Be a Swiss Army Knife, says Saveur's Editorial Director Kat Craddock
Learn several parts of food media, she says, for optimum success
I’d never met Kat Craddock, Saveur’s editorial director, but when I emailed her about an interview for this newsletter, she wrote back right away.
“I know your work well,” she emailed. “Not from your newsletter, but from your book, which I read when I was making the jump from restaurant work to food media. Thanks for writing it! I found it super helpful.”
Well! That made my day, to have someone in her position be a fan of Will Write for Food. Not only that, she let me interview her while she was on vacation.
Here’s what she has to say about how to get published on the Saveur website:
(And by the way, her name is pronounced “Cat,” not “Kate.”)
Q. How did you rise to the position of editorial director?
A. In 2020 I was the test kitchen director, then executive editor. Then when we merged with the Domino people, I became the editorial director.
Q. What’s an average day at work like for you?
A. I got into this industry at a time when everything changed a lot. So I don’t know if there’s an average day. I started in the test kitchen, and I had a trial by fire where I learned a lot very quickly. I came from the restaurant industry, where people just pick up and do whatever is needed, so I was writing and editing very early on.
We don’t have a brick-and-mortar test kitchen anymore, so a lot of testing and photo shoots happen in my home in New York City.
Q. How much content do freelance writers generate?
A. It ebbs and flows. Maybe a third to a half. When budgets allow, it is more.
Q. How many pitches do you receive from freelancers?
A. Maybe a dozen a week.
Q. What percent of those succeed?
A. It’s pretty low. Max Falkowitz, former senior digital editor at Saveur, wrote a story on pitching. I direct people who want to write to that pitch. The pitches that get through take our brand into consideration. Fitting them into our framework makes it a lot easier to say yes.