Dianne Jacob, Will Write For Food
Useful Tips, Interviews, and Stories to Inspire Food Writers and Bloggers
Is this how you think of your target reader?
Some food writers tell me indignantly, “I’m not dumbing down a recipe!” They think it’s insulting to to simplify their three-layer cake recipe or a lasagna with 20 steps.
They think their readers should want to cook exactly the way they do.
Your readers are not you. They don’t have your skills. They don’t cook as much. They don’t want to [Read more…] about Please Don’t “Dumb Down” a Recipe
No, this isn’t Suzanne. But she’s probably pulling her hair right now, if she’s copy editing a cookbook.
A guest post by Suzanne Fass
Cookbook writers may hate me at first if they think that—once they’ve turned in their manuscript to a publisher—they’re done. I make them do more work. I want every cookbook to be the best it can be, the most useful for anyone cooking—and learning—from it.
As a copy editor, I try to save writers from embarrassment. I correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar. I fact-check. I query missing ingredients, missing steps, cross-references to recipes, and anything else that looks weird to me.
How many subrecipes does it take to make this Buffalo Chicken Pizza from The United States of Pizza? Two. You have to make the dough and the sauce, and then put it all together. (Photo by Jeff Kauck.)
When I read this line, I felt a shudder of recognition: “How many times have I begun working through a recipe only to realize halfway through that I needed to have started yesterday? F*ck2 that!”
You’re probably nodding. This writer hates not being warned about steps to take in advance. He probably also dislikes [Read more…] about A Revolutionary Way to Handle Subrecipes
Humorist Betty Teller, an accomplished cook, at a cooking party.
A guest essay by Betty Teller
It’s not my fault, not really. I will admit that I procrastinated to the last possible day. But I do that every week. I always put off writing, in the hope that I’ll have an adventure, or inspiration will otherwise strike, so I don’t have to write about raking the yard yet again.
But I woke up early this morning with every intention of jumping right in. I’d cleared my calendar in preparation. I had only one small item on the agenda before I could sit down at my computer.
I had to go buy a few ingredients for the moussaka I was making for the cookbook club dinner tonight. And then I needed to cook [Read more…] about Making a Chef’s Recipe? Don’t Cook Alone!
As the food director at Real Simple magazine, responsible for all recipes, Sarah Copeland has lots of opinions — and experience — about [Read more…] about Writing a High-Quality Recipe is Like a Report, says Real Simple Editor
Aviva Goldfarb writes recipes for busy moms and runs a successful newsletter and website for them. (Photo by Mary Gardella.)
Can someone who writes recipes create a thriving recipe business? Yes.
Aviva Goldfarb founded the The Six O’Clock Scramble in 2003, a menu planning service for busy moms. Now she’s a Today Show and Washington Post contributor, and author of several Six O’Clock Scramble cookbooks. She frequently appears on the The Katie Couric Show and in national publications including O magazine, Real Simple, Working Mother, and Prevention. The American Diabetes Association will publish her fourth cookbook in January, 2016 .
Q. What is a menu planning company?
A. I make busy mom’s lives easier by planning what they have for dinner and what they need to buy at the store. These moms aspire to cook more so I try to take all that stress out of the process and make it more turnkey for them. I give them a weekly menu of [Read more…] about Busy Mom Starts Online Recipe Business and It’s a Hit
Ten Speed editorial director Julie Bennett says readers want to learn more about the personality of cookbook authors through their lives, world, culture and food.
I’ve been bugging Julie Bennett, vice president and editorial director at Ten Speed Press, for an interview, ever since we met at a conference a year ago.
It’s because Ten Speed publishes so many terrific cookbooks. As the director of the editorial department, Julie manages nine editors who will put out approximately 70 books this year. She has worked at Ten Speed since 1999.
Julie edited New York Times best selling cookbooks Super Natural Every Day by Heidi Swanson and My Paris Kitchen by David Lebovitz, and A New Napa Cuisine by Christopher Kostow (IACP Cookbook of the Year), just to name a few.
Q. What are the latest trends in cookbook publishing?
A. Today cookbooks have more of a personal narrative element. The trend of blogger-to-book ties into it, and there are cookbook writers who have a lot to say.
There are so many recipes online, but books present readers with [Read more…] about Beautiful Cookbooks with Stories and Personality Sell Best, Says Editor