Don't Think Sending Free Stuff to Editors Will Get You Covered Coverage can't be bought. You can send us stuff if you'd like, but that doesn't mean we'll write about you.

In my office right now, I have six bottles of whiskey, five bottles of beer, a fancy notebook with my name printed on its cover, a wallet, a pair of gloves, a pair of slippers, high-end earphones, a bag full of nutrition bars and a bazillion books -- all of them freebies from companies hoping I'll run stories about this stuff. Most of it arrived in the mail, totally unsolicited. Do not pity the life of a magazine editor: We're doing just fine.

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But when Steve (not his real name) emailed in March offering to send me a bundle of his grooming products, he added a catch: "If you could promise me to either do a genuine review on them, perhaps write a blog about beards and/or my products (I can always write the article as well) or share my homepage link as a cool website to visit, I'd agree to any of these!"