Dianne Jacob, Will Write For Food

Useful Tips, Interviews, and Stories to Inspire Food Writers and Bloggers

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Want to Write a Cookbook? Top Editors Reveal Best Subjects and Formats

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This past weekend two cookbook editors from Chronicle and Ten Speed told an audience at Book Passage bookstore in Corte Madera, CA what they’re looking for in a cookbook. I thought you might like to know.

One of Chronicle Book’s biggest sellers.

Let’s start with Amy Treadwell, an editor at Chronicle Books. She’d love to find another book that will do as well as Cupcakes! by Elinor Klivans, which has sold more than 100,000 copies. That book led to more cupcake-based products: the Cupcake Kit and Cupcakes Deluxe Notecards.

Treadwell said she’s looking for three things:

  1. Cookbooks that tell a story, versus just a collection of recipes. She gave the upcoming The Commonsense Kitchen: 500 Recipes Plus Lessons for a Hand-Crafted Life as an example. It’s based on a college that teaches men to cook.
  2. Targeted single subject books, such as the one on Whoopie Pies she co-wrote in six months to capitalize on a trend.
  3. Blog-to-books such as the upcoming [Read more…] about Want to Write a Cookbook? Top Editors Reveal Best Subjects and Formats

Why to Buy Your Next Book at an Indie Bookstore

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Signing books at a Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books in San Francisco, no longer in business.

Do you still have an independent bookstore near you? According to a recent article in the New York Times, only 2000 independent bookstores are left in the US. According to an article in the New Yorker, independents now only sell 10 percent of all purchased books.

I’m helping with the demise, in my own electronic way. I have Amazon links in my text, there’s a “Currently Reading” Amazon link on the lower right. At least I’ve got the Indie link (independent bookstores) under my books.

As e-books become more popular and as the Internet makes it so easy for us to stay home and order online, we authors and potential authors still need independent bookstores for at least three reasons:

1. We still love a pleasurable place to browse real books, particularly the new photo-heavy [Read more…] about Why to Buy Your Next Book at an Indie Bookstore

BlogHer 10 in New York: A Sea of Estrogen

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Closing keynote in the Hilton's Grand Ballroom.

Imagine 2400 excited female bloggers, half of whom have never been to a conference before, not to mention New York. Many were away from their kids and husbands for the first time.

They were there to learn, to party, to get swag, and to talk. Sometimes it seemed like they were all talking at the same time. That was sold-out BlogHer ’10: Noisy and thrilling. Think high estrogen count.

According to the founders giving the keynote, there are now 67.5 million women who blog. It felt like ALL of them were at the conference.

Last Friday and Saturday, BlogHer featured two days of sessions on 7 tracks, including the writing lab, geek lab, and the job lab (since we’re still in a recession). My favorite was on humor writing, moderated by Awesomely Luvvie. It featured the co-creator of the Jon Stewart show, Lizz Winstead, and comedian Jessica Bern. These women write and speak on the foolishness of everyday life, and spent a lot of time encouraging the women in the room to have confidence.

Lizz Winstead, co-creator of the Jon Stewart Show

“Curiosity is our greatest asset,” said Winstead, who researches her topics like a madwoman. (Click on her name above to see her rant on Phyllis Schlafly.) “Hone your voice and write about what you care about. Be articulate, creative and smart and people will find you.” She also said “Don’t write about stuff you don’t know about.” Good advice.

Winstead encouraged writers to take a position, comparing it to driving down the middle of the road. “A car in the middle of the road causes accidents. Pick the left or the right. If you don’t you’ll need my self-help book called ‘F**k You,'” she concluded. Keep in mind that someone will always be offended by your position, she said, because “even asserting a point of view will offend.”

So now that you’ve read that, I’m going to take a position. I have never spoken with so many people who [Read more…] about BlogHer 10 in New York: A Sea of Estrogen

Book Giveaway: Will Write for Food

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It took a friend, Stephanie Stiavetti of The Culinary Life, to suggest I give away a copy of my own book, signed of course, and only after her giveaway of Will Write for Food ended on August 3.

How could I not come up with an idea this obvious? It mystifies me. Fortunately, I’ve got a brand new copy, possibly with your name on it. I’ll sign it using my special black Sharpie marker, saved for all book signing occasions.

If you haven’t read about the new edition of Will Write for Food yet, here’s my announcement post and a book review on Epicurious.com. I’ve also posted on the cover selection process and provided an excerpt about the reporting style of Kim Serverson of the New York Times.

The main thing about the second edition is that it’s enormous, around 100,000 words, and covers food blogging in addition to updated details on freelance writing, memoir, cookbooks, recipe writing, and even fiction. It’s aimed at people who want to get started as well as for established writers who want to brush up on their  skills or learn some new ones. I’ve written a huge new chapter on food blogging and expanded the self-publishing section to cover the latest advancements. There are new interviews, new resources, new insights, even new exercises to jumpstart your writing process.

Here’s what you need to do to enter. Because I’m still in the media blitz part of my book launch, I’d really appreciate your help. Please tweet about this giveaway (I stole this idea from Stephanie) by cutting and pasting the following as it appears:

Interested in food writing? Win a signed copy of @diannej’s Will Write for Food.  http://bit.ly/c2hEYl

Then leave a comment below to tell me you’ve done so. The comment will serve as your entry. Also tell me what specifically interests you about food writing. I’m always interested to know.

Please enter by midnight PST on August 16, 2010. I’ll pick a winner at random. In appreciation of my readers outside the US and Canada, this giveaway is open to everyone.

Update: Thank you so much to everyone who entered and tweeted. I used Random.org to select a winner, and number 10 came up. Congrats to Gail Dosik of One Tough Cookie!

How Blogging Got My Book Reviewed on Epicurious

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All right lissen up, you food writers who are not bloggers. I’m about to tell you how having my a blog got the new edition of Will Write for Food reviewed on Epicurious.com,  a massively popular website, then tweeted to around 50,000 people.

No, it didn’t go like this: I wrote a new book, the publisher sent it to Epicurious as part of its regular mailing, and someone at Epicurious decided to review it. Life would be easier that way, but also duller.

Let’s back up a little so I can tell you how it happened and how this affects you (always the critical part of any story).

First, I started this blog. Then I joined a Google Group called BayArea Food Bloggers, which sends an email around with messages (if you’re local and want to subscribe, see this). Fast forward to July, when an email from a local blogger appeared on the listserv and began this way:

    “Epicurious at the Ferry Building July 20th, Stop by and say hi to editor Tanya Steel!
    Hi Everyone, Christina here from Farm and a Frying Pan. For my day job, I am the PR Manager at Epicurious, and next week kicks off our summer Farmers Market Tour with our first stop at the Ferry Building Farmers market on the 20th…”

A chance to meet the editor-in-chief of Epicurious! I was all over that, even though I didn’t have a food blog and I wasn’t going to interview her about produce and healthy eating. But I had a writing blog, so I had a place to publish our interview. After the interview I asked for Tanya Steel’s card, something that takes nerve but I did it anyway.

Knowing she would never see the post unless I told her about it, I sent an email to Steel, providing the link. (Do you always do this, if you have a blog?) Days later, a response said, simply: “Thanks so much. Great to meet you.” Just remember that she is exceedingly busy and, because she’s a Brit, exceedingly good mannered.

In my email reply to her, I mentioned that I asked my publisher to send her a copy of my new book. I figured it couldn’t hurt, since Epicurious probably receives dozens of new books every week. I didn’t want mine to be lost in the shuffle.

And a few days later, this positive review appeared on Epicurious’s daily Epi-Log. It began with a link to my website and then said my book “should be mandatory reading for everyone who aspires to be a food writer.” After that came an Epicurious tweet to around 50,000 followers, with a link to the review. That’s gold, baby!

Now, why am I telling you all this, and what does it mean for you? A few things:

1. If you are a traditional print author with a new book, you need a blog to take part in opportunities like this.

2. If you are not on Twitter, get with it. Right now. You never know who will pass on your tweets to their readers, potentially building your base of followers.

3. My launch has been so much more successful than the first edition, five years ago, because of my blog and the opportunities it provides for exposure. You never know who’s reading you and who will pass you on to their blog and website readers either. Eater.com, The Food Section, and Publishers Weekly’s  Cooking the Books, for example, have picked up recent posts. I got on Martha Stewart Radio last Monday because the person who contacted me said she “heard it was out.” Since I made the announcement on my blog and on Twitter, that’s how she found out. To top it off, the home page of Martha Stewart Radio is selling my book. And blogger Stephanie Stiavetti has already done a giveaway on Wasabimon.

So that’s my testament to using social media for a book launch. If you have any other tips, would love to hear them.

The Whole Enchilada on Blog Revenue

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Back in April I put my first ad on the site. It’s over on the right, a network of revolving ads from BlogHer. Now that I’ve brought it up, you’re wondering whether I’ve made any money, and whether it was worth it.

To the first question, yes, a check finally arrived recently. But it was only enough to cover a Mexican dinner for two. I was disappointed, but I don’t hold it against BlogHer. The model for online advertising stinks compared to print.

Let me explain. In the past I was the executive editor of an international magazine. I felt proud when I realized recently that its annual readership was once the same as the number of annual unique page views on my site. To buy an ad in the magazine cost hundreds to thousands of dollars for just one issue, however. Here on my website, it costs pennies to reach the same number of eyeballs.

At the magazine, the money from advertising supported a staff of around 20 people. Here, I can get a few enchiladas.

Still, it’s been a good experiment, despite ads for Coffeemate and Crystal Light (not classified as junk food, which I banned.) My relationship with BlogHer has grown. I got paid to syndicate a post on recipe writing on the BlogHer website. Last week BlogHer’s syndication deal with [Read more…] about The Whole Enchilada on Blog Revenue

Food Writer Kim Severson Moves to Hard News

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As she announced on Twitter: “Look, I’ll still be writing about food. I’m just adding murder, natural disasters and politics to the mix.”

Food reporter Kim Severson is leaving her current job  at the New York Times, taking over the New York Times’ Atlanta bureau.

Why is she going? Maybe it’s for the food. In her memoir, Spoon Fed: How Eight Cooks Saved My Life, there’s a chapter on meeting the late, great food writer Edna Lewis. Says Severson, “I didn’t know how much I didn’t know about Southern cooking until I started reading what Miss Lewis had written. Soon it spoke to me in a way that is second only to the food of Italy.”

Or maybe she missed news reporting. Her passion for getting the story was clear when I interviewed her about a typical day as a full-time food reporter for the Times. Here’s an excerpt from the new edition of Will Write for Food:

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A NEWSPAPER REPORTER

How does a food reporter at a daily paper cover her beat?

“I wake up at 6:30 a.m. and immediately hit the email to see what’s come in overnight. I subscribe to several RSS feeds and listservs. The USDA might have a package of news releases, and there are emails from grocery manufacturers associations and restaurant associations. A host of food institutions might have a valuable story idea. I can see how something’s trending, like the [Read more…] about Food Writer Kim Severson Moves to Hard News