I’m excited to announce that the fourth edition of Will Write for Food: Pursue Your Passion and Bring Home the Dough Writing Recipes, Cookbooks, Blogs, and More is available for pre-order. It will publish on May 25, 2021.
And you should definitely win a copy from me. Just leave a comment below.
Can you believe that I’ve written four editions of this book? Sometimes I want to pinch myself. Especially since they have sold a collective 55,000 copies since debuting in 2005.
Maybe you have read or owned a previous edition. Here’s what they look like, to jog your memory:
The first edition debuted in 2005. I was only supposed to write 80,000 words, but I got carried away and wrote 120,000, all in four months! The editor liked it all and kept it. It has stayed the same size ever since. If you’re old enough to remember the cover of The Man Who Ate Everything, an enormously successful book of essays by Jeffrey Steingarten, we riffed on its design for our own version. And I loved the nod to my old journalism days, where I typed stories on a typewriter, not a computer.
The second edition published five years later, in 2010. I thought the cover was a little feminine. Some people said they thought it was a memoir. I ditched the chapter on writing fiction and wrote a long new chapter about this thing called food blogging. Lifelong Books/Perseus bought Marlowe & Company, so that meant a new editor and publisher. Luckily for me, Renee Sedliar became the editor of this and the future editions.
The third edition published in 2015. I thought this cover was very strong. I wanted a pen instead of one of the cooking utensils, but lost that battle. Notice that “Restaurant Reviews” disappeared from the subtitle list. Few people want to go in that direction these days. With Yelp on the scene, there is little call for criticism.
So you’re probably wondering what’s new in this edition of Will Write for Food. A few things:
1. There’s a new chapter on voice.
These days so many food writers cover the same topics, so how do you stand out? With a strong, distinguishable voice. Voice also comes through in your photography, and I give some examples.
2. I’ve kept the expert advice from names you recognize, and added new people.
They talk about best practices for freelancers, critics, and bloggers, including:
- Priya Krishna, now a reporter for the food section of the New York Times
- Soleil Ho, restaurant reviewer of the San Francisco Chronicle
- Chandra Ram, editor of Plate magazine
- Namiko Hirasawa Chen, food blogger of the mega blog Just One Cookbook
- Maggie Zhu, food blogger at Omnivore’s Cookbook.
3. There’s more about how to make money as a blogger.
Big bloggers tell me that the people who ask them for advice want to make money. As a result I’ve expanded the chapter on Bringing Home the Bacon, with more inside information on how they and others make the big bucks.
4. I expanded the section on self publishing.
I’ve found that, when I teach about how to become traditionally published, many people realize that the way to go is to self publish. I’ve expanded the section and resources for where to find publishers, designers, and printers.
5. There’s more about social media.
I’m constantly surprised by how many people want to write a cookbook but can’t bring themselves to do social media. I hope to convince them that there’s a way forward that they can actually enjoy. Social media has become such a big, indispensable part of what we do. And pretty much inevitable. So I concentrate on how to build bigger platforms and how to accept your love/hate relationship with it.
Overall, I’ve tried to update everything, to make it as current as possible. There are chapters on how to get published, how to write recipes, how to come up with a cookbook, get better freelance assignments, start and continue a blog, review restaurants and write personal essays and memoir.
Food writing has never been so popular, in a nation obsessed with food. I hope that if you’ve read prior editions and found them useful, you’ll help me get the word out about this update. If you’d like to buy a copy, please purchase Will Write for Food from your favorite independent bookseller. They need your support more than Jeff Bezos. I use Amazon daily for research but prefer to purchase books from an independent.
I hope to see you in one of my upcoming events. I”m excited abut a June in person event at Omnivore Books in San Francisco— the first live events since the pandemic began. Otherwise, please subscribe to my free food writing newsletter, if you haven’t already, to see what’s on the calendar.
Enter to win your copy!
Now, if you’d like to win a copy of the fourth edition of Will Write for Food, please leave a comment below. I will pick a winner at random by May 1, 2021. This offer applies to residents of the US only.
(Disclosure: This post contains an affiliate link.)
hi! i can’t wait to get my hands on a copy of this- something to look forward too! congratulations!
Thank you for this invaluable resource! I’m eager to find my niche in the food space.
Congratulations on the new edition!
I have two of your editions but would Love the 4th! Your advice is always invaluable and I’ve learned so much from you over the years – thank you!
This is very exciting and timely for me. After this past year of finally self-publishing my first cookbook (with your help and support!) and starting a culinary blog and pushing my Small Town Kitchen Table “voice” through on social media, I have hit a sweet spot in my writing. Your new book will be a great tool to use for more opportunities and more growth. Looking forward to May!!
Can’t wait to see what’s new!
thanks again, from Houston,
Cathi
It’s a great book! It’s helped me with my food writing so much. Looking forward to this new edition!
Congratulations on the 4th edition of a book that I consider to be the “Bible for food writers!” I’ve been using earlier editions of your fine book for several years, as a cookbook author, culinary journalist, and cookbook editor myself. And I’ve recommended it to countless others. Thanks for giving all of us an updated edition this year. I hope it’s as successful as the previous ones!
I can’t wait to read the new version!
Congrats on the new release!
I love that you kept working to improve an already great book. Thanks Diane. I’d love the 4th edition.
Hello to a fellow Dame d’Escoffier! I am the president of the South Florida chapter. Congratulations on your new book! I am a wine and food writer and I can’t wait to read it!
I met you at the Meadowood at Napa Valley Wine Writers Symposium in 2017. I was one of the 20 who won a fellowship that year. You were an instructor there and I was very influenced by your class. Thank you for keeping us up to date on the latest in food writing.
Congratulations Dianne on yet another edition! Your book is so helpful and how wonderful that you keep updating it as times change. Thank you for sharing your expertise. I have the first two editions…I need to complete the family!
I should have ordered a long time ago….not because I want to write about food, but just to have it!!!!
-Vicki
This is so exciting! I can’t wait to see the new edition.
I constantly digging back into the third edition for help and ideas. Looking forward to the fourth edition.
Congratulations on the 4th edition! I have the first and the third — can’t wait to see the new stuff in number four. Such a great resource!
It looks great, I’m UK-based, can you recommend where to buy it online in the UK? Thanks : )
I really appreciate that you’ve added a chapter on voice. I can’t wait to read the new edition.
I’ve cleared out a space on my bookshelf for WWFF 4.0!
I discovered Will Write for Food when I was in culinary school. It was a fascinating read then, and I’m looking forward to reading the fourth edition now. Congratulations on your great work!
Congratulations! I do have a copy of a previous version. Can’t wait to see the updated version.
Hi from Amsterdam, wonderful to see an updated version will be released soon. The book is just one big source of information and inspiration. 🙂
Great news! I bought the second edition in 2010. I emigrated and it was accidentally left behind. I looked at buying a new copy, but saw that you would be publishing a new update, so I decided to wait. I have been looking forward to it very much. Thanks.
Just looked for my second edition copy and couldn’t find it. No doubt it’s stashed somewhere amongst my 300+
cookbooks. Would like to read the updated version. Regards.
Congratulations, Dianne. Your books and blog and newsletter have helped so many of us become more accomplished and knowledgeable food writers. With your second edition on my shelf, I look forward to reading and learning from your newest edition. Such a wonderful legacy you’ve created.
What a great achievement, Dianne! I want to give you a big hug. I hope this edition sells more than all the previous ones combined.
Helllo Dianne, as a Canadian blogger and food writer I enjoyed very much your third edition that I read from cover to cover. Even though I cannot enter your contest I will certainly pass the word about your fouth edition.
Micheline
How exciting. Thanks for all the hard work.
I am about half way through your previous edition. I have found it to be the most helpful book I have purchases to date on the subject of food writing. I have approached your book like a course. I read a chapter every day. Do one of the assignments. Then go back and read what I have written and see how it can be improved. Thank you for this book and for being such a good teacher.
Wonderful news about the 4th edition! I do not own this book yet but it sounds like a great resource for everybody in the industry!
Well, at one point I had all three, now I just have my copy of the much used, dog eared third edition. So I am eager to win a copy of the 4th! BTW, when the 3rd edition was shiny new, I waved it around at a food writers conference in London and was gratified when so many of the participants waved theirs, too! Folks came up to me the next day to report they’d bought or ordered a copy for themselves. Thanks for creating the standard!
Can’t wait to, um, digest the new edition! It is the knife and fork of my food writing placesetting and I know will make everything taste better! And if I’m lucky enough to win it, rather than buy it, it will be like a cherry on top of my dessert!
Congratulations on your newest major accomplishment!!
The Foodwalker
http://www.foodwalkers.com
I treasure your first two volumes which I met in the process of researching spaetzle. This one is scheduled for release on my birthday and will be my birthday treat. Thank you for all your wonderful teaching.
Congratulations!!! Mary
Oooh this is a great resource! I’m delighted to hear you have written a new edition.
I rely on my edition (2015) allll the time. And I would have loved to have seen a “pen” on the cover. Hoping to win your newest edition. Congrats!
Congratulations on the 4th Edition! Sounds exciting — I’m a culinary translator and I’m excited to see what insights I could learn to continue to translate culinary content!
I especially appreciate the guidelines on how to standardize recipe writing.
Congrats!
Dianne–Congrats on edition #4! I have #1 from “back in the day” but have kept up via newsletters and web material. Would love to win the new edition and get the scoop from the newer voices in the field. Thanks for the chance!
Wooo! I can’t wait for this next edition!
Hi Dianne, I cannot wait to read your new book and would love to win a copy!! I am halfway through the revipe development and photography portions of my cookbook and have yet to shop for an agent. Your new book is a timely addion to the knowledge I’ve already gleaned from your other books and writings over the years. Fingers crossed, and congratulations!!!
Besides the great content on food writing, looking forward to your section on voice. I took a short workshop of yours on that subject and it was inspiring. Also, I love how the new cover includes writing and food implements. Perfect!
Congratulations on the new edition! I have editions 1-3 (all dog-eared and highlighted), and really, there isn’t another writing book that comes close to them! I have used them while taking online food writing classes, and I know my writing is better for it. Thank you for continuing to update and share your expertise. This book is an invaluable resource.
Congratulations, Dianne. Our books were much better thanks to you. I can’t wait to see the new edition.
Congratulations on WWFF’s fourth edition! I have all three original editions and can’t wait to see the new version!
What could be more sublime than writing and food?! Bring out the wine and start simmering the sauce. Ready for a great read!
Can’t wait to see this new edition!
I am a proofreader with 20 years’ experience in the food industry, trying to break into the world of cookbook proofreading. I enjoy your blog and newsletter, and would love to have a copy of your book.
Felicidades on your new edition Dianne!! In my humble opinion, I think your book should be required reading in culinary school programs as there are soo many students that are destined for work in culinary content creation but do not have a career infrastructure to guide and inspire them. Cheers from Los Angeles!
Oh Diane! Your postings in the newsletter today made me squeal because in December 2016 I “graduated” from “just” a less than 4 month culinary job training program and with the certificates, passing the ServSafe exam for the manager and handler’s license, a gift card was also issued. And being a closet writer and thinker I meticulously and carefully chose how I would spend it and was so happy to have used the whole thing to buy the 3rd edition of the book at East City Books right in my DC neighborhood. Your changes sound relevant and ideal as an understatement and my curiosity and motivation to use it to produce something, anything in the here and now, I would thrive on, oh my gosh! Thank you for what you do!
Congratulations on the latest edition of your book! This was a really concise snapshot of the differences between each edition and I am looking forward to jumping right into the latest one when it comes out!
I’m so impressed with the valuable content on the pages of your earlier editions – but it sounds like you’ve built upon that even more! Can’t wait to see it.
Congratulations Dianne. The word classic can be overused but wholly appropriate for the authority on writing about food and everything that involves. The number sold is fantastic but not surprising. Here’s to another successful relaunch.
I’ve wanted to jump into food blogging and writing for years and have never had the courage. I would love a copy of your book to give me the push to get out there and try!
I have use 2 of your editions until they are tattered. I can’t wait to get into tour new edition! Congratulations!
I have both the second & third editions and am really looking forward to reading this new one.
I am getting ready to start my food blog, so this is perfect timing
Congratulation, this is awesome!
I read #2, but i muddy have missed the third addition. Pleased bring me up to date. Love it!
Create Earlly Bliss
I’m excited to see the new additions to the book and read the last two iterations. I heard you speak at BlogHer Food a few years ago and it was the best session. You’re a fountain of information and support for food writers and bloggers. We’re blessed to have you.
I’ve used 2 past editions of the book! A great resource and I can’t wait to see what has been updated. Cheers!
Congratulations Dianne, looking forward to reading this 4th edition! You always have such great insights into the world of food writing.
This is one case where “revised” really means something, not just “we moved things around and added a few new line drawings”! What a valuable difference from the first edition. Now I’ll have to get 2e and 3e for the advice I missed. And the new cover says it all.
Thank you for having me as part of the team. (Disclosure: I wrote the index, and what a pleasure it was!)
Congratulations on the new edition! It sounds like you put a lot of work into the updates and keeping the content current.
I don’t have any of your books but would love to get one. I write mainly about gardening, but that includes a lot of writing about food since I want to inspire readers to use the food they’ve grown.
I’m embarrassed that I’ve never read your book, though I know I could learn from it! Mazel tov on the new edition!
Dianne, I have the second edition and would love to win a copy of the latest! I won’t be surprised if this edition alone exceeds the previous editions’ 55,000 copies. Wishing you all the best with it!
Congratulations on the new edition. I just told a friend who is interested in food writing to pick up your book. I’m excited to read your new nuggets of wisdom for us bloggers!
Looking forward to the revised edition!
I’m so excited for this new edition! When I read (likely the first edition) around 2008 I learned so much about food writing and still refer to it all the time! The book was such a valuable tool. One of the most important messages I learned from that edition about food writing was “SHOW don’t just tell your audience and INSPIRE them with what you know”. I’ve since moved on to become a food blogger and food photographer and still refer to that edition from time to time!
I’d love to get a copy of your book to help when I write about food from the garden.
An updated version of this delicious book? Looking forward to it!
Cheers,
Peggy O’Dell
Congratulations on the 4th edition! Will you please do another signing at A Great Good Place for Books? I won’t be greedy and ask for cake too. I’ll even bake one for you.
Congrats! Looks great! Best of luck…
Ciao Dianne,
I married two days before my mother died and moved to Usa two months later. It was 2015. I started cooking while waiting for the Green Card, which arrived after three long years.
I had time, a lot, and I cooked. A lot.
I needed to heal, to recover from the tear of a loss. To silent that burning pain that absence brings with itself. I was desperately alone, angry and sad, so I used the instruments my Mamma gave to me: love, hope, food – repeat.
Food not intended as a compensatory way to fill that never-ending hole of pain, but as a way to recall all those beautiful moments we shared together around a table, to celebrate every single goal, or achievement or good news, with Mamma screaming from the kitchen: “A tavola!“
I lost not only her but also all our family recipes.
So, I decided to set up a food blog. A safe place where I can share my life and recipes, a space where I can reach everyone out there and tell them “it’s ok, it’s painful, it’s hard, but it will get better”.
I want to be a voice to support women through food by sharing my story (that is similar to millions out there) and to build a community of people, the kind ones. To encourage each other to overcome our fears and to be strong together, in the kitchen, with a wooden spoon in one hand (sometimes between teeth).
Your book (2015 ed) has always been with me, you encouraged me, you supported me with that book. And you keep doing it with your blog.
I can’t wait to read the new one and I hope you will come to Washington Dc to present it.
Wishing you all the best.
Grazie
Dani
Dianne, the outpouring of comments here speaks to how much you’ve influenced the world of food writing. Cooking and eating, remembering and writing, working smart and making a living, love and integrity – you have been instrumental in melding these for so many people. Add my own gratitude to this wellspring of appreciation.
(Also, tbh, I’m kinda curious about some of those editor stories….)
I’ve been thinking of starting my own food blog, for quite a while now. Perhaps your book will give me the inspiration I need! Congratulations on the new edition.
Diane
Congratulations on publishing your 4th edition of “Will Write fo Food”. I have read my 3rd edition from cover to cover almost twice.
I took it to the Chignon, France workshop with you and Jamie Schler for you to sign. You may remember getting a laugh over seeing that I had put a little sticky on practically every page. I think you photographed it. I am currently enrolled in your ‘jumpstart proposal” sessions so I am rereading some of the sections a 3rd time. Thank you.
Congratulations on the new edition! I can’t wait to get my hands on this one.
Wow! Looking forward to the new edition…I’m using the previous one to write my proposal, and have been thinking about possibly self-publishing instead.
Wow! Looking forward to the new edition…I’m using the previous one to write my proposal, and have been thinking about possibly self-publishing instead. So much great information!
Congratulations on the new book! I have #2 & #3 and both have been immensely helpful. Looking forward to the new edition.
Food + Words, count me in ! Looking forward to the new edition with anticipation. Would be honored have it as a resource on my shelves. Thank you!
Congrats, Dianne! I have the first edition…think it’s time to update to the most recent, now that I’m getting back into the field again.
Congrats Dianne! Can’t wait to get my hands on this one too!
My mother liked MFK Fisher, and I think about her writing regularly. I was glad to see you got an MFK Fisher award! Good luck with the new edition!
Always something new to learn! I have other editions!
Sounds awesome. Congrats on the new edition.
#4 can join my other highlighted versions. Such an awesome resource. I look forward to the updated content. Thanks for all you do. I read every word of your newsletters and your blog.
I am only discovering you and your work today, as I was looking up information for a food writing course I just started. It would be lovely to win a copy of your book, as it seems like the perfect manual for someone who is just discovering the food writing world. I went through some of your blog articles and they are so informative that I’ve immediately subscribed to your newsletter.