Amy Reiley started a wildfire on an IACP blog post recently, when she said hobby food bloggers who don’t test recipes thoroughly and don’t charge enough are sidelining professionals like herself.
Here’s a sample:
“…We, the professional journalists, researchers, home economists, recipe developers, food stylists, and photographers are getting aced out of much needed work in our chosen field by stay-at-home moms and accountants with a cooking hobby.”
Enraged food writers — mostly bloggers — piled on in the comments, which led to closed comments and a new post trying to explain the old one, which led to more irritated comments. In other words, two excellent reads.
But this argument is nothing new. The old guard always competes with newer, hungrier people with less experience who charge less. Reilly thinks it’s not just the old guard that gets hurt, but readers who try published recipes by the less experienced and get a dud.
I’m not sure. Decades ago, I was a less-experienced recipe writer too. I got my break when a publishing company promoted a young editor to editor of a new food magazine Sunset Custom Publishing created for Safeway. I called the editor to congratulate her and pitch stories. She accepted a bunch of features, then said she wanted recipes. I had never written a recipe before. But I said yes.
Did I know what I was doing? That’s a complicated answer. I cooked each dish twice or three times and made small adjustments to improve the flavor. I guess I faked it well enough, or the editor would not have continued to hire me. To develop my recipes, I read several others and arrived at my own version. Sunset’s test kitchen cooks made each one, and they passed muster. I freelanced for that magazine for years, and the editor paid me well. I even had a regular recipe column.
Did I sideline a more experienced recipe writer ? No idea. I wasn’t stopping anyone else from pitching the editor, and others wrote recipes for the magazine as well.
Just who are these newcomer recipe writers Reiley mentions? I’m calling them emerging professionals. They might have been hobby bloggers who posted for pleasure. Now these bloggers have decided that because they’re enjoying the process, and because it’s so much work, they’d like to get paid.
Professional recipe developers, on the other hand, already get paid to write recipes for companies and publications. Companies expect them to come up with clearly written recipes that are not adapted from pre-existing ones. They also expect that the professionals test them so that they work every time for a mainstream audience. Companies hire these professionals because they have confidence in the recipes. These recipe writers may also be published cookbook authors, which only adds to their credibility.
Professional recipe writers arrive from many paths. In the past, women with degrees in home economics became recipe developers. Now chefs, journalists and cooking teachers write recipes. Nutritionists and dietitians write recipes. So do owners of food businesses and restaurants, cooking school graduates, and graduates of food studies programs. And bloggers. Lots of bloggers.
I’m wondering about Reiley’s argument. Does quality suffer when the less experienced write recipes? Does that mean they shouldn’t? Or can newbies do a decent job if they work hard and learn their craft? Isn’t that how professional recipe writers got there?
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I’ve intentionally skirted the recipe development topic because it’s complicated and sticky. Amy, I do agree with you [ducks incoming tomatoes from the onlookers]. And I also agree with some of the counterpoints presented here and on IACP. Basically, it’s hot mess. (Or I’m a hot mess. Or both.)
Bloggers who accept $150 dollars to produce an original recipe (and worse, take additonal time to blog about it, if that’s part of the brand’s deal) are grossly underpricing the effort, no doubt about it, even at novice levels. But part of the problem is that, to bloggers trying to monetize their blogs, they’re looking at the $150 as a sort of lagniappe – they’ve been writing recipes and blogging about them for free anyway, so $150 is almost like found money – a blogging bonus.
That, of course, is not the way to think about this business at all (and it is very much a business), but I can’t count the number of tweets I see from folks woot’ing over a new deal they landed for a $200 recipe because the car payment is due. (I know some of the pricing for recipe projects because I’m sometimes invited to pitch to brands, and the brand’s offer is stated upfront.)
I admit, I don’t know how to combat that. I don’t think a reply tweet saying, hey, yo, you’re selling yourself short, would be well-received. “I know you really need that $200 this month, but you shouldn’t take it!” I can imagine all the finger-gesturing that would accompany the Unfollow.
Amy sees recipe development as a skill worth paying for, as do I. Dianne does, too (I think
) – but to the food bloggers out there who have been doing it uncompensated for X years, the I’ve-been-doing-it-for-free-anyway perspective devalues the effort. And brands are more than happy to slip [a lot less] coinage to that side of the street.
What’s to be done about it? I honestly have no idea. When a cookbook earns a stinky reputation, people will stop buying it. But when a recipe for a brand falls flat – a recipe that’s free to the consumer – does a person burned by the recipe actually stop buying the brand’s products? And if they do, what percentage of consumers does that actually represent? Do people regularly cook from the back of a box or an advertising insert – is it a huge number? Does a cheapy dud recipe really have a negative impact on sales? Or is it solely a reputation (social media) issue? Maybe the risk to the brand (or to some brands, or to some brands in some situations) is sometimes worth the cheap price for the amateur effort?
I don’t know! But now I’m really, really curious about these numbers….
What’s to be done about it? Education and honest discussion, Karen. That’s what we’re providing here. For every newbie who’s “honored” to have one of her recipes published without pay or for very low pay, there’s another one who’s learning that good recipe writing is a skill that should be paid for, and fairly. Maybe she’ll ask for more next time, or not respond. We can always hope.
Re the questions you ask in the last para, they are good ones. I was discussing similar ones this morning with a friend who’s a recipe developer who is sidelined by bloggers. Perhaps companies are not always interested in quality because a “cheapy dud recipe” has no impact on sales, as you suggest. They are also interested in inexpensive content that is always changing, and growing an audience.
Very much enjoying reading all the comments above.
Amy, I do see where you’re coming from, and I also agree that bloggers are sometimes taken advantage of in the sense that they may do a lot of work for not much reward – sometimes even for just free samples – or do not know how to price themselves in terms of recipe development etc.
However, even this statement is worth examining more closely for two reasons:
1) Bloggers that are emerging (or even established) will be looking at the exposure presented by any opportunity offered and may well be happier to take a lower fee for an opportunity that helps them build their portfolio and brand. This is the way of the world – it is what ‘professional’ writers and consultants do all the time. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the quality of the work they will do will be less than what it would be if they were being paid ‘full’ rate – smart people put their best into every job they do;
and
2) How we choose to pitch and price ourselves is entirely a personal decision on what price we think we can command for our skills. Recently, a group of Aussie food bloggers including myself were contacted by a PR agency to develop recipes for an e-book for a food company using their products. In discussing possible fees with a few of the bloggers I found it interesting how differently bloggers came up with their own pricing and what a reasonable fee was. No two bloggers were planning to charge the same for exactly the same gig as each of us valued our skills differently. Again, this occurs when ‘professional’ recipe developers were pitching for the identical job as well.
It is also worthwhile noting that these types of recipe development jobs did not exist before – they have been created purely because of the blogging practice and the rise of social media. The PR companies looked at what bloggers were doing – creating recipes, writing personal stories, cooking, styling and photographing food – and realised that they could hire these people to create stories for them and create higher levels of engagement with their consumers.
Interestingly, when I was at a media famil with a bunch of international food journalists and writers, I found that many of the older ones had embraced blogging and social media. They absolutely recognised it as a way to connect with people, build their brand and increase their value to their clients.
I think one of the reasons your post stirred up so much debate was that your comments about bloggers were a little harsh. The discussion above, where people have just stuck to the issues instead of getting personal, has been much more useful in debating the concerns you sought to raise in your post.
And yes, it would be nice if everyone was paid a decent and sustainable wage. I am personally very clear about how much I need to be paid to ‘get out of bed’. The more each of us is knowledgable about the value of our services and the going industry rates, the easier it will be for everyone to be paid fairly.
Perhaps this is the way forward: what if we tried being in alliance with each other instead of in competition?
Nice, Christina.
Good point about the creation of new jobs. So the old guard, accustomed to just being good at developing recipes, is not considered, because the job is also about social media platform and photography, which they probably don’t know much about. Re how much to charge, the range is true of any industry — when people bid on a project, everyone has a different rate. It’s never going to be standardized.
Amy I stand corrected. You did say this in your article: The test kitchen policy for my cookbook publishing company, Life of Reiley.
Dianne, thanks for thoughtfully weighing in on this issue. I read the original piece, the follow-up piece from IACP, and all the comments to both and found it to be a fascinating dialogue. What I thought was most interesting is that here you have summed up the writer’s main view points and shown that her points aren’t all bad – what everyone was really reacting to was her condescending tone, which continued to play out in her responses to the comments. The other thing that it made very clear is that bloggers are an engaged and powerful group who are here to stay and bring a great deal of value to the food writing, recipe development world.
That was a ton of reading, Katherine! Thank you. I’m glad you got Amy’s points. She did inflame people, which added to the drama, but still, she was brave to bring up the issue of bloggers not getting paid enough for their work. Certainly a legitimate subject.
Does quality suffer when the less experienced write recipes? Sometimes, but then I’ve cooked duds from published cookbooks, too- some of then very good selling cookbooks.
As for recipes that are not adapted from pre-existing ones. After reading thousands of recipes over 25-30 years, you realize that most of them are just variations on a theme.
Well, everyone knows that there’s nothing new under the sun. Every recipe has been made before in some incarnation, and it’s a matter of personal touches that make each recipe different. But even though a recipe may be an adaptation of another recipe, the slightest change could mean a totally different result and could be the difference between a recipe that succeeds and one that fails. Baking is a perfect example. A cake made with all-purpose flour and one made with whole wheat flour will be two totally different cakes, even though everything else is exactly the same.
My point is that even if you’re tweaking a pre-existing recipe, it must be tested because that one little difference can change it completely, from flavor to texture to cooking times. And I’ll bet that that’s why so many recipes in “good selling cookbooks” are duds–the writers or recipe developers think that they don’t have to be tested just because they changed one little thing.
What a great insight, Roberta. Thank you. Re all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour, are there really recipe writers who think the outcome will be the same? I hope not.
Yes, agreed. But it still takes skill to make them provide excellent results each time. I’ve cooked many duds too. Bad recipes are not limited to those written by newcomers.
Absolutely, Dianne. Sometimes the worst recipes come from well-known, established chefs/celebrities. Why? Because they often do not write their own material. They hire ghost writers or co-writers to develop recipes in “their style.” After all, how does someone who has 4 shows on TV, does extensive appearances, guest spots, and interviews, has a line of cookware and a magazine have time to write 20 cookbooks?
I think you know who I’m talking about.
(I’m not saying the recipes in those books are bad, I’m just making a point.)
Well, I know some of those ghost writers, and I have been a collaborator myself. I’d like to think I know what I’m doing, and certainly the ghosters I have met are very qualified. So I am not sure there is a connection between celebrities and the quality of their recipes.
Don’t misunderstand me–I’m not saying that bad quality recipes are due to ghost writers. On the contrary, they would have to be good to stay in business. What I’m saying is that just because a recipe is “written by” a big name, it doesn’t mean that it’s going to work. There are so many variables involved. Good and bad recipes come from well-known chefs and newcomers alike. There are no guarantees either way and you won’t know if something works until you’ve tried it yourself. And let’s not forget that sometimes a recipe may work for one person and not for another.
On the matter of recipe testing, I ran into this article by the Washington Post from January called “And that’s why we test.” (I haven’t read every single post in this thread, so I apologize if anyone has already pointed this one out.)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/and-thats-why-we-test/2012/01/11/gIQAvi8w5P_story.html
Fascinating article, Roberta. Thanks for posting. It reminded me of Southern Living’s disastrous post for Ice Box Rolls back in 2004.
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2004-04-07/lifestyle/0404070051_1_icebox-rolls-recipe-southern-living
What a great story (well sort of — more like a disaster, as you say)! Thanks for sharing it, Eric.
I was subscribing to SL when that happened. Since it’s been highly regarded in the South for a long time, it was quite a shocker. I remember when the correction card came. I was relieved that I had not tried to make the rolls. I would have been one of the persons it exploded on. l just know it. lol
I think the article’s writer made a very good point, and one similar to what Amy was trying to convey in her article: “I’m not convinced young cooks are getting the same important instruction in our nuke-and-serve culture.” -Heather Mcpherson, Orlando Sentinel
Eric,
I, too, have been a long-time subscriber to SL and had forgotten all about this incident until reading your comment. Because SL is such a trusted source, perhaps even some seasoned cooks may not have questioned that method.
Thanks for the trot down memory lane!
Wow, I missed that one. Thanks for the link.
For me, Amy’s post seems to have been more of a context over content issue. I do agree that Amy has some validity in her points. I have taken a closer look at my own work after these discussions (although I am not a blogger, but a chef that has a blog rather). But regardless, I share recipes with others and have learned a thing or two by it all. So, thanks for that!
Sure, Natalie. I have tons of posts on recipe writing, if you need any pointers. Thanks for commenting.
Perfect, thank you. I recently purchased your book (which is what led me to your site) and that has been very insightful as well.
I’ve been mulling over this great post, Dianne, for a week before having the chance to sit down and throw in my own two cents. I think iMs. Reily’s article is a case of shooting the messenger. I, in fact, understand Ms. Reily’s frustration: how often do we see food bloggers – and new food bloggers at that – decide that they, too, are “professional” photographers, writers, recipe developers and, no matter their level of expertise, experience or talent, add a portfolio and jump into the fray? Yes, food blogging has allowed many extremely talented people the visibility and a platform to be “discovered” and to begin a professional freelance career and well deserved at that. But we have all seen many with less talent get published, get work, etc. And we scratch our heads – with so many well-seasoned pros and very talented people how are the others getting work, too?
But don’t blame the bloggers! We all want our chance if this is where our passions lie. And if offered the chance: a job, a cookbook deal, a lucrative partnership with a brand – of course we’ll grab it, and why not? Much of it is a mixture of self-promotion, chutzpah and availability. The problem doesn’t lie here. It is the companies – whether food brands, magazines, or publishing houses that make the choices, offer the work, hand out paychecks or advances, decide between an experienced professional or a less-than-experienced food blogger. And with each choice comes a battery of reasons for that choice – money? A blogger’s built-in audience and platform? a specific talent? Who can tell. One can only hope that the companies make their choices wisely. As for recipe development per se, I have many tried and true cookbooks, recipes made from magazines that work beautifully and that make me return for new recipes from the same book or magazine again and again. Others, not so much. We’ve all made recipes from a cookbook or magazine that have been a big fail. I’ve also made recipes from blogs that were wonderful! But when a magazine or publisher, for whatever reason, chooses one recipe developer or another, I would assume that it is the publisher/editors who are responsible for making sure that all recipes they pay for and publish work.
Thanks for this thoughtful comment, Jamie. What you say is very rational. Bad recipes can be found just about anywhere, including in the tomes of established cookbook writers.
One of Amy’s main points was that bloggers are willing to take less money, and that lowers the bar for established food writers. I’ve written on this topic many times, but the bottom line is that every industry has its newcomers who are willing to charge less, or who don’t know what they are worth. As those bloggers mature, others will take their place. It’s inevitable!
Also it is possible that there is not enough well-paying work to go around. Here, some bloggers have been very creative about how to get paid. They have the advantage of advertising, whereas other food writers do not.
Hi, Dianne,
Thanks for presenting this touching topic in such a rational framework.
I can’t help but wonder if couching the issue of fair pay in terms of “them” and “us” is polarizing rather than productive. I am a professional recipe developer/food writer/editor with 30+ years experience. I am also a blogger. Should I be at war with myself?
Hah. I certainly hope not, Sharon. I don’t think the author meant to put it into an “us” vs. “them” framework, but that’s how it was interpreted. Re the two parts of yourself, because you are a skilled recipe developer, there is no way you’d take the same rate that would be acceptable to a newish blogger . She was concerned them lowering the bar for everyone.
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