The Melting Teapot

Food writers can be a quirky group of people. We get incredibly excited about the latest gadgets and trends; moments later we’ll become misty-eyed and defensive about losing our traditions.  We’ll zoom in with laser-beam intensity on a tiny specialty area.  Then, quick as wink, we step back to embrace the wide range of culinary experiences around the world.   We have debates over slow cooking vs. molecular gastronomy, wine bottle corks vs. screw tops, and the best temperature for brewing each type of tea.

In spite of the differences, though, there is one central passion we all have in common -- the desire to share the joy of taste through the experiences of cooking, eating, and sipping.

Food writers move back and forth between new media and old, tweeting and maintaining blogs while writing freelance articles and working on books.   Many write about food as a sideline to another career, while others attempt to actually turn food writing into their career.  Creating a living wage as a writer is tough, and it requires a familiarity with paid publications and publishing houses that isn’t immediately obvious. 

If you are a food writer who is interested in publishing books, food journalism, or in creating a career in writing, Dianne Jacob’s Will Write for Food is a top-notch resource.

Jacob’s previous edition was focused on cookbooks, restaurant reviews, articles, memoir, and fiction.  The recently-released second edition has been expanded to include information for writing blogs, with a 70-page chapter focused just on that.

The book is very accessible, written in a friendly and helpful way.  It gives practical advice, discusses pitfalls to avoid, and has multiple suggestions for writing techniques.  Interested in what types of publications to solicit for restaurant reviews?  Want to know more about the why and how of restaurant critic disguises?  Wondering how famous food writers got their start?  Want to know what you can write off on your taxes?  Those are just a tiny amount of the questions you can get answered in Will Write for Food.

The first edition has been quite useful for me, as I make the transition into the world of food writing.  I was a college writing teacher for 15+ years, and while I’d published academic articles and had created a variety of blogs and web sites, the world of food writing is a fairly new adventure for me. Word choice, standardized formats, style, a new base of knowledge. . . all of these require a different way of thinking about communication.  I needed to start focusing on this type of discourse, with its new set of publishing requirements and audience expectations.  I was very happy to find the book!

Whether you want a resource to help define your profession, like I did, or you’re searching for a useful tool that focuses on writing strategies and practical advice, this book is uniquely situated to help. 


Read more about the 2nd edition on Dianne Jacobs own blog, "Here it Is: The New Edition of Will Write for Food." See photos from her First Bookstore Signing for the New Edition.