GM Dianne! First, the Pomogical video is gorgeous! And the five women mentioned produced seriously stunning botanicals—what inspiration. All of the art is sublime. I'd love to see the collection in its entirety in person.
To answer your questions. I'm not bothered about the free product mentions. In fact, I respect the mention and think it's necessary. And yes, I'm aware of the publishing industry practices.
Great stuff in this letter. Thanks! Happy November.
Great post (as always!). Interesting topic. I have to admit that I never feel uncomfortable about mentioning when I've received a book as a gift. But then again, I don't do straight reviews. Like you I get approached by authors all the time about sending me their cookbooks. 90% of the time I say no thank you. Mostly because I know I will never cook from the books so don't want them to spend the money sending me a copy of a book that I will eventually get rid of anyway. At the other end of the spectrum are books I'd truly like to read and cook from , but the publishers will only offer a digital PDF copy, which I find incredibly awkward to deal with. In that case I usually end up simply buying the book myself. It's all a changing landscape in publishing, and I appreciate you keeping us all up to standards!
Thank you Elizabeth. It's a mix of publishers and authors who tell me they have a book that might interest me. Like you, I find it hard to get a feel for a book with just a PDF. And I have an ulterior motive to ask for the real thing. I also don't need books that I won't cook from, so I trade them in and then give the trade slip to a preschool to buy books for their kids.
Buying the book yourself is the best way. It frees you to say whatever you want. But most of us don't want to say anything negative anyway. We're in a small community, helping each other succeed.
The article that you linked to in the newsletter, Why I *left* Substack, speaks about Substack offering large payments to controversial (and ethically questionable) accounts to gain traction. I only have energy (and brain space) for so many social media platforms, but from what I can see, Musk has handed what's left of Twitter over to hysterical right-wing accounts and general haters, FB is full of fake news etc ...
Yes, it is indeed awkward, but I think it's only correct. Folks like us, with newspaper backgrounds, should set a model for all those others who happily accept--nay solicit!--products to "review." I note that Val Monroe always includes a statement on her substack posts to the effect that she does not get paid in any way for the products she endorses--good practice!
Yes it is a good practice. Better would be not to take any freebies at all, but it's hard to resist exciting cookbooks that get mailed to my house. It's not the first time I've berated myself about taking freebies. See this post from 2009! https://diannej.com/2009/my-bad-i-took-a-freebie/
Yes, I prefer the transparency. As someone who reviews items it helps give clout to say you were sent an item, as in my opinion means something. I’m now sending out my second cookbook 😀 and I have instructions to be honest and disclose it was sent. As much as negative reviews are not fun to read they can also steer the audience toward or away from a product that is or isn’t for them. I’ve read plenty of cookbook reviews for my special diet where the negative ones are mostly from people who don’t follow that diet.
Oh my gosh - I don't think I ever realised this! I come from print and publishing as well, and we would review submissions all the time without ever actually stating it had been sent to us. It think it was just assumed a book or video had been sent in. What a crazy world!!!
I don’t think publications disclose it either. Could you imagine if The NY Times disclosed that all the books they review are not purchased? Would anyone even care?
Hey Diane, yeah, I know all of this is annoying. I hear you, that we all have hoops to jump through for seemingly everything. What about if you use a hashtag like#freebook or #review? What about if you put something at the top of your posts like we do as food bloggers about affiliate link but instead you say you might have received the book for free. You could explain because you’re in the business, publishers send you books all the time it’s a normal practice?
Oddly, if the article first appears in print you don’t need to. So I try to run reviews in my newspaper column and then share on social media. If that’s not possible I just include a note the book was provided to me. I dislike the #ad hashtag for the same reasons you mention so I try to work it into the copy or a note at end of post
Anytime you get anything for free and you review it you need to disclose it. This isn't a bad thing and is honestly overdue. Youtubers are notoriously bad at this and you wonder why all of the reviews of a certain companies products are positive and then you realize that company is supplying them. If they give out bad reviews the free products worth thousands of dollars stop coming... I like to know.
In my blog and book I used to rail against always positive reviews. It’s boring. And predictable. But now, here we are with free stuff and its consequences.
Youtubers are the worst. In private you can get them to admit that if they thrash a product in a review the gravy train stops. It's just nice to know that they're getting free stuff so you can weigh that in when making a decision. There are a few that rely on Patreon money to buy products to review and never take anything free but they're rare and that is admittedly a harder road.
We're actually transitioning into all reviews being written by AI anyway so there's not much reason to even look at them anymore. Sadly.
Sometimes you can tell if it's AI by what the review says. AI is pretty good but it doesn't know what coffee tastes like or that having a separate exposure compensation dial on a camera is nice. It only knows what humans and spec sheets say and attempts to create a "review" out of that. AI usually goes with what the most people have said when it comes to subjective matter for instance it might say that the Kitchenaide food processor is very durable because the word durable comes up in Amazon user experiences. AI doesn't know first hand if it's durable because AI can't make a batch of hummus every day until the food processor finally dies to double check.
It's really frustrating but I think the Patreon/Substack model is probably the only thing that can save writing... that is if Substack authors themselves don't destroy it.
I wouldn't think that you receiving a complimentary book would affect your honest review. So, disclosure seems irrelevant but maybe I don't understand the issue. I would think that readers would be looking to your integrity and reputation.
I hope so! Thank you. It’s a small community, though, so I hesitate to say something negative. Even so, my reviews are not totally positive. And there hasn’t been a single book that deserves to be trashed.
This is news to me ... important information for sure! When I taught college courses, textbook companies sent me desk copies of as many books as I requested. Many of them were very good, and I let my students know that. How is this different?
Your reading list choices are the perfect ingredients in a recipe for the rest of my year!
GM Dianne! First, the Pomogical video is gorgeous! And the five women mentioned produced seriously stunning botanicals—what inspiration. All of the art is sublime. I'd love to see the collection in its entirety in person.
To answer your questions. I'm not bothered about the free product mentions. In fact, I respect the mention and think it's necessary. And yes, I'm aware of the publishing industry practices.
Great stuff in this letter. Thanks! Happy November.
Great piece, as always. Thanks for shouting out my Food & Wine article. Working with you gave me the confidence to make the pitch!
Thank you Martin. I hope Sally lands a good deal for you!
Great post (as always!). Interesting topic. I have to admit that I never feel uncomfortable about mentioning when I've received a book as a gift. But then again, I don't do straight reviews. Like you I get approached by authors all the time about sending me their cookbooks. 90% of the time I say no thank you. Mostly because I know I will never cook from the books so don't want them to spend the money sending me a copy of a book that I will eventually get rid of anyway. At the other end of the spectrum are books I'd truly like to read and cook from , but the publishers will only offer a digital PDF copy, which I find incredibly awkward to deal with. In that case I usually end up simply buying the book myself. It's all a changing landscape in publishing, and I appreciate you keeping us all up to standards!
Thank you Elizabeth. It's a mix of publishers and authors who tell me they have a book that might interest me. Like you, I find it hard to get a feel for a book with just a PDF. And I have an ulterior motive to ask for the real thing. I also don't need books that I won't cook from, so I trade them in and then give the trade slip to a preschool to buy books for their kids.
Buying the book yourself is the best way. It frees you to say whatever you want. But most of us don't want to say anything negative anyway. We're in a small community, helping each other succeed.
Disappointing news re Substack. It makes me wonder if there's any platforms that haven't, or will not, be compromised like this.
I'm not sure what you mean, Amanda. Can you say more?
The article that you linked to in the newsletter, Why I *left* Substack, speaks about Substack offering large payments to controversial (and ethically questionable) accounts to gain traction. I only have energy (and brain space) for so many social media platforms, but from what I can see, Musk has handed what's left of Twitter over to hysterical right-wing accounts and general haters, FB is full of fake news etc ...
Oh of course! How soon I forget! Yes that was very hard to read. And to reckon with. Thanks for reminding me.
Yes, it is indeed awkward, but I think it's only correct. Folks like us, with newspaper backgrounds, should set a model for all those others who happily accept--nay solicit!--products to "review." I note that Val Monroe always includes a statement on her substack posts to the effect that she does not get paid in any way for the products she endorses--good practice!
Yes it is a good practice. Better would be not to take any freebies at all, but it's hard to resist exciting cookbooks that get mailed to my house. It's not the first time I've berated myself about taking freebies. See this post from 2009! https://diannej.com/2009/my-bad-i-took-a-freebie/
Yes, I prefer the transparency. As someone who reviews items it helps give clout to say you were sent an item, as in my opinion means something. I’m now sending out my second cookbook 😀 and I have instructions to be honest and disclose it was sent. As much as negative reviews are not fun to read they can also steer the audience toward or away from a product that is or isn’t for them. I’ve read plenty of cookbook reviews for my special diet where the negative ones are mostly from people who don’t follow that diet.
Congratulations on your second cookbook! And what you said about reviewers who haven’t read the book— that’s pathetic.
Oh my gosh - I don't think I ever realised this! I come from print and publishing as well, and we would review submissions all the time without ever actually stating it had been sent to us. It think it was just assumed a book or video had been sent in. What a crazy world!!!
I don’t think publications disclose it either. Could you imagine if The NY Times disclosed that all the books they review are not purchased? Would anyone even care?
Hey Diane, yeah, I know all of this is annoying. I hear you, that we all have hoops to jump through for seemingly everything. What about if you use a hashtag like#freebook or #review? What about if you put something at the top of your posts like we do as food bloggers about affiliate link but instead you say you might have received the book for free. You could explain because you’re in the business, publishers send you books all the time it’s a normal practice?
Sure, why not? These would all work.
Oddly, if the article first appears in print you don’t need to. So I try to run reviews in my newspaper column and then share on social media. If that’s not possible I just include a note the book was provided to me. I dislike the #ad hashtag for the same reasons you mention so I try to work it into the copy or a note at end of post
Right. They just ignore what the FTC says. I wonder why they can get away with it?
Anytime you get anything for free and you review it you need to disclose it. This isn't a bad thing and is honestly overdue. Youtubers are notoriously bad at this and you wonder why all of the reviews of a certain companies products are positive and then you realize that company is supplying them. If they give out bad reviews the free products worth thousands of dollars stop coming... I like to know.
In my blog and book I used to rail against always positive reviews. It’s boring. And predictable. But now, here we are with free stuff and its consequences.
Youtubers are the worst. In private you can get them to admit that if they thrash a product in a review the gravy train stops. It's just nice to know that they're getting free stuff so you can weigh that in when making a decision. There are a few that rely on Patreon money to buy products to review and never take anything free but they're rare and that is admittedly a harder road.
We're actually transitioning into all reviews being written by AI anyway so there's not much reason to even look at them anymore. Sadly.
Wow, I did not know that about AI but it makes sense. Sad!
Sometimes you can tell if it's AI by what the review says. AI is pretty good but it doesn't know what coffee tastes like or that having a separate exposure compensation dial on a camera is nice. It only knows what humans and spec sheets say and attempts to create a "review" out of that. AI usually goes with what the most people have said when it comes to subjective matter for instance it might say that the Kitchenaide food processor is very durable because the word durable comes up in Amazon user experiences. AI doesn't know first hand if it's durable because AI can't make a batch of hummus every day until the food processor finally dies to double check.
It's really frustrating but I think the Patreon/Substack model is probably the only thing that can save writing... that is if Substack authors themselves don't destroy it.
Anyway, cheers for writing and being connected.
I wouldn't think that you receiving a complimentary book would affect your honest review. So, disclosure seems irrelevant but maybe I don't understand the issue. I would think that readers would be looking to your integrity and reputation.
I hope so! Thank you. It’s a small community, though, so I hesitate to say something negative. Even so, my reviews are not totally positive. And there hasn’t been a single book that deserves to be trashed.
This is news to me ... important information for sure! When I taught college courses, textbook companies sent me desk copies of as many books as I requested. Many of them were very good, and I let my students know that. How is this different?
I guess it’s not. Getting things for free can alter how people perceive your opinions about them. But only if they know.