Dear Reader,
When I moved my WordPress blog to my own website, I didn’t realize that all the people who signed up to get my email posts would no longer receive them.
I’m sorry for this inconvenience. Please sign up again at my new page. Go to “Subscribe” on the right hand side. Click on the email envelope and select Feedblitz.
Thanks,
Dianne
Dear Readers,
I’ve moved my blog from this address to my own website.
For future reference, see
http://www.diannej.com/blog/
Thanks much, and hope to see you there.
Dianne
While reading Garret McCord’s post on writing a book review, I thought about the criteria I apply while judging a book for the James Beard awards or for the International Association of Culinary Professional’s (IACP’s) annual cookbook awards. I’ve judged books for years, and the system between these two groups is different.
James Beard is a little more fluid than IACP. The committee sometimes creates new categories if necessary. One year a photo book was the overall winner. Judges look at the publication as a whole, including the graphic and typographical presentation, the research, the writing style, and the reliability, but there aren’t a ton of guidelines.
I emailed Kathleen Purvis, head of the Charlotte Observer’s food section, who handles the awards, and asked her what constitutes the most important criteria. She hesitated to say. “You should write the best book you can, not the one you think will please judges,” she suggested I advise. “In my years of working with books,” she continued, ” the books that come from the heart, the ones where you can tell the writer has something he or she really, really wants to share, are the ones that always stand out. Passion shows. Look at a Julia or a James Beard or a Laurie Colwin or a Richard Saxe and that’s what stands out every time: One person’s voice, one person’s mission to share something.”
Now that’s good news, because it’s the nature of blogging: your thoughts on a subject that obsesses and delights you.
IACP, on the other hand, uses written guidelines to help judges decide. I looked up the criteria from the last time I judged, a few years ago. It might have changed, but here’s what I have for writing cookbooks: Is the choice of subject meaningful? Is the perspective or point of view noteworthy, original or distinctive? Is the research thorough and accurate? Is the information presented in a way that is easy to follow? Is the writing clear and direct? Is the writing voice distinctive? Are the ingredients listed in the order in which they are used? Does the recipe tell you everyting you need to know to make the recipe successfully? Are there hints about timing, variations, do-ahead steps or substitutions? If there are headnotes and tips, do they enhance the recipes? Does the book speak meaningfully to its intended audience? Does the book deliver what it promises?
There’s another section on judging design, which authors don’t control. Then overall: Consider the quality of the book in comparison to other books of its type. Does it accomplish its goals? Does it have major flaws? Would you buy the book for your own library or recommend it to friends? Does it make a major contribution to the subject?
Now of course you’re not going to write a book simply to win an award, because that’s not a sustainable proposition. Writing a book is too hard. But the next time you come up with an idea, apply this criteria and see if it stands up. For more on what constitutes a good idea for a book, see this piece on my website.
A woman scans the wine aisle at a grocery store, overwhelmed by the selection. She’s looking for a wine to go with the chicken her husband will grill for friends this weekend. Then she remembers: she has the information at her fingertips. She whips out her smart phone (an iPhone, iPod Touch or BlackBerry in this case) and finds the exact recommendations: for red wine, Bonarda; for white, dry Zinfandel or Chenin Blanc.
Natalie Maclean made $2.99 when this target reader bought her smart phone application, the Mobile Drinks Matcher.
“The two trends that are exploding in popularity now: interest in food and wine, and the convenience of mobile apps,” says Natalie. “ As a wine-loving geek, I love finding ways for new technology to help us savor all of life’s pleasures, wherever we are.”
How many more target readers will spend $2.99 for this repurposed content? Natalie made a big investment (she won’t say how much) and hopes to find out. After spending eight years developing a searchable database of food and wine pairings for her website, the multiple award-winning writer spent three months with a software developer, creating a database of 380,000 mobile wine and food pairing applications for her Mobile Drinks Matcher. While anyone can look up the information on her website, she wanted a remote application for liquor stores and restaurants.
Here’s what’s different from people searching her website from their computers and finding the exact same information: She gets paid. Isn’t that nice? Unusual, even.
Of course she has to recover her investment of several thousand dollars at least. It’s going to take a lot of $2.99 purchases. But the trend is increasing. People look up info while on the go.
Watch this quick video demo to see how the application works. And think about it: what food writing do you own that might be repurposed this way?
Ever have the feeling you’re supposed to be an expert on food blogging before you’ve even begun? Elise Bauer of Simply Recipes can help. A mega-successful blogger, she started the Food Blog Alliance as a professional association for food bloggers.
“Many of us are trying to improve our blogs, to better serve our readers, to make the experience of blogging more fruitful and enjoyable, and to build our readership,” she writes. “My view is that the more we can share what we are each learning with each other, the better all of our blogs will become.”
You’ll find tips to improve your food writing, including a post from Amy Sherman of Cooking with Amy about adjectives, plus expert technical advice in friendly language about such things as Search Engine Optimization and tools and maintenance. I know I’m going to be all over this site in the coming few weeks.
I admire the sense of community and giving spirit on the site. It’s what I love about the food blogging world. Many food bloggers have been generous to me. I have to say, it’s a little different from print. Maybe it’s because the print world is shrinking, whereas this one is expanding?
Julia Allenby, a student in my food writing class, just pitched Saveur magazine and got this email from the editorial assistant. Finding the right editor is a critical part of pitching as a freelance writer, and usually it’s hard to find the right info. Here it is. Don’t forget to replace the [at] with an @.
“Although we don’t have any formal writers’ guidelines for Saveur, we generally offer the following suggestions. Queries and stories should be detailed and specific, and personal ties to the subject matter are important—let us know why you should be the one to write the story. Familiarize yourself with our departments and the magazine style as a whole, and pitch your stories accordingly. We suggest that prospective writers read at least a year’s worth of issues.
Please send your brief queries and any clips that you wish to include, preferably by
e-mail, to the appropriate individual(s), as noted below. By e-mail:
Online Content
Katherine Cancila, Associate Editor: Katherine.Cancila[at]bonniercorp.com
Fare
Dana Bowen, Deputy Editor: Dana.Bowen[at]Bonniercorp.com
Book Review, Drink, Classic, Origins, Ingredient, and Reporter
Dana Bowen, Deputy Editor: Dana.Bowen[at]Bonniercorp.com
Dave McAninch, Deputy Editor: Dave.McAninch[at]Bonniercorp.com
Beth Kracklauer, Senior Editor: Beth.Kracklauer[at]Bonniercorp.com
List, Memories, and Lives
Dana Bowen, Deputy Editor: Dana.Bowen[at]Bonniercorp.com
Dave McAninch, Deputy Editor: Dave.McAninch[at]Bonniercorp.com
Beth Kracklauer, Senior Editor: Beth.Kracklauer[at]Bonniercorp.com
Katherine Cancila, Associate Editor: Katherine.Cancila[at]bonniercorp.com
Kitchenwise and Source
Georgia Freedman, Managing Editor: Georgia.Freedman[at]bonniercorp.com
Beth Kracklauer, Senior Editor: Beth.Kracklauer[at]Bonniercorp.com
Cellar
Dave McAninch, Deputy Editor: Dave.McAninch[at]Bonniercorp.com
Beth Kracklauer, Senior Editor: Beth.Kracklauer[at]Bonniercorp.com
Kitchen and recipes
Todd Coleman, Food Editor at Todd.Coleman[at]bonniercorp.com
Features
James Oseland, Editor-in-Chief: James.Oseland[at]bonniercorp.com
Dana Bowen, Deputy Editor: Dana.Bowen[at]Bonniercorp.com
Dave McAninch, Deputy Editor: Dave.McAninch[at]Bonniercorp.com
Beth Kracklauer, Senior Editor: Beth.Kracklauer[at]Bonniercorp.com
If pitching by regular mail, please address your query to the appropriate editor (above) at:
SAVEUR
15 East 32nd Street, 12 Floor
New York, NY 10016
We welcome all submissions but, because of the large quantities we receive, cannot guarantee their return. Saveur assumes no responsibility for the loss or damage of unsolicited materials. Please note that we rarely assign restaurant-focused pieces.”
Hello food writers,
I’m hoping to create a useful place to read and comment on the world of food writing, whether a blog, feature article, review or tweet (In case you didn’t know, people are writing 140 character recipes now, and the New York Times calls it the “first great recipe innovation in 200 years”).
Soon you’ll find links to lots of articles and sites on food writing. One of my favorites is the UK Guardian’s Top 50 food blogs list. They’ve also profiled some of the bloggers in accompanying stories.
In the Blogroll you’ll find blogs and websites of some of the best food writers, including friends, students, and clients.
Maybe you have a favorite topic you’d like to discuss. If so, please leave a comment below and let’s get’er done, as Larry the Cable Guy would say.
