Expert Interview: Q&A with Dianne Jacob

"You have to believe in yourself" says Dianne Jacob

This interview with a food-writing expert was conducted by

Rachel Ciordas

. She writes

Next Level Gluten Free

newsletter and works to make gluten free living more delicious every day. You can see more of her work and subscribe at https://rachelciordas.substack.com

Dianne Jacob

Hello Dear Friends,

Today I have such a treat for you.

Dianne Jacob – author of Will Write for Food, a multiple award-winning book on food writing and Dianne Jacob’s Newsletter on Substack has agreed to share her vast knowledge with us. This is the first of a monthly series of interviews with food writing and publishing experts.

I met Dianne at an International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) conference several years ago and have loved keeping in touch with her (and reading every single issue of her fantastic newsletter). Personally, and professionally, she is just a peach. She’s also the one who first mentioned the platform Substack to me years ago. What a wonderful tidbit that turned out to be!

Below you can see my interview with Dianne.

Rachel: Can you tell me about your book and about your role in the food writing and publishing industry?

Dianne: I have a background as a journalist. I went to two journalism schools then I was a magazine editor and a newspaper editor, a reporter, and the editor of a book publishing company before I decided to work for myself.

And typically, when you work for yourself, you're a sole contributor. It's just you.

I was used to having a team and bossing people around. I figured out how to continue working with writers. Because that's what I did my whole career was work with writers. I assigned them stories, read pitches, edited stories, and came up with story ideas. I really liked that a lot.

Even when I was the editor of a book publishing company, we would brainstorm book ideas, and I would hire a new writer for every book. So, I started teaching classes on food writing. I started a blog in 2009, and that went on until three years ago when I moved it to Substack.

My first edition of Will Write for Food, my book about how to become a food writer, came out 20 years ago and has had four editions. They've all won national or international awards. I've done some freelance writing on the side. Some of it has also won awards, which is nice for credibility.

Rachel: No surprise!

Dianne: Oh, thank you! Most of the time I work with people who want to be published or who are already published. They're writers and they are trying to get better magazine assignments, or they want to write a cookbook.

I teach classes on how to write a cookbook proposal. I've also taught how to get freelance writing assignments, how to start a blog, and how to find your voice, there's a lot to cover.

I'm very involved in writing my newsletter these days, which is free unless you opt for the paid subscription, and it comes out twice a month. I also have office hours once a month on the Substack chat.

I'm enjoying writing about all the different issues involved in food writing and interviewing the big stars of our industry. Finding out that some of them are subscribers to my newsletter blows my mind. It's wonderful. It's amazing. I found out the editor-in-chief of the New York Times food section and cooking app is a subscriber to my newsletter!

Rachel: Who do you have in mind when you're writing?

Dianne: I have to figure out where the sweet spot is between people who used to write and don't anymore, people who have never written and want to, and people who are freelance writers, cookbook authors, editors, agents, and working and newsletter writers, who all want good, useful information.

I do try to write for people who are in our business, whether it's a freelancer who writes something once a year, someone who has a full-time job, or someone who is self-employed.

Rachel: You talked about working with people writing a cookbook proposal or considering a cookbook. What is your advice for people who are interested in writing a cookbook?

Dianne: Well, the first thing to find out is, are they actual published writers?

If the answer is no, they are going to have a hard time finding a traditional publisher. They could self-publish or go to a hybrid publisher, but hybrid publishers are choosy. The hybrid publishers are in between self-publishing and traditional publishing, where you're going to pay a lot of the costs, but most of the people you're working with are in the publishing industry and are very good professionals.

Rachel: If you are someone who isn't a published writer and you want to write a cookbook what's your next step?

I do coach people on how to do that but you know, you're going to write a book. Who do publishers want to write a book? They want someone who's a writer. Many people just want to write a book, and they are alarmed when I tell them that they have to back up and get some credentials before they can be considered by a traditional publisher.

Rachel: That makes sense. Some people go the other route to self-publish, do you see people having more success in traditional publishing right now or self-publishing?

Dianne: Most of the people that I work with want to be traditionally published and that's why I work with them on cookbook proposals. Which is a six-month project and takes a lot of work, thinking, and analysis.

These days, anybody can get published. You can hire services that help you get published like Amazon. The question is, do you understand how to write a recipe? Do you understand how to engage your readers? Do you have something new to offer? And then, do you care about actually selling your book? For a traditional publisher, you have to be very interested in and show that you have prowess in marketing and that you are going to partner with them and try to get your book sold.

Rachel: That is a great lead into my next question. How much of a platform or an audience does an author need to have?

Dianne: I ask the same question of big agents and editors at publishing houses when I interview them for my newsletter, and nobody likes that question. Nobody has a good answer to that question.

A really big editor at a big publishing house told me that she doesn't care if people don't have a big audience. But she still said that most of her authors come through agents.

Agents are not going to take anybody who doesn't have a good shot at getting published. They always want someone with a big platform, but occasionally they will take a risk and choose someone with a small platform.

What is the definition of small? To some people, 50,000 followers is a small audience and to some, it’s 10,000. Sometimes people write to me and have 500 followers and they want to write a book. They could, but they probably will not be successful with a traditional publisher.

Rachel: You mentioned agents. Do you mostly work with writers who have agents?

Dianne: If you want to be published by the big five publishers with millions of imprints, you need an agent. Many will not look at work from someone who's not agented. There are lots of very good mid-size and smaller publishers who will.

Paid subscribers of my newsletter, can access a huge list of cookbook publishers. I lay out which ones require you to have an agent. I have a whole other post on all the ones that don't require you to have an agent, and how you can contact them directly.

Rachel: Such amazing resources!

Dianne: The main thing is to be very, very determined and believe in yourself. That goes a long way. I've met so many (people), mostly women over the years who have imposter syndrome. Then I've met people who have no credentials and maybe not a lot of skills who think they're doing an amazing job, and somehow can push through.

Rachel: That's incredible. That's a good piece of advice. What is your top piece of advice for aspiring writers?

Dianne: You have to believe in yourself because you will get a lot of rejection. If you go to bed for three days, every time you get rejected, it's going to take you a lot longer, and it's going to be a lot more painful than if you truly believe that you have something important to share with the world and that they need what you have to offer.

It's not about sales. It's about believing that you have really useful information that is valuable, and that you want to share it.

That's not: please buy my book, read my article, or read my newsletter. That's different.

Rachel: That's wonderful to hear because that is something that people struggle with as they write, the balance between marketing and just trying to offer what they have to the world.

So now we are all big Dianne fans, and I’m sure everyone wants to know how they can stay in touch with you and your work?

Dianne: Sign up for the free edition of my newsletter. I send sneak peeks at what I'm writing for paid subscribers to the free ones. They can also go to my website and there, there are a lot of resources on my website as well at https://diannej.com/ and my newsletter at https://substack.com/@diannejacob

Rachel: I get so much out of your newsletter. The articles, interviews, publishing resources, and the links are legendary!

Thank you so much for your time, Dianne. It was such a treat.

Dianne Jacob coaches food writers on how to get a cookbook published, pitch freelance stories, start newsletters, and improve the quality and effectiveness of their writing. She specializes in book proposals. Dianne is the author of a multiple award-winning book on food writing, Will Write for Food: Pursue Your Passion and Bring Home the Dough Writing Recipes, Cookbooks, Blogs and More. She also co-authored two pizza cookbooks with chef Craig Priebe and has won awards for her food writing in such publications as The Washington Post, Food & Wine, and Lucky Peach. Dianne has judged cookbooks for the James Beard Foundation and the International Association of Culinary Professionals. She has also judged for a national magazine awards. Previously a journalist and newspaper, magazine and publishing company editor-in-chief, she writes a monthly free newsletter aimed at food writers. See more at https://diannej.com/

*This interview was edited from the transcript

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