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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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After Food Blogging, Gluten-Free Girl’s Shauna Ahern says “Enough”

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Shauna Ahern gave up her blog, Gluten-Free Girl, in 2017. She made a good go of it for 12 years and her blog lives on online. Now, instead of food blogging, she works full-time as head writer at ChefsSteps. Her husband Danny stays home with her two kids, and everyone gets health insurance.

That was part of the decision to close the blog and get a job: Worrying about money. 

Her new book of essays is Enough: Notes From a Woman Who Has Finally Found It. She writes [Read more…] about After Food Blogging, Gluten-Free Girl’s Shauna Ahern says “Enough”

University Acquires Papers of Cookbook Author Nathalie Dupree

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image of Nathalie DupreeAre you a collector of food memorabililia and person of some consequence? Good. Maybe a university that aquires papers will be interested in your collection.

Nathalie Dupree, the esteemed author of 13 cookbooks and the host of more than 300 cooking shows for The Food Network, PBS and The Learning Channel, sold [Read more…] about University Acquires Papers of Cookbook Author Nathalie Dupree

Update: Yes, You Can Still Write Off Business Meals

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image of business meal.In a 2018 blog post, I interviewed Steve Hoffman, a tax preparer and food writer, about tax issues, freelancing, and how the new tax law might affect people in our industry. Of most concern was whether we food writers could still write off business meals.

First there was bad news, but now there’s good news.  Steve said he didn’t think the IRS would let us write off business meals anymore. But later in the year, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) clarified the new law, to our advantage.

Here’s how Steve puts it: “The new tax law eliminated any deductions for entertainment, which most tax preparers originally interpreted to mean both meals and entertainment. Under the prior law, sole proprietors and small businesses could [Read more…] about Update: Yes, You Can Still Write Off Business Meals

Deborah Madison is Done After 30 Years of Cookbooks

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image for Deborah Madison postMultiple-award winning author Deborah Madison is calling it quits on cookbooks, after 30 years, but she’s not done with writing. To the contrary, she’s working on a memoir.

She wrote 14 cookbooks during those three decades, which comes down to an average of just over one book every two years. It’s a grueling [Read more…] about Deborah Madison is Done After 30 Years of Cookbooks

Micro Influencers Can Get a Cookbook Deal Too, says Agent

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image for micro influencer postAre you a micro influencer? I am. I’ll never have huge numbers, but people do seem to trust me and I have decent engagement. That’s my definition, anyway.

But if you feel discouraged that you can’t get a book deal without a huge platform, here’s hope. Literary agent Sally Ekus says [Read more…] about Micro Influencers Can Get a Cookbook Deal Too, says Agent

5 Tasks Every Food Blogger Should Outsource to a VA

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Opening image for post on how to outsource for a VAA guest post by Maggie Zhu

If you are working nonstop and feeling overwhelmed, maybe it’s time to outsource to a VA or virtual assistant.

Doing so helps you focus on the most important work and grow your businesse. A VA is a member of your team, performing work remotely. Whether you’re hiring a programmer from India or a work-at-home mom in the US, you might be able to pay a reasonable or even low hourly rate, such as $5 to $10 per hour. [Read more…] about 5 Tasks Every Food Blogger Should Outsource to a VA