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Dianne Jacob, Will Write For Food

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

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Book Proposals that Don’t Deliver

July 12, 2009 by diannejacob

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Traca Savadogo of Seattle Tall Poppy sent me a Wall St. Journal story about business plans that don’t deliver, and wondered if I saw parallels to book proposals. Indeed I did.images-1

Here is the newspaper’s top 5 points of flawed business plans. They translate well to the same reasons book proposals end up in the trash:
1. Writers are smitten with the elegance of their technology. The corollary is  writers who are so in love with the subject of their book they don’t bother to explain why it needs to be published in the first place, and who would care
2. The writer isn’t sure what the initial target market is. Even worse  are book proposals writers who say “everyone” will buy the book. “Everyone” is not a market. It’s better to have a smaller, identifiable market than a vague large one.
3. The numbers look good on paper. Book proposals don’t contain numbers. But they do need to be believable. Agents and editors can see right through hype, such as saying the book is destined to become an immediate bestseller.
4. The team doesn’t have hands-on experience. The author lacks sufficient qualifications to write on the subject of the book.
5. The writer can’t find anything but good things to say about the opportunity, instead of acknowledging some weaknesses. It’s best to address any fears or doubts that might come up in the mind of the reader, instead of leaving him or her to wonder.

I’ll take a realistic and specific proposal every time that’s easy on the hype, and one that answers and slays any concerns that come up.

Filed Under: Cookbooks, Proposals Tagged With: book proposals, Wall St. Journal

LA Times Says Citizen Reviewers are Food Bloggers Too

July 12, 2009 by diannejacob

imagesI might be in trouble. A friend warned me not to rant on this blog, and I agreed. Now I feel a rant coming on and I can’t stop myself. But just humor me. Wouldn’t this irritate you, if you were a food blogger?

According to the Los Angeles Times, the people who post restaurant reviews on Yelp and Chowhound are food bloggers. So they say in today’s story, about a nasty, unfounded, anonymous tip that appeared on the blog Eater LA, and how “food bloggers” must be held accountable.

The blog on which the offensive item appeared, LA Eater, covers the city’s restaurant, bar, and nightlife scene and relies on tips. There’s even a button on the right that says “Submit a tip.” So back on June 30, some tipster talked smack about the quality of food in a particular restaurant. The editor who reviewed the email should have pressed the Delete key. At the very least, she could have contacted the restaurant for a rebuttal. Instead, she just posted the tip. That’s not blogging, and it’s certainly not journalism. It’s just crap. An apology to the restaurant and readers now appears below the post.

Now, according to the Times, food bloggers need to smarten up. “…As the truism goes,” says the story, ” with great power comes great responsibility. If the Internet has helped democratize discussion and critique, requiring traditional print publications to be more transparent and responsive, then bloggers who comment on or work in opposition to the mainstream media have become its de facto watchmen. What, if any, standards should food bloggers be held to?”

Um, hello? Who are they talking about? First, most food bloggers don’t “work in opposition to the mainstream media.” They provide an alternative. Second, most food bloggers couldn’t care less about commenting on the mainstream media. And third, since when is an anonymous tipster a food blogger?

So food bloggers, I want to hear from you. Are you in the same category as citizen reviewers on websites like Yelp and Chowhound? If not, what is the difference?

Filed Under: Food Blogging, Restaurant Reviewing Tagged With: chowhound, Eater, food blogs, Restaurant Reviewing

What Makes a Book Good Enough to Win Awards?

July 4, 2009 by diannejacob

While reading Garret McCord’s post on writing a book review, I thought about the criteria I apply while judging a book for the James Beard awards or for the International Association of Culinary Professional’s (IACP’s) annual cookbook awards. I’ve judged books for years, and the  system between these two groups is  different.

james-beard-awardJames Beard is a little more fluid than IACP.  The committee sometimes creates new categories if necessary. One year a photo book was the overall winner. Judges look at the publication as a whole, including the graphic and typographical presentation, the research, the writing style, and the reliability, but there aren’t a ton of guidelines.

I emailed Kathleen Purvis, head of the Charlotte Observer’s food section, who handles the awards, and asked her what constitutes the most important criteria. She hesitated to say. “You should write the best book you can, not the one you think will please judges,” she suggested I advise. “In my years of working with books,” she continued, ” the books that come from the heart, the ones where you can tell the writer has something he or she really, really wants to share, are the ones that always stand out. Passion shows. Look at a Julia or a James Beard or a Laurie Colwin or a Richard Saxe and that’s what stands out every time: One person’s voice, one person’s mission to share something.”

Now that’s good news, because it’s the nature of blogging: your thoughts on a subject that obsesses and delights you.

imgresIACP, on the other hand, uses written guidelines to help judges decide. I looked up the criteria from the last time I judged, a few years ago. It might have changed, but here’s what I have for writing cookbooks: Is the choice of subject meaningful? Is the perspective or point of view noteworthy, original or distinctive? Is the research thorough and accurate? Is the information presented in a way that is easy to follow? Is the writing clear and direct? Is the writing voice distinctive? Are the ingredients listed in the order in which they are used? Does the recipe tell you everything you need to know to make the recipe successfully? Are there hints about timing, variations, do-ahead steps or substitutions? If there are headnotes and tips, do they enhance the recipes? Does the book speak meaningfully to its intended audience? Does the book deliver what it promises?

There’s another section on judging design, which authors don’t control. Then overall: Consider the quality of the book in comparison to other books of its type. Does it accomplish its goals? Does it have major flaws? Would you buy the book for your own library or recommend it to friends? Does it make a major contribution to the subject?

Now of course you’re not going to write a book simply to win an award, because that’s not a sustainable proposition. Writing a book is too hard. But the next time you come up with an idea, apply this criteria and see if it stands up. For more on what constitutes a good idea for a book, see this piece on my website.

Filed Under: Awards, Cookbooks Tagged With: book awards, cookbooks, IACP, James Beard

Food and Wine Writing on a Smart Phone

June 29, 2009 by diannejacob

A woman scans the wine aisle at a grocery store, overwhelmed by the selection. She’s looking for a  wine to go with the  chicken her husband will grill for friends this weekend. Then she remembers: she has the information at her fingertips. She whips out her smart phone (an iPhone, iPod Touch or BlackBerry in this case) and finds the exact recommendations: for red wine, Bonarda; for white, dry Zinfandel or Chenin Blanc.

Natalie Maclean made $2.99 when this target reader bought her smart phone application, the Mobile Drinks Matcher.

“The two trends that are exploding in popularity now: interest in food and wine, and the convenience of mobile apps,” says Natalie. “ As a wine-loving geek, I love finding ways for new technology to help us savor all of life’s pleasures, wherever we are.”

How many more target readers will spend $2.99 for this repurposed content? Natalie made a big investment (she won’t say how much) and hopes to find out. After spending eight years developing a searchable database of food and wine pairings for her website, the multiple award-winning writer spent three months with a software developer, creating a database of  380,000 mobile wine and food pairing applications for her Mobile Drinks Matcher. While anyone can look up the information on her website, she wanted a remote application for  liquor stores and restaurants.

Here’s what’s different from people searching her website from their computers and finding the exact same information: She gets paid. Isn’t that nice? Unusual, even.

Of course she has to recover her investment of several thousand dollars at least. It’s going to take a lot of $2.99 purchases. But the trend is increasing. People look up info while on the go.

What food writing do you own that might be repurposed this way?

Update: Hey, I scooped the New York Times. On Agust 3, Gadgetwise reviewed three more apps.

Filed Under: Writing, Writing Apps Tagged With: food writing, smart phones, wine writing

Food Blog Alliance to the Rescue

June 25, 2009 by diannejacob

Ever have the feeling you’re supposed to be an expert on food blogging before you’ve even begun? Elise Bauer of Simply Recipes can help. A mega-successful blogger, she started the Food Blog Alliance as a professional association for food bloggers.

“Many of us are trying to improve our blogs, to better serve our readers, to make the experience of blogging more fruitful and enjoyable, and to build our readership,” she writes.  “My view is that the more we can share what we are each learning with each other, the better all of our blogs will become.”

You’ll find tips to improve your food writing, including a post from Amy Sherman of Cooking with Amy about adjectives, plus expert technical advice in friendly language about such things as Search Engine Optimization and tools and maintenance. I know I’m going to be all over this site in the coming few weeks.

I admire the sense of community and giving spirit on the site. It’s what I love about the food blogging world. Many food bloggers have been generous to me.  I have to say, it’s a little different from print. Maybe it’s because the print world is shrinking, whereas this one is expanding?

Filed Under: Food Blogging Tagged With: Food Blog Alliance, food writing

Welcome to Will Write for Food

June 19, 2009 by diannejacob 10 Comments

Hello food writers,

I’m hoping to create a useful place to read and comment on the world of food writing, whether a blog, feature article, review or tweet (In case you didn’t know, people are writing 140 character recipes now,  and the New York Times calls it the “first great recipe innovation in 200 years”).

Soon you’ll find links to lots of articles and sites on food writing. One of my favorites is the UK Guardian’s Top 50 food blogs list. They’ve also profiled some of the bloggers in  accompanying stories.

In the Blogroll you’ll find blogs and websites of some of the best food writers, including friends, students, and  clients.

Maybe you have a favorite topic you’d like to discuss. If so, please leave a comment below and let’s get’er done, as Larry the Cable Guy would say.

Filed Under: Personal Stuff Tagged With: food blogs, food writing, Recipe Writing

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