Dianne Jacob, Will Write For Food
Useful Tips, Interviews, and Stories to Inspire Food Writers and Bloggers
Food writing comes alive at our third annual Food and Wine Writing Workshop in Verona, Italy this summer.
My co-host and I hold this event at one of the most beautiful private villas in Italy. Our location is in the countryside outside Verona, a 15-minute drive from town.
Expect a full week of writing, feedback, and instruction. But that’s not all. You can learn and write while [Read more…] about Join Us at Our July Food and Wine Writing Workshop in Italy!
If you wonder how to find an agent for your next book, you might want this book! It provides up-to-date information about 125 powerful agents, including those who represent cookbooks, memoir, how-to, and travel books.
Now in its 28th edition, Herman’s Guide to Publishers, Editors & Literary Agents includes insider details about agents and editors too, explaining how they work and differentiating between the Big 5 publishers and independent publishers.
Jeff Herman’s literary agency has ushered nearly 1000 books into print. Jeff graciously agreed to an interview to answer some common questions I get from potential authors. If you’d like to win a copy of his book, leave a comment below.
Update: I chose a winner using Random.org. Thanks to everyone who entered.
A. I find a lack of knowledge about the crucial role agents play. Traditional publishers don’t have time or energy to screen unsolicited submissions, which are non-flatteringly referred to as “slush.” This is understandable. An editor might have to crunch [Read more…] about Giveaway: Jeff Herman’s Guide to Publishers, Editors & Literary Agents
In a 2018 blog post, I interviewed Steve Hoffman, a tax preparer and food writer, about tax issues, freelancing, and how the new tax law might affect people in our industry. Of most concern was whether we food writers could still write off business meals.
First there was bad news, but now there’s good news. Steve said he didn’t think the IRS would let us write off business meals anymore. But later in the year, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) clarified the new law, to our advantage.
Here’s how Steve puts it: “The new tax law eliminated any deductions for entertainment, which most tax preparers originally interpreted to mean both meals and entertainment. Under the prior law, sole proprietors and small businesses could [Read more…] about Update: Yes, You Can Still Write Off Business Meals
One of the things food writers struggle with most is how to promote recipes in a way that sounds authentic and not too braggy. You know your recipe is “the best,” but you can’t keep saying that for every one you write.
So what can you do to improve your blog posts, recipe headnotes, and social media blurbs? First, I went back to my most visited post: 100 Verbs for Recipes, from Julia Child. Who else could I research, I wondered, who would [Read more…] about Smitten Kitchen Shows You 100 Ways to Promote Recipes
A guest post by Sarah Burchard
Barbecue sauce turned me into a writer. After 12 years of working in restaurant kitchens, I entered the world of entrepreneurship, launching a line of barbecue sauces and spice blends with a partner. At the same time, I started writing about food on the side with my blog about barbecue, taking notes wherever I went.
After seven fruitful years, I closed up shop and headed to Hawaii to pursue new dreams. While building a new career here and working on it full-time, I’m still [Read more…] about 5 Ways To Boost Productivity When Writing About Food on the Side
Bonjour! It’s your jetlagged friend, just back from France, where I was teaching in Chinon with Jamie Schler and vacationing with my husband in Paris.
Both of us have written essays for years (and blog posts, which, by default, are personal essays). Usually I stick to food writing basics like [Read more…] about Teaching Food Memoir in France
A guest post by Jennifer Kurdyia
Every editor is different, but as a cookbook editor for The Experiment Publishing, I’ve read enough proposals and cookbook drafts to have developed a few editor pet peeves. I know where the most common shortcomings among my writers lie.
Avoiding them requires a simple but challenging mindset that most first-time writers wouldn’t ever consider: You are teaching people how to cook. Pretend they know nothing about cooking, let alone have made your recipes as many times as you have. As soon as you accept that, your editor will open your email not with butterflies in her stomach, but with a grumble, hungering for what’s inside. [Read more…] about 5 Editor Pet Peeves About Cookbook Manuscripts