• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar

Dianne Jacob, Will Write For Food

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

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Home
  • About Me
    • Bio
    • Freelance Writing
    • Media Mentions
    • Teaching and Speaking
    • Contact Me
  • Services
    • Coaching and Editing
    • Book Clients
    • FAQ
    • Testimonials
  • Books
    • Will Write For Food
    • The United States of Pizza
    • Grilled Pizzas & Piadinas
  • Events
  • Categories
    • Awards
    • Cookbooks
    • Career
    • Contests
    • Ethics
    • Food Blogging
    • Freelancing
    • Literary Agents
    • My workshops and conferences
    • Personal Stuff
    • Photography
    • Promotion
    • Proposals
    • Radio interviews and writing
    • Recipe Writing
    • Restaurant Reviewing
    • Self Publishing
    • Social Media
    • Travel Writing
    • Uncategorized
    • Useful Links
    • Writing
    • Memoir
    • Writing Apps
  • Resources
  • My Newsletter
  • Blog

Sara Bir

Why I Won’t Self-Publish a Cookbook Again

July 20, 2021 by diannejacob 11 Comments

Image for post about why not to self-publish a cookbook againA guest post by Sara Bir

I’ve written three cookbooks. The second two I did with traditional publishers, but the first one I self-published. Would I self-publish a cookbook again? That was the question I faced last year when I decided to do an expanded version of The Pocket Pawpaw Cookbook, my first book.

Pawpaws are a little-known fruit that grow in less than a third of the country and aren’t sold at grocery stores. They are in season for two months a year, max. I live in Ohio, where they grow abundantly, and I’m totally besotted with them.

So of course I thought this under-the-radar food deserved its own cookbook. But a pawpaw cookbook doesn’t exactly spark a bidding war among conventional publishers.

Still, I decided a slender cookbook devoted to pawpaws was a great idea for [Read more…] about Why I Won’t Self-Publish a Cookbook Again

Filed Under: Cookbooks, Self Publishing Tagged With: Belt Publishing, Sara Bir, self publish versus traditional publishings, self-published cookbook

What Makes an Award-Winning Cookbook?

May 26, 2020 by diannejacob 12 Comments

image for post on award-wining cookookA guest post by Sara Bir

I always tell people the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) awards are to the James Beard Awards what the Golden Globes are to the Oscars. They’re a big deal, a feather in the caps of publishers and authors who produce an award-winning cookbook.

I was a volunteer cookbook judge for the awards. The category I judged had [Read more…] about What Makes an Award-Winning Cookbook?

Filed Under: Recipe Writing Tagged With: best practices for recipe writing, cookbook judging, IACP Cookbook Awards, Sara Bir, Writing an award-winning cookbook

Primary Sidebar

My Books





Awards and Honors


Substack newsletter 2024


Will Write for Food 2022


Will Write For Food 2022


IACP Member of the Year 2022


Will Write For Food 2022


Will Write For Food 2020


Best Essay 2016


2016 Grand Prize
MFK Fisher Award
for Best Essay


Will Write For Food 2016


Will Write For Food 2016


Will Write For Food 2010


Best Essay 2007


Will Write For Food 2005

Member

Secondary Sidebar

Subscribe to my Free Monthly Newsletter on Food Writing Here

Food Blogger Pro Ad
Cookbook Publishing Course

Categories

  • Awards (17)
  • Career (72)
  • Contests (23)
  • Cookbooks (122)
  • Ethics (60)
  • Food Blogging (230)
  • Freelancing (54)
  • Literary Agents (12)
  • My workshops and conferences (35)
  • Personal Stuff (24)
  • Photography (7)
  • Promotion (27)
  • Proposals (10)
  • Recipe Writing (73)
  • Restaurant Reviewing (22)
  • Self Publishing (20)
  • Social Media (23)
  • Travel Writing (3)
  • Useful Links (23)
  • Writing (139)
    • Memoir (15)
  • Writing Apps (3)

Archives

Popular Posts

  • So Many Ways to Organize A Cookbook 17 views | posted on November 22, 2016
  • 100 Verbs for Recipes, from Julia Child 8 views | posted on November 12, 2013
  • 10 Food Writing Prompts to Try 7 views | posted on April 14, 2020
  • An Agent Answers: “What Should I Expect for a Cookbook Advance?” 6 views | posted on May 19, 2015
  • How to Write a Great Recipe Headnote 5 views | posted on August 31, 2021
  • How to Sell Recipes and Content 4 views | posted on August 17, 2021
  • An Expert’s Tips for Optimizing Recipe SEO 3 views | posted on June 26, 2018
  • Q&A: Amanda Hesser on How to Adapt and Write Recipes 3 views | posted on March 7, 2011
  • 8 Answers to Copyright Questions About Recipes and Books 3 views | posted on December 6, 2016
  • 5 Notes to Self for Coping with Conference Anxiety 2 views | posted on May 24, 2011

Copyright © 2026 · Dianne Jacob      Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2026 · Genesis Sample Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Get Dianne’s free newsletter on food writing and blogging delivered to your inbox!

Subscribe