For the past month or so leading up to Valentine’s Day, I’ve been tracking the number of daily V-day/singles/romance-infused story pitch emails I’ve received from public relations reps and CVBs.

The total count is 193.

Honestly, it felt like it was much higher. And that’s part of the problem.

Even on a “slow” day, like on Friday, Jan. 30, when only two pitches with the word “Valentine” appeared in my inbox, my instinct was to just glance at the subject and immediately trash the messages. V-day fatigue had set in.

Sure, it’s a popular travel day—especially when it falls on the long President’s Day weekend. But the number of ways people tied their product or property to the holiday in hopes I’d be able to cram it into a “Romantic Round-Up” was dizzying. I was told to “fall in love with” everything from hotel specials, indulgent cocktails, and European barge activities to heart-shaped pancakes, beef hearts, and Waze (even though I work for competitor MapQuest).

Meanwhile, I had already assigned our Valentine’s stories (an admittedly uncreative series of “romantic things to do” in the 10 cities we were creating travel guides to) back in early January, before most of these pitches came in.

So in the name of better editor–PR cooperation, here are some ways the nearly 200 people pitching Valentine’s Day stories could have caught my attention:

1. Pitch something else.

Remember that fatigue I mentioned? By early February, if I saw something Valentine’s related in a subject line my interest instantly plummeted. I received 193 Valentine’s emails. Know how many Black History Month pitches I got? One. And given Selma‘s Oscar nominations and the 50th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery March next month, there’s a much more interesting—and timely—travel angle there than a singles appreciation package.

2. Consider your subject line.

This tip goes beyond Valentine’s Day—think of your pitch email subject line the same way we think of our headlines: will this make me want to click to read more? Writing in all caps is a no-no; I feel like you’re yelling at me. Putting the full gist of the pitch in the subject is fine, but I will often only read that line. On the other hand, sending a more casual, regular email–style subject, like the one I got that just said “Belize + Tinder” is more likely to make me open it, read it, and give it more than 3 seconds of consideration.

3. Pitch on the weekend.

I’m pretty sure I’m going to kick myself for this one later, but the data doesn’t lie. See the dips in the chart? Those are weekends. Almost no one sends pitches or work emails then, but here’s a secret: most of us don’t stop checking our email on the weekend (thanks, smartphones).

4. Be funny or creative.

I know, I know. You have a lot of clients and are trying to send out news quickly in case it’s a fit somewhere. None of us have time to gussy up every email. But if it’s really something you want to stand out, consider telling the story in a funny way. This isn’t a travel/work pitch (and wasn’t counted in the 193 emails), but look at what Noodles & Company did for Valentine’s Day: they made a video recreation of the classic Lady and the Tramp spaghetti scene with their product and real dogs. It’s funny, it’s entertaining, and it associates their product with V-day. I don’t even like dogs and I watched and shared this video a few times.

5. Ask what we’re looking for.

Want to know what I’m working on? Just ask! Travel editors want to work with PR contacts. But as Zach Schonfeld proved in his exhausting attempt to reply to every PR pitch he received, we just get too many emails, and we have to choose what’s most relevant to reply to. For me, those are often sincere (and brief) questions about what I’ve got in the pipeline and what sort of stories I generally cover. For example, last year for Valentine’s Day, I assigned a series of online dating profiles for Caribbean islands and invited readers to “find their perfect match.”A V-day hook, sure, but the info was evergreen and not just directed at people traveling for the holiday. A few hotel reps asked what I was working on, and when I explained the project, they sent more general, useful info about their island properties—not irrelevant Valentine’s packages. So always feel free to ask—but by email, not by phone please!