Dianne Jacob, Will Write For Food

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

Food Blogging

Love Italy? Enter My Book Giveaway: Eating Rome

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Author Elizabeth Minchilil has lived in Italy since age 12.

Ever since journalist Elizabeth Minchilli started a blog, Elizabeth Minchilli in Rome, in 2009, she’s been leading food tours, creating apps on where to eat in Italy, taking videos of chefs and cooks, and she rents out an apartment too. Minchilli has written six books, most recently Eating Rome: Living the Good Life in the Eternal City, a terrific part memoir, part guidebook and part cookbook.

I’m giving away a free copy of Eating Rome, Minchilli’s mouthwatering exploration of this ancient city. To enter this book giveaway, leave a comment below.

I interviewed Minchilli about her career, photography, and lifestyle:

Q. Your life in Rome seems so glamorous. You’re dining at fantastic restaurants, pressing olive oil and making pizza with masters. Is it really so stylish and all Sophia Loren?

A. Not Sophia Loren. I don’t think of it as glamour and style but [Read more…] about Love Italy? Enter My Book Giveaway: Eating Rome

“Blogger Blackmail” Surfaces as a Trend

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Macarons

What is “blogger blackmail?” One blogger demanded about $150 worth of macarons, marshmallows, and other goodies in exchange for a blog post.

How ironic. Last week I wrote a post defending hobby bloggers. This week the subject is “blogger blackmail!”

By now you may have heard about the Twitter thread called #bloggerblackmail. It chronicles, among other things, when food bloggers demand payment in kind for blog posts, including free meals at nice restaurants.

One story that came to a head began when a hobby blogger who writes London restaurant write-ups emailed a bakery and suggested she be “invited to review” their products in exchange for a blog post.

Here’s how things went downhill for the food blogger:

When she got to the bakery, workers offered her tea and [Read more…] about “Blogger Blackmail” Surfaces as a Trend

5 Reasons Not to Bash Food Bloggers

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5-Reasons-Not-to Bash-Food-BloggersLast week the New Yorker featured a snarky piece on food bloggers, called So You want to Write a Food Blog. Yes, it’s cute and clever, but wrong.

My main gripe is that the writer — Julia Edelman, a comedy writer and filmmaker, according to LinkedIn –has reduced all food bloggers to goofy incompetents. That’s not right, or fair.

The piece made me want to defend food bloggers, so here are my points:

1. Most food bloggers are hobbyists. Edelman doesn’t seem to [Read more…] about 5 Reasons Not to Bash Food Bloggers

14 Must-Read Links for Food Writers and Bloggers

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15 Must-Read Links for Food Bloggers and Writers

Me and interviewer Irvin Lin of EattheLove blog at Omnivore Books on Food in San Francisco, for the new release of Will Write for Food. (Photo by Owen Rubin)

Looking for good reads online? Want to drive more traffic to your blog, keep up with social media trends, cookbook trends, and food writing trends? Yeah, me too.

But who has time to find quality stuff? Fortunately, I do, and wonderful people [Read more…] about 14 Must-Read Links for Food Writers and Bloggers

How to Successfully Cold Call for Food Writing Jobs

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Cold-callingAs you saw in my post about the new edition of Will Write for Food, my new chapter focuses on how to make money as a food writer, which interests an increasing number of food bloggers. Food blogger Jaden Hair of Steamy Kitchen, a world-class negotiator, contributed tips.

She and her husband Scott launched a new mastermind program for food bloggers recently, helping those who want to grow their blogs into a business. They have the chops: Jaden’s food blog, Steamy Kitchen, has been profitable for over [Read more…] about How to Successfully Cold Call for Food Writing Jobs

How a Weekly Get-Together Grew Into a Powerful Support Group

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The Kitchn’s Emma Christensen finds it worthwhile to get out of her house for this group. (Photo by Danielle Tsi)

A guest post by Emma Christensen

I love working from home. My own schedule. My own space. Peace. Quiet. No one randomly stopping by my cubicle and interrupting my flow.

But even for a consummate introvert, the work-from-home gig can get lonely. This is why, shortly after moving to Northern California in 2011 and taking the plunge into full-time food writing, I found a few like-minded work-from-homers and forced myself to leave the house once a week.

How It Happened

It was like this: I met Cheryl Sternman Rule of 5 Second Rule in 2011, who introduced me to another South Bay resident, Danielle Tsi of Beyond The Plate. Then I met Sheri Codiana of Pork Cracklings at a press event and it turned out she lived a few blocks away. This felt like a [Read more…] about How a Weekly Get-Together Grew Into a Powerful Support Group

You Got a Free Cookbook! Now What?

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Package-in-the-mailPublishers send lots of cookbooks to food bloggers, hoping for publicity. If you choose to write about a book, they might supply images and recipes. If you’re not going to write about it, they might say: how about a shoutout on social media?

Do you owe them something in exchange for this free book? If so, what?

This is an area of confusion for many food bloggers. You want to be nice and do the right thing. But understand that, first of all, you owe them nothing.

Even if you requested a book, you are entitled to read it and decide not to [Read more…] about You Got a Free Cookbook! Now What?