diannejacob

Work from Home Wisdom for Food Writers

March 31, 2020 by diannejacob 8 Comments

A guest post by Joy Manning

If you work from home due to the coronavirus, would you like to be more productive? Here’s help. I’ve been a work from home food writer, whether full or part-time, on staff or as a freelancer, for 10 years. If you are trying to get into the flow, here are my own best practices, routines, and mindsets that have served me well over the past decade.

Before I get to my daily routine for the week, I set up on Sunday. I make a new list of goals and tasks for the week. Then I schedule my workouts for the week on my Google calendar. Moving my body [Read more…] about Work from Home Wisdom for Food Writers

Why Food Bloggers Don’t Just “Stick to Recipes”

March 17, 2020 by diannejacob 17 Comments

By Vicky Cohen and Ruth Fox of MayIHaveThatRecipe.com

We get it. Many people who search for recipes online want food bloggers to stick to recipes. They don’t want a backstory, tips on how to make the dish — none of that “nonsense.”

We’ve all seen the tweets:

“Why does every recipe have to have a mini-essay preceding it? #justgivemetherecipe”

“If you blog an 8-page life story about a recipe that you have instead of getting straight to the point, then you deserve to be judo chopped in the neck and I will forever pray that a swarm of bees follow you around for the rest of your life. #justgivemetherecipe”

Apparently, no one has the time or patience to scroll for 30 seconds (unless they’re scrolling through their Facebook or Instagram feed), to find what they came for.

For food bloggers like us, it’s annoying. Sometimes it’s infuriating. Because [Read more…] about Why Food Bloggers Don’t Just “Stick to Recipes”

25 Irresistible Links for Food Writers and Bloggers

March 3, 2020 by diannejacob 2 Comments

image for post on irresistible links It’s hard to keep up with all the posts that speak to our lives as writers, bloggers, food lovers and cooks. There are so many irresistible links for food writers and bloggers. And not just fun posts but useful, inspiring pieces that make you think.

So I keep up for you. I scour social media, Facebook groups, newsletters and other media to find what interests me and I hope by extension, you. Usually I put them in [Read more…] about 25 Irresistible Links for Food Writers and Bloggers

Pitch It Until it Sells

February 18, 2020 by diannejacob 6 Comments

A guest post by Kristen Hartke

I’m always surprised when writers ask me for tips about being a “successful” freelance writer. That’s because, like most writers, I live in a world where rejection is the norm. I do, however, have my work published somewhat regularly. It could be due to [Read more…] about Pitch It Until it Sells

Build a Platform with a Self-Published Cookbook

February 4, 2020 by diannejacob 11 Comments

A guest post by Susie Norris

I sent off the proposal for my third cookbook with a hopeful heart. I had a good agent, a new IACP Digital Media Award for FoodMarketGypsy.com, my culinary travel blog, and thousands of Twitter followers. Creating a self-published cookbook was not on my mind.

But the news was bad: traditional publishers now found my platform too modest. After a lifetime of baking and teaching the classics, I knew I had [Read more…] about Build a Platform with a Self-Published Cookbook

How SEO Rules for Food Blogs Can Make Them Less Effective

January 21, 2020 by diannejacob 61 Comments

Image for post on SEO rules I’ve been thinking about the growing power of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) experts and their advice. Hiring them has been a powerful way for food bloggers to learn the SEO rules for food blogs and increase their readership.

I’m all for that. I try for good SEO in my posts as well.

But do the changes these experts advise also [Read more…] about How SEO Rules for Food Blogs Can Make Them Less Effective

I was Burned Out on Food Blogging. Then I Started a Fashion Project

January 7, 2020 by diannejacob 11 Comments

Lead image for post on food blogger who became fashion influencer. A guest post by Maggie Zhu

I started Omnivore’s Cookbook in 2013 as a hobby. It turned it into a full-time job in 2016. After that, I started to feel burned out on food blogging. It took longer and longer to recover. Being alone in the kitchen made me lonely. The need to produce uniform, predictable content to please my readers made me unhappy.

Now the blog is about modern Chinese cooking and Asian-inspired fusion recipes. But it didn’t start that way. My first blog post was for Tuna Pasta with Arrabiata Sauce. My early recipes included random dishes ranging from poorly-conceived fusion to Taco Bell copycats.

Burned out on Food Blogging

One year into blogging, a reader told me he was only interested in my Chinese recipes. He said he’d go to Food Network if he wanted to learn how to make pasta. Soon I focused on Chinese recipes. My blog finally started to grow when I narrowed my scope to that niche. But the problem was (and is) that I love food from many cultures. And the fact that I’m constrained to just Chinese cooking made me burned out on food blogging. [Read more…] about I was Burned Out on Food Blogging. Then I Started a Fashion Project