Blog

5 Tips for a National Cookbook Tour on a Budget

September 25, 2018 by diannejacob 4 Comments

While writing my first cookbook, Vegetarian Việt Nam, people kept asking about my plans for a national cookbook tour. Fellow authors would tell me that “unless you’re a big name author, your publisher will not provide any financial support.” My family and friends assumed, on the other hand, that I’d have unlimited resources at my disposal.

More than six months before my book’s release date, I learned how costly and logistically challenging a national cookbook tour can be. But through [Read more…] about 5 Tips for a National Cookbook Tour on a Budget

Favorite Personal Essays and Why They’re So Good

September 18, 2018 by diannejacob 5 Comments

Image for post about favorite essays

Personal essays — ostensively about food — tug at your heart by bringing up emotions. No matter if you’re writing about Chinese food, your trip to Bolivia or [Read more…] about Favorite Personal Essays and Why They’re So Good

Book Giveaway: The Cake Therapist, a Food-based Novel

September 11, 2018 by diannejacob 63 Comments

A Guest Post by Judith Fertig

Writing a food-based novel was a great way to refresh my career when I’d written about food in many other ways. For me, it has been a logical as well as a re-energizing next step, long in the making.

Although I still write cookbooks and freelance articles, I carve out time for fiction because it revives and refuels me in a way that nonfiction doesn’t. When I’m writing non-fiction, the meter is running. I pay attention to how much time I spend on [Read more…] about Book Giveaway: The Cake Therapist, a Food-based Novel

Please Write Personal Stories on Your Food Blog

September 4, 2018 by diannejacob 43 Comments

Image for personal stories post. Do you still write personal stories on your food blog? It seems like a subject of great anxiety to food bloggers these days.

When I taught a writing class earlier this year, many food bloggers said they are afraid to write personal stories now. They’ve all read the long, drawn-out posts about cats, children and confessions about depression that end with [Read more…] about Please Write Personal Stories on Your Food Blog

Create Evergreen Content to Promote Your Book

August 28, 2018 by diannejacob 6 Comments

A guest post by Stephanie Weaver

When my book, The Migraine Relief Plan, came out, I created evergreen content to support it. That means I used the same content multiple times on several platforms.

Since like you, I only have so much time, I wanted [Read more…] about Create Evergreen Content to Promote Your Book

Yemisi Aribisala’s Fearless, Sensuous Food Memoir

August 21, 2018 by diannejacob 9 Comments

interview with Yemisi Aribisala When I suggested on Instagram and Twitter that you will love Yemisi Aribisala’s book, Longthroat Memoirs: Soups, Sex and Nigerian Taste Buds, to my surprise, the author herself answered me.

“I once wrote you a long long time ago,” she said. “I tried to find the email but couldn’t. I believe I sent you Fish Soups and Love Potions after reading and being inspired by the 2010 Will Write For Food. I still have it… and it is just amazing to be chatting with you via Twitter.”

I immediately asked to interview Aribisala, because I [Read more…] about Yemisi Aribisala’s Fearless, Sensuous Food Memoir