A guest post by Barbara Abdeni Massaad
When I decided to write and photograph my first book, Man’oushé: Inside the Street Corner Lebanese Bakery, I had no experience in writing books or taking professional food and location photos to document my journey. I come from a kitchen background. My cooking career started in the 1980s in a family-owned restaurant in Fort, Lauderdale, Florida, called Kebabs & Things.
Serving and cooking for customers was an important experience in my life. Years later, I would go on to train in restaurants in Beirut, Lebanon, where I moved a few years later. Now, I am the author of five cookbooks, many of which have won awards.
Accepting my award for Man’oushé, my first cookbook, from the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in 2015. I did both the writing and the photography.
Here are my insights on how to write award-winning cookbooks:
1. Don’t ever let anyone undermine your dreams.
The idea to write about food started with an obsession: living through a journey in Italy and learning about pizza-making. Upon deep reflection, I took a [Read more…] about How to Write Award-Winning Cookbooks
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A guest post by 
Hello and welcome to 2022 — year 13 of this blog. I thought I’d start the new year off by not talking about goals or intentions. Everyone else is doing it, so I’ll give you a break. Besides, I’d have to announce my own writing goals for the year if I expect you to follow suit, and I only have one nailed down. So I’m going to stop worrying about it.
What a thrill to have a new edition, updated with what’s most important to food writers and bloggers now. I wrote a new chapter on voice and how to strengthen it. There was lots more to say about publishing, especially self-publishing and how it has changed. I had to discuss social media too, which is a challenge for many of us.
