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Nigella Lawson’s Strong Voice

November 24, 2015 by diannejacob 27 Comments

The cover of Nigella Lawson’s new cookbook, Simply Nigella: Feel Good Food

Cookbook author Nigella Lawson has that elusive strong voice writers covet, the one fans recognize anywhere.

I heard it when I went to hear her speak to promote her new book, Simply Nigella: Feel Good Food. She’s brilliant (an Oxford graduate in medieval studies), funny and intimate.

She wrote interviews and film reviews at first, eventually turning to food. “When I write about food I’m still very aware of [Read more…] about Nigella Lawson’s Strong Voice

What I Learned in My Year of Cookbook Promotion

November 17, 2015 by diannejacob 28 Comments

Yes really, Cathy Barrow ran around the US for a year to promote her cookbook, taking every opportunity. (Photo courtesy Allrecipes.com)

By Cathy Barrow

It was a year of saying “Yes” to every cookbook promotion opportunity.

In November 2014, my cookbook, Mrs. Wheelbarrow’s Practical Pantry, hit the shelves. My publicist planned nearly 50 events in the first four months after launch.

As enthusiastic as I was about those first crazy months, I wanted to give the book a full year of my attention. It took a year to write it, so shouldn’t it take a year to tell everyone about it?

After many long talks with my spouse about how to structure the year, I decided to limit travel to one week per month and appearances to two weekends a month. We committed resources and time (and airplane miles and hotel points) and leaned heavily on the kindness of friends.

Over the past year, there were more than 50 flights, not to mention so many hotel rooms, train trips, bus rides, and car trips. I criss-crossed the country twice, drove through a bit of the Midwest, appeared here and there in the South, dawdled in Seattle, dined and dished in the Bay Area, jammed in New England, and made pork barbecue with all the condiments across the state of Texas. I slept in guest rooms, on couches, in swanky [Read more…] about What I Learned in My Year of Cookbook Promotion

What Will Top Food Bloggers Focus On Next Year?

November 10, 2015 by diannejacob 1 Comment

The folks at Food Blogger Pro wondered what top food bloggers will focus on in the coming year, so they asked.

A free e-book for food bloggers

Now you can read these food bloggers’ Number 1 priority answers in this free downloadable ebook. You’ll see that many want to focus on quality content. (Answers like that always bring out the smart ass in me, as in “Wait, you’ve been creating [Read more…] about What Will Top Food Bloggers Focus On Next Year?

Is Your Food Blog Good Enough for a Beard Award?

October 29, 2015 by diannejacob 19 Comments

A little birdie emailed last week to say she was upset about a change in the James Beard Foundation’s Food Blog awards, which combined two food blog awards into one this year.

To understand the shift, here are the old categories from 2015:

Individual Food Blog: Recognizes individual enterprise and excellence in a single food-or drink-related blog that is the product of one or two primary voices. An entry consists of five links that best represent the quality of the work.

Group Food Blog: Recognizes group enterprise and excellence in an episodic, real-time food-or drink-related blog [Read more…] about Is Your Food Blog Good Enough for a Beard Award?

Niche Food Blogger Attracts 1 Million+ Fans on Facebook

October 27, 2015 by diannejacob 20 Comments

Yvonne Maffei of My Halal Kitchen attracts halal cooks through her Facebook page to her blog.

Do you have a niche food blog that targets certain readers, such as bakers, paleo eaters or local restaurant-goers? The challenge is how to find the right readers and fans, or how they discover you.

Halal food expert Yvonne Maffei knows who her readers are and how to attract them. She has over 1.1 million likes on Facebook. Establishing her blog, MyHalalKitchen.com, has led to brand ambassadorships and sponsorships from many companies in the halal industry.

We met when I spoke in her home town of Chicago years ago, and more recently I coached her on a cookbook proposal. Her forthcoming cookbook, My Halal Kitchen, comes out in 2016.

Yvonne has been featured in The New York Times, Cooking Light, CNN’s Eatocracy, [Read more…] about Niche Food Blogger Attracts 1 Million+ Fans on Facebook

Do You Know Your Career Path as a Writer? I Didn’t

October 20, 2015 by diannejacob 10 Comments

Here’s a nice looking path. Are you on it?

My current career path took off with a phone call.

It was 2004, after I taught a food writing workshop at Book Passage in Corte Madera, CA. A student called to say she met my workshop supervisor at a party and had a conversation that went like this:

“I really enjoyed Dianne’s class on food writing,”she told my supervisor.

“Dianne does a great job,” answered the supervisor. “I wish she had a book, though, to improve her credibility.”

I can’t remember the name of this student, but I thank her often. That phone call changed [Read more…] about Do You Know Your Career Path as a Writer? I Didn’t

Snaps from Our Turkey Food Photography and Writing Workshop

October 13, 2015 by diannejacob 19 Comments

Alacati writing and photography workshop, October 4-8, 2015

Lunch after a cooking class. Shooting people and food was a prime focus of our workshop. Instructor Dave Hagerman took this shot. He’s a great fan of overhead shots and hands.

What fun it is to make new friends, amp up photo skills, take a cooking class and eat way too much Turkish food. That’s what I did at a food photography and writing workshop in the cobbled Aegean town of Alacati (pronounced Ala-CHAT-ee), in Western Turkey near Izmir. Food photographer Dave Hagerman led the photo instruction. Food and travel writer Robyn Eckhardt organized [Read more…] about Snaps from Our Turkey Food Photography and Writing Workshop