, and also all the dupes inspired by the items. So it’s really a little bit of everything. It’s very fun. And though we are Country Living, like I said earlier—antiques, farmers markets, things like that—we cover a little bit of everything. So yeah, like on the Country Living side, I did—this past week—I wrote something on Dolly Parton's new collection with Kendra Scott. And I just did Post Malone's new drop with Stanley.
[00:04:46] BB:
Yeah.
[00:04:47] AM:
Also, I’m thinking—it’s summertime: here are my beach bag essentials. Here’s why I’m no longer wearing denim—because it’s too hot. Here are all the best linen pants you need for summertime. But then we also sort of get into, if you are living more rurally in the countryside during summertime, here are all the best reviews on the best bug sprays we found. Here are the best outdoor activities and playthings we found for you, your family, and your kids.
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What Looks Like A Perfect Pitch to Anna
[00:08:22] BB:
Good. Good to clarify that. So you were mentioning you start in your inbox right at the start of the day. You go through it, you're looking at things. What are the subject lines that are standing out to you?
[00:08:35] AM:
Oh, man, I am like so many people. I love a catchy, fun.
[00:08:39] BB:
Okay.
[00:08:42] AM:
I just love something that’s not the most basic, like ‘the best coffee you’ll ever drink.’ I always tell someone told me this and that for headlines, and it really has stuck with me: try to avoid ‘the’ and ‘this’ at the beginning of your headline because I was doing that a lot, and it really sort of stuck with me. Now I try to get creative once in a blue moon. I’m really tired—I’ve written so many stories this week. In the beginning of my subject line, you know, you can't win them all, but if you can have fun with it and be creative and make a fun joke or like really get a grabby headline. Grabby subject line. I love that.
[00:09:16] BB:
So you're saying, by the way, headline. So some people have said on here that they do like subject lines written as a headline. Like, how would you read it? Do you like that?
[00:09:25] AM:
I like that as well. Just because as long as, like the main point is near the beginning so I can kind of see it. I really like that because it just gets the point across. I know what I'm getting.
[00:09:37] BB:
You're like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:09:38] AM:
A teaser can be fun, but a headline as a subject is also good—you’re getting the point across. I already know what I’m getting into, and I think that’s wonderful. Like, there’s one kind of PR company that represents a lot of firms and emails me a lot, and I really love their pitches. I think they have a really great system down. For example, they had a pretty simple subject on a pretty simple email. But I don’t want to say the brand name for—
[00:10:06] BB:
But for example, go ahead.
[00:17:40] JM:
The brand name was XYZ. It was XYZ’s gingham dresses and tops that are perfect for summer—very simple, not the most catchy thing in the world. However, I’m familiar with their brand, so right away, I think, “Oh, it’s the brand. I like this brand. Gingham dresses. Country Living loves gingham.Gingham tablecloths, gingham dresses—ever. I’m like, oh, our audience likes that. And next, I see 'Summer 2025 happening right now,' relevant for what’s going on, super timely. That would be good for me to do this week. So those are three things that have really caught my attention and that I think are relevant for me to do right now. I’m immediately clicking on it. They have my name in the email. Like, please put my name in there, you know, if you can.
[00:10:52] BB:
Yes.
[00:10:52] AM:
Make it personal. I want personal. And the intro was just right away kind of fitting for the Country Living content that I’m writing. It’s talking about, like, whether you’re headed to a beach vacation, on picnics, or to the farmers market. Like that. Like, we have a lot of all those strawberries. Yes, all the strawberries, all the farmers markets, the antique shopping—you know, make it a little relevant. And I understand these people are probably sending out so many emails, so you can’t personalize them all. I don’t know if this one was personalized for us, because the pieces they were sending were just so—they went very well with the copy they had written. So it could have been that this was sent to everyone. But it was very fitting for you. Yeah, and the intro just right away got me. It was short and sweet. I had the brand name in the intro, so again, I knew what brand I was working with right away. There were inline links so I could click on something and be taken right to the site. There were images embedded in the email, and there were prices. So I pretty much had all the information I needed in this email. I wasn’t left with questions after finishing reading it. That’s like my perfect email. That is my perfect pitch. I know the brand name, there are links, there are images, there are prices. And then at the bottom, there was a little bit more background information on the brand if I wanted to know more. I don’t want to be left with questions after I’ve been pitched something. Yeah, I think that goes back to the basics of journalism—the who, what, when, where, why. We want to know everything right away. And that can be kind of hard to do in a quick, short email, but that brand just really did it in such a great way: two short paragraphs—here’s what we have, we think it’s great for summer, here are our images, here are our prices. And then if you want to know more about the brand, that’s also there at the bottom. I just thought it was so quick and easy, so perfect. I don’t even know if I’m going to be using some of those pieces in any content coming up, but I’m already going to keep my eye on them because of how great that pitch was. And it was just, I think, a great use of my time, a great use of their work.
[00:12:52] BB:
Good job, PR team who sent that. Excellent, excellent.
The Types Of Experts Anna Is Looking For
[00:16:51] BB:
Oh, perfect. Okay, so speaking of experts—it’s been a long day over here—let’s talk about your sources. Like, who are the people you want to speak to? It is more obvious, I’d say, when we have someone on here who’s a health reporter at Time magazine—oh, they’re going to want to talk to a gynecologist, you want to talk to an MD about this thing. For you, who’s the source or expert?
[00:17:35] AM:
Yeah, it—I honestly don’t have to talk with them a ton, but every once in a while, like at the beginning of the summer, I just did one on best bug sprays. And so I did need to talk with someone, and oh my gosh, what are they called? An entomologist or something like that. I’m making myself sound not as credible right now, but like a bug expert, an insect expert.
[00:17:35] BB:
Okay.
[00:17:36] AM:
I don’t know right off the top of my head exactly why bugs go to this type of light and why they hate this type of smell. Like, I can research it. But someone who has truly studied it—you know, they’re the ones who are going to be trusted. And people are going to love that, and the algorithm is going to push that. So that’s who I need to get in contact with. And I think last summer I did a story on, like, barbecue tools and things like that because our food editor was too busy to do it. So Oh, commerce. Have the commerce editor do it. And so now I needed to get in touch with someone in food and someone in barbecuing and stuff like that. So it’s kind of random. It is a little bit—it’s not as common for me to be in touch with experts, but it is going to be a little bit more in that home field. And I do tend to love a little bit more of the fashion and the beauty thing, so I like to pitch a lot of the fashion and the beauty ideas. And so during winter, I did all of our editors’ favorite winter skincare—the skincare products getting them through the winter season. And I needed to get in contact with a dermatologist. And so that’s—they—my editor said, 'I really think having a dermatologist or some type of expert, including some type of quotes here, would also help the credibility of the story—not just our editors.’ While that is great—recommendations—let’s have an expert. So I need you to get in touch with a dermatologist as well. It’s a little bit all over the map. I wish I had a little bit more of a specific beat.
[00:18:57] BB:
Yeah, I know. Because there's a lot of different types of experts.
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