A New Year Ahead with New Ideas

I've got a few bubbling for this newsletter, and maybe you do too.

Dec 01, 2023

I hope you’ll light up with ideas as you read my opening query below. (Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash.)

Dear Subscribers,

Thanksgiving and its lead-up is the busiest time of year for many food writers. I hope you’ve recovered! Now it’s a sprint to get the online holiday content out, plus presents bought and wrapped and tasty dishes cooked for parties and events.

As we approach the end of the year, I’m taking stock of how this newsletter is going. Overall I’m happy and grateful. Subscriptions keep climbing, and I published some insider interviews with industry stars such as Ruth Reichl and Kim Severson. I still love discovering great articles for you to read online, about our business, what’s happening, what works well, and best practices. (As always, they are below).

I’d love to communicate more with you. How shall we do that? And what would you like from me? Here are some ideas:

An online Zoom meeting to discuss topics such as the writing process, career or cookbook deals, or how to get quality freelance assignments.
A special thread where you introduce yourselves and tell me what you’re working on. Learning from you is always rewarding.
A Zoom hour, writing together as a group.
A contest where I give feedback on short writing samples?

Like any of these? Maybe you’ve thought of other topics. Please let me know in the comments. My goal here is to create a strong community, where we can learn from each other.

So please let me know what you’d like to see more of in this newsletter, or other ideas that would help move you forward.

With gratitude,

Dianne

Books I’m Discussing

diannemjacob

A post shared by @diannemjacob

I’ve been reviewing cookbooks and food memoirs on Instagram. This one had a provocative title, and it was unlike most food memoirs, that’s for sure! Why not follow along? And if your book comes out soon, send me an email.

Classes Coming Up

Jumpstart Your Cookbook Proposal

Three Sundays on Zoom: February, 11, 18 and 25, 10:00 a.m. - 1 p.m. PST/ 1 - 4 p.m. EST
Three-hour Classes weekly through Civic Kitchen
12 students maximum
$425
Want to write a cookbook or food memoir? To get it traditionally published, you’ll need a stellar cookbook proposal. Cookbook proposals are long, sometimes 50 pages. They are a cross between a business plan, a sales pitch and an explanation of your book.

Perhaps you’re not sure what to write, or you would like accountability and support. Either way, this is the class for you. And I’ve kept the class small so there is lots of time to discuss whatever comes up for you.

You’ll get lots of strategic insider advice gained from my decades of teaching and writing about cookbooks, judging them for national awards, and co-writing two with a chef. I will lay out how the publishing industry works and what editors and agents look for in a professional proposal.

You’ll learn what’s included in each section of successful proposal. During class, you will write first drafts of several proposal sections and get valuable feedback. At the end of three weeks, you'll have a solid start, and new ideas of how to make your proposal irresistible to an agent or editor.

You don’t have to have your idea sorted out, but it helps. And if you miss a class, there’s a tape to watch afterwards.

Bonus: It's unusual to see someone’s successful proposal. I'll share one of mine, which led to a beautiful cookbook by Rizzoli.

Private Consults

Through a partner, Delicious Experiences
One-hour consult: $250

For years, I had a five-hour minimum for consulting. Now you can book a Zoom consult for just one hour or more. If you want to write a cookbook, get published, or get better freelance assignments, let’s move you forward.

What I'm Reading

The Best Cookbooks of 2023. The editors of Epicurious have spoken with this roundup. Wired and Amazon also have opinions. I love how these lists vary.
The Food Industry Pays ‘Influencer’ Dietitians to Shape Your Eating Habits. A bombshell article from the Washington Post about how corporations pay for exposure—with public shaming! I unlocked it so you can read it without a subscription.
The Dirty Secret of ‘Secret Family Recipes. As many of us know, they’re copied from mayo jars and famous cookbooks.
The Chocolate Scorecard: What’s really going into the chocolate we buy?
Alison Roman and Max Cantor’s Wedding Was a Love Letter to New York City—And Its Many Restaurants. And Vogue covered it, with 41 photos.
Did you see who won the Taste Canada Awards?
Pass the Butchy Borscht: Digging in the Lesbian Cookbook Archives. I knew about the The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook, but this offers a hidden history.
2023 Best of Edible Awards Winners & Finalists. The 21-year-old magazine group had a new category this year: magazine of the year. It was my second year of judging these awards.
Aubrie Pick, celebrated Bay Area photographer, dies of cancer at 42. What a tragedy and huge loss for the cookbook community. I interviewed Aubrie, a cookbook photographer, for this newsletter here.
Julia Child’s Dishes Shouldn’t Look Like Food Porn. A food stylist talks about the dishes in season two of the Max channel’s “Julia.”
How to write a good pitch email. Look past the intro and learn from the examples of successful pitches that led to published articles.
The Venerable Art Publisher Cooking with Gas in the Cookbook Space. A Publishers Weekly interview with Phaidon’s cookbook cditor Emily Takoudes. She is the Executive Commissioning Editor of Food.
Will climate cookbooks change how we eat? A few cookbooks tackle the relationship between food and climate change.
Saving Room and Holding Space: Three Indigenous Cookbooks That Will Help You Bring Native American Cuisine to Your Table. A good read well past Thanksgiving.

News About Clients and Students

Ren Behan’s second cookbook, The Sweet Polish Kitchen, comes out December 5. (I coached her on her first book proposal.)
Union Square and Co. will publish Mia Castro’s cookbook, Love and Sazón. (I coached her on her cookbook proposal and helped her find an agent.)
The New York Times published Yvette Marquez-Sharpnack’s recipe for Pumpkin Empanadas. (I coached her on her cookbook proposal.) If you want to see the recipe, the site is paywalled, but it also appears on Epicurious.
The Listowel Food Fair honored former student Kate Ryan with an inaugural Food Storyteller of the Year award.

I like to brag about my clients’ and students’ food writing accomplishments here. Send me an email: dj@diannej.com.

Thanks for Reading

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Dianne Jacob
Editor, Writer and Coach
Email: dj@diannej.com
Website: http://diannej.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/diannej
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/foodwriting
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/diannemjacob/