Dianne Jacob, Will Write For Food

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

freelance writing

Get More Assignments from Editors

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image for how to get more assignments from your editorA guest post by Anna Mindess

Over the last dozen years, I have received scores of assignments from editors of print magazines and online websites. I especially cherish those relationships that have spanned years and feel like collaborations.

When editors appreciate my work and trust me, my job gets easier. Instead of a formal pitch, editors will accept just a few lines for a story idea. Even nicer is when they come up with story ideas specifically for me.

It’s not difficult to build this kind of mutually respectful relationship. You will get more assignments. Here are a few suggestions:

1. Timeliness is next to godliness.

Turn in your stories on time or early. It seems obvious, but this is the number one thing that pleases or puts off an editor. One magazine I write for has deadlines etched in stone. The editor coordinates so much at [Read more…] about Get More Assignments from Editors

Pitch It Until it Sells

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image of mailbox for guest postA guest post by Kristen Hartke

I’m always surprised when writers ask me for tips about being a “successful” freelance writer. That’s because, like most writers, I live in a world where rejection is the norm. I do, however, have my work published somewhat regularly. It could be due to [Read more…] about Pitch It Until it Sells

5 Ways To Boost Productivity When Writing About Food on the Side

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A guest post by Sarah Burchard

Barbecue sauce turned me into a writer. After 12 years of working in restaurant kitchens, I entered the world of entrepreneurship, launching a line of barbecue sauces and spice blends with a partner. At the same time, I started writing about food on the side with my blog about barbecue, taking notes wherever I went.

After seven fruitful years, I closed up shop and headed to Hawaii to pursue new dreams. While building a new career here and working on it full-time, I’m still [Read more…] about 5 Ways To Boost Productivity When Writing About Food on the Side

5 Ways to Know When Your Writing is Done

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Image for how to know when your writing is done.How do you know when your writing is done or your blog post is finished? You could keep going over it endlessly, rewriting and wondering if you need to do more research or explaining. Or adding more keywords and spiffing up the SEO.

But if you do so, will it be finished then? Or maybe you’re not sure what constitutes “finished” in the first place.

As an editor, I know what it’s like to pull a piece away from a writer who [Read more…] about 5 Ways to Know When Your Writing is Done

Why it’s Both Easier and Harder to Freelance for Publication

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Bonnie Tsui has freelanced for publications for more than a decade, including The New York Times, Travel + Leisure and as a contributing editor for San Francisco magazine. Recently she received an annual award for food writing from the San Francisco Chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier.

That gave me the opportunity to interview her, since both of us became Dames recently. She concluded that [Read more…] about Why it’s Both Easier and Harder to Freelance for Publication

Damn Right: I Do Make a Living Writing About Food

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A guest post by Naomi Tomky

As a freelance food writer, when I saw Dianne end her post positing that, perhaps, food writers are their own worst enemy when it comes to demanding good pay, I knew she was right.

But it’s a deeper problem than that. Not only did her piece on how there’s no money in food writing not match my experience, but in a way, it [Read more…] about Damn Right: I Do Make a Living Writing About Food

12 Tips for Pitching Articles to Publications and Websites

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I’m just back from the Wine Writers Symposium in Napa, where one of the panels I was on covered pitching articles.

I was really roughing it at this conference, if you must know. The event was at Meadowood, a luxury resort, for four nights. We drank or tasted many fine Napa Valley wines both there and at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone. And we feasted on fresh crab, duck, truffles, and waygu beef.

But now back to real life, where I need to diet. And you, dear reader, would like more freelance assignments. On the Symposium panel with me were [Read more…] about 12 Tips for Pitching Articles to Publications and Websites