The Ghost Writer (2010)

This brings me, of course, to the topic of ghost writing, a career which is the opposite of a mother’s stern warning to her children — that they be seen but not heard. A ghost has the duty to be neither seen nor heard.

Andrew Friedman is one of the rare exceptions. In 2005, New York magazine reported: “Alfred Portale, Laurent Tourondel, Michael Lomonaco, and Bill Telepan all published cookbooks this fall. The common denominator? Co-writer Andrew Friedman, wannabe screenwriter turned restaurant publicist, turned prolific channeler of the inner culinary voice.”

Michael Ruhlman

Michael Ruhlman is another celebrated ghost. His radiant, joyful writing coupled with his extensive knowledge of all things culinary, has earned him wide acclaim and effusive praise from Thomas Keller with whom he has essentially co-authored Ad Hoc and other publications and with Brian Polcyn, the Michigan charcuterie chef.

Michael writes both fiction and non-fiction, including Ratio and most recently, The Elements of Cooking: Translating The Chef’s Craft For Every Kitchen, an opinionated food glossary modeled after Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style.

I mention Michael’s credentials because he an atypical ‘ghost’. He is both seen and read (and frequently heard on the lecture circuit too).

Most ghosts, like most speech writers, are like a body at a wake: the corpse is needed for the ceremony but is not expected to say anything (much)!

In fact, speech writers and ghost writers have a lot in common. Not only must they be able to write quickly and accurately, but they also must be able to gather words together with the same rhythm and in the same idiom as the speaker or “author”.

This is not always an easy task. Just as eye witnesses to an accident will report the details quite differently and from their own bias, a ghost may prepare a draft of a cookbook, an autobiography or a press release from their own perspective rather than through the rose-colored spectacles demanded by the author.

David Joachim has written an immensely valuable description of the collaborative process in my FOOD JOBS book. It is too detailed to reprint here but here is a tiny portion of it:

“Cookbook collaborations work in a variety of ways. On one side of the spectrum, co-authors share similar interests and work hand in glove throughout the entire project. On the other side, a chef or expert provides the content and the writer puts that content into an appropriate form. Most collaborations fall somewhere in between these two extremes.”

David is THE expert in this field. He has written about healthy cooking for more than 15 years, and authored or collaborated on more than 25 cookbooks, including The Food Substitutions Bible and the New York Times bestseller, A Man, a Can, a Plan series, which has sold more than 1 million copies.

Jane Dystel, president of Dystel and Goderich Literary Management, who represents the work of dozens of successful chefs and writers, advises prospective ghosts/collaborators: “Plan to invest a day or so on the preliminaries; talking, sharing a meal together, reviewing each others work. Before taking one more step, get a signed agreement. There must be a collaboration agreement before one word of the book — or even the proposal — is written.”

A ghost is customarily required to audition with the author before an agreement is made and will certainly need to submit writing samples to make sure he or she is capturing the “voice” of the chef or author, who takes all the credit for the work in question.

A cookbook doctor (or book doctor) practices within the same arena as a ghost. The task here is to bring a fresh eye and detailed knowledge to a manuscript, and turn a sick or slightly unwell body of work into a publishable book.

May I also suggest you check FOOD JOBS, which contains contributed and credited essays from dozens of culinary experts and the website, Working With a Ghostwriter to Write a Book: What Authors Can Expect During the Ghostwriting Process as to whether this food job may be right for you.

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Symposium for Professional Food Writing

If you are looking for words from the wise on writing, I recommend you start with the brilliant William Zinsser, who wrote:

“Writing is not a contest. Every writer is starting from a different point and is bound for a different destination. Yet many writers are paralyzed by the thought that they are competing with everybody else who is trying to write and presumably doing it better. This can often happen in a writing class.

Inexperienced students are chilled to find themselves in the same class with students whose byline has appeared in the college newspaper. But writing for the college paper is no great credential; I’ve often found that the hares who write for the paper are overtaken by tortoises who move studiously toward the goal of mastering the craft.

The same fear cripples freelance writers, who see the work of other writers appearing in magazines while their own keeps returning in the mail.  Forget the competition and go at your own pace. Your only contest is with yourself.”

I adore William Zinsser’s book, On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction, and require that my students in my Professional Food Writing course purchase it.

If you prefer writing guidance through a course or workshop, I recommend the “granddaddy of all food writing conferences”, The Symposium for Professional Food Writers conference. It is geared for professional food writers and editors only. It is limited to 90 attendees and customarily held at The Greenbrier, White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

A team of successful writers leads discussions and workshops. The next Symposium, the 20th Symposium for Professional Writing is scheduled for September 12-16, 2010.

If money is tight, yet the passion for food writing is strong, you’ll be pleased to know that the Symposium offers scholarships. According to its Facebook page, the Symposium notes:

“We have many scholarships this year with more to be posted soon. The deadline is July 14 so start getting your two best samples ready!”

Note to Readers: Please be sure to check the Symposium for Professional Food Writers for exact deadlines.

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They think this is a funny assignment, that is, until we fall in the trap ourselves. These are ‘accidents waiting to happen’.

In fact, just as we most enjoy the foods we have eaten before, we also find happiness in reading variations of the same detective novels and suspense movies. For instance, the formula for the James Bond movies are all the same:

1. Scene One: exotic location and the first of two beautiful woman appears

2. James Bond (“JB“) encounters villain (who invariably has a foreign accent, a cat and delusions of grandeur)

3. First beautiful woman is sleeping with villain

4. First woman betrays villain just in time to warn JB of impending danger

5. JB seduces first woman, who is immediately killed (horribly but imaginatively)

6. Villain cheats

7. JB  outcheats villain in the company of 2nd woman

8. JB gains entrance to villain’s lair in company with 2nd adoring woman

9. JB is caught and threatened with imaginative but horrible death by villain who offers a lengthy explanation of his plan for world domination

10. JB escapes. 2nd woman escapes

11. JB returns to villain’s lair with monitoring device.

12. Mayhem ensues involving helicopters, fire and many men in jump suits tumbling from high places. Villain dies. Imaginatively but horribly.

13. JB escapes in nick of time; runs; holding hand of beautiful woman

14. James Bond lies with woman in unusual setting as they figure out where to go for dinner.

You’ve heard it all before, but what the heck!

‘Like I was saying…’ food cliches are like junk food: they taste great at the moment, then are immediately followed by remorse and regret.’

If you can complete these cliches, you’ll get an ‘A’ for the exercise and a ‘F’ for original thinking. (Bonus points are given for adding to this list.):

“It’s on the tip of my _____.”

“Bite the ____.” “I’ll bite!”

He said, “Tongue in _____.”

As he ate the last slice of chocolate cake, he remarked, “No pain no ____!”

“Don’t have a cow!”

“He/she is just a meat and ________ person.”

“Bring home the _______.”

“As fresh as a ______.”

“As cool as a ___________.”

“As nutty as a ___________.”

“That’s the way, the __________ crumbles.”

“That’s like walking on ___________.”

“Hey, don’t count your __________ before they’re hatched.”

“What does that have to do with the price of ___ in China?”

“Life is like a box of _________, you don’t know what you’ll get.”

“A few ____ short of a happy meal.”

“There’s no such thing as a free _______.”

“Well, how do you like them _______?”

“Take that with a grain of _____.”*

Now, I, sign your name, promise never to use these hackneyed phrases in a cover letter or in any food writing. (Though nobody is perfect; I’m only human.)

Signature, please!

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Photo courtesy of Justin Bernhaut

Becoming a cookbook reviewer is a great job for a cookbook lover, particularly one, who has gained experience by reading actively. (“Actively,” as opposed to passively, means you have read many books and assembled enough knowledge to enable you to make informed comparisons with similar books in specific genres.)

In a way, you are a first cousin to a restaurant reviewer. Both require you, the critic, to have good taste, an understanding of food and the business, and the ability to write well.

Every critic brings a personal perspective to the task. One judge’s opinion may be swayed by the celebrity of the author, while another my have a bias against celebrity and be seduced by impeccable scholarship.

It is obviously unethical for a vegetarian to pass judgment on a book devoted to grilling steaks.

The marketability and sales potential doesn’t or shouldn’t have any part in the decision making.

Honesty is an imperative.

If an author declares a recipe can be prepared in 15 minutes, the critic must decide whether this feat is true or possible only for an experienced cook and is beyond the realm of reality for a Mom juggling two small children, a telephone, a guest and a glass of wine.

Julia Child’s two volumes of Mastering the Art of French Cooking survive and thrive because the recipes are masterpieces of accuracy and clarity.

A conscientious cookbook reviewer tests several recipes, and scrutinizes the index to ensure it is composed logically before rendering a final opinion.

Food Styling: The Art of Preparing Food for the Camera by Delores Custer

The reviewer should evaluate the author’s writing style. Top flight authors provide readers with personal stories and enough inspiration that they will want to race to the kitchen immediately.

A cookbook reviewer should evaluate the cost and availability of the cookbook ingredients, and offer an objective view on the overall value of the book itself. Delores Custer’s new book, Food Styling: The Art of Preparing Food for the Camera, is $75.00 (On Amazon, it’s $47.25.) Expensive? Yes. But worth its weight in gold for a professional in this field.

Too many cookbook critics feel their role encompasses the need to inform the reader that their knowledge of a specific cuisine is superior to that of the author. They spend far too much time expressing their own views before getting around to the evaluating the work of the author.

A cookbook writer may have spent years writing a book so it is essential that it receives careful consideration — not the tossing off of a vapid opinion after a desultory flipping of pages and a mere glance at the photographs.

A good cookbook reviewer, (and anyone about to buy the book), should read the author’s introduction. It will provide an effective way to assess the author’s objective and a map to determine if the goal has been scored.

The importance of the concluding paragraph of the cookbook review is surpassed only by that of the opening lines. Don’t let your report stop abruptly as though you had nothing more to say. Your final words let your reader know your opinion decisively. It’s not O.K. to damn it with faint praise. If you want to damn it, damn it! “Boring” is not too strong a word to use.

Even when a book review is afforded a mere 20 words, it can still have significant impact on capturing a reader’s attention. Here are a couple of great examples from Newsweek:

Simple Pleasures by Alfred Portale

“In Fast Food My Way, one of the world’s most honored chefs, PBS star, Jacques Pepin encourages ‘baking’ potatoes in a microwave.”

“In his book, Simple Pleasures, Alfred Portale pares his complex cuisine to the basics. Who knew making roast cod with escargot butter could be this easy?”

The fastest way to get started as a cookbook reviewer is to blog exclusively on the topic of cookbooks. You can ask for review copies from publishers or publicists. You will easily find their addresses online. Eventually you may automatically be placed on their mailing lists.

You must use your own distinctive voice to develop a readership of your own. (The competition online and off is stiff.) But don’t be afraid to say what you think.

Do not heed the advice of E.M. Forster who said, “I don’t know what I think until I hear what I say.”

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Karen Berner, Food Editor, photo courtesy of Gloria Dawson

There are very few people I know whose career paths have moved in a straight line. The real constant is how they have matched and used their innate skills with their passion and possibility. I find these people the most interesting, don’t you? Take Karen Berner, for instance.

Karen is a successful food editor of websites and print, who combined a Fine Arts degree, an editor’s eye for accuracy, and a former IBM technical writer’s ability to communicate clearly and concisely. And, she changed careers to pursue her passion for food. Here, below, in her own words, is Karen’s recipe for success:

My path to the food-editorial world was somewhat unconventional. A career-changer at 37, I decided to pursue my secret dream of becoming a professional chef by enrolling at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA). But once there, I quickly realized there were many other interesting careers related to food outside of a restaurant kitchen.

My initial thoughts of happily toiling away behind the line changed when I was given the opportunity to do studio and test kitchen work for a food website geared to both professional chefs and cooking enthusiasts. It was the perfect fit; I’d be intimately involved with food, but this type of work would also tap into my creative side, one I still like to nurture every day.

Culinary Institute of America

My beginnings in the food world were humble. I started out working part-time in the CIA cookbook department, dealing with recipes for every cuisine under the sun. This job quickly led to producing food content and recipes in a test kitchen for a website. Here, I further honed my recipe development and editing skills as well as food-styling and photography abilities.

Working at a website, you’re often called on to wear many hats. So, I soon took on the responsibility of interviewing celebrity chefs. I’m sure their insights and contributions inspire many a student and food lover to follow their culinary path, myself included.

I later was able to transfer my skills to print media, working on the well-regarded Art Culinaire magazine for professional chefs. I essentially was doing the same work I handled for the website but took on more writing assignments. I also learned the tools necessary for putting a magazine together, including dealing with the pressures of deadlines and scheduling. My experience interviewing chefs came in handy; I was able to contribute to the popularity of the magazine while feeding the growing appetite for the inside scoop on celebrity and up-and-coming chefs.

I’d like to think that everything I’ve done up to now – writing, website work, technology knowledge, line cooking, recipe testing, teaching, and even experience as a private chef – has ultimately contributed to what I do today and aspire to do tomorrow.

Many have asked me what skills have made me a successful food editor. I think this can be boiled down to seven:

1. Keeping on top of food trends that you know will interest your readers.
2. Being able to purpose recipe and content that’s useful, approachable, friendly, and will appeal to a mass audience.
3. Strong writing and editing skills, and the ability to adapt to a magazine, cookbook, or a website’s established voice, tone, and style. (Think Martha Stewart vs. Rachael Ray.)
4. Strong management and organizational skills.
5. Great contacts in the food industry.
6. Solid recipe writing skills and the ability to edit ornery recipes when they’re problematic.
7. Being able to look at a recipe and troubleshoot what might be wrong with it before you’ve had the chance to test it.

Experience is key and critical to success, but it’s not always enough to land your dream job. Networking (whether via the latest social media venues or simply by getting out there and shaking a few hands) and perseverance are just as important.

Although I’ve worked in many parts of the food industry, I’m most comfortable in a kitchen, where I’m developing and testing recipes, whether for magazines, websites, or cookbooks. Having a solid recipe and ingredient base knowledge opens many a door. Why, I’ve even judged the famous Pillsbury Bake-Off baking contest. What a hoot!

I’ve also had the opportunity to teach the fundamentals of cooking to food enthusiasts and found this to be extremely rewarding.

I’m happy to share that after many years in the industry I still enjoy what I do — it’s challenging.  It’s never the same from day to day, and I get paid to eat. Not too shabby.

But it is important to keep growing, to keep dreaming up the next adventure. If I have my way, my next food adventure will be working on a TV show as part of a culinary production team. I think my test kitchen, food-styling, food photography, management, directing and editing skills will be a value add to the production.

If you’d like to contact Karen, you can reach her at kbern57@hotmail.com.

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I’ll begin by saying it takes a lot of courage to write in your own voice. Writing in your own voice means writing as though you are having a conversation with your best friend.

We all speak in many different voices. We pitch high when speaking to a gurgling baby. We speak differently when we coo to a beloved dog as compared to the one we use to talk to the cat — or when acknowledging the presence of a spider.

We speak to the boss — or the caller from the IRS — in a different tone from the way we address the person behind the counter from whom we are asking for half a pound of Swiss, please.

So the voice we employ for writing an article, or a book, or a blog posting must be the true one you really mean. Otherwise it’s like lying; it’s hard to remember how to keep your story straight. You establish credibility with your readers by being true to yourself.

Julia Child

I remember a writing student, who desperately wanted to be a successful cookbook author. She thought she could do this by counting the specific number of words Julia Child used in the head notes to her recipes — and replicating them. (Note: I wouldn’t customarily use the word “replicate” so I should have said “using” the same number of words.)

It was impossible to convince the student that it was Julia’s ideas, the accuracy of her recipes, her formidable physical and television presence that made her a national folk hero (not her actual voice!) with a voice.

Where do you find this thing called ‘voice?’ First, stop looking! You’ve already got it. Now all you need is the courage to believe your own unique way of expressing yourself is interesting.

Here’s a fine example of the distinctive voice that belongs to Diane Ackerman, the author of A Natural History of the Senses:

“Nothing looks more contented than a resting alligator. The mouth falls naturally into a crumpled smile, the eyes half close in a sleepy sort of way. The puckered back looks as harmless as the paper-mache maps of the Alps that children make in elementary school. The thick toes hog the mud like tree roots. Alligators, because their massive jaws curve upward, appear to be laughing even when they’re in repose. They seem caught in a great big private chuckle…”

Isn’t that simply brilliant writing? Every word is composed with infinite care. Diane Ackerman paints a picture in her own words. The description is factual yet evocative and stylish.

Compare this with the voice of Andy Rooney, complaining on 60 Minutes about advertising:

“The word ‘new’ appears in about half of all printed and broadcast advertising. Usually, the product is not only new; it’s ‘new and improved.’ If it’s going to be new and improved again next year, you might want to wait.”

Or, Alan Richman, of GQ, and multiple James Beard Foundation Award Winner, describing his job as a restaurant critic as “perceived as similar to ‘test driving a Mercedes or helping chorus girls in Las Vegas to get dressed…”

Jerry Della Famina

And, Jerry della Femina writing about my favorite subject: The Heyday of the Three-Martini Lunch:

“We called them silver bullets — they were six-ounce martinis made up of six ounces of gin, a drop of vermouth and a thin strip of lemon peel floating on the top, surrounded by a handful of silvery slivers of ice.

‘Straight up’ was the way most people drank in the 1960′s; ordering ‘on the rocks’ was seen as sign of weakness, as was the substitution of vodka.”

Absolutely marvelous! I can experience the sensation of the first sip!

Now you try. Paint a picture of an event; write a book review; describe the smell of an onion or the pain of a toothache in your very own, beautiful voice.

Next Wednesday: the topic is how to write a book review.

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It is a very, very bad idea to write an article and then try to find somebody (anybody) to publish it. This is not the way the system works.

The real first step is to identify the publication you want to pitch. This means you must put on your Sherlock Holmes hat and do some serious research. Read at least six back issues (you can find in the library or online), so you can be sure your idea is appropriate for the magazine you have in mind and a similar subject has not been recently covered.

In other words, don’t propose an article on Hearty Winter Stews for Dessert Professional magazine or the best way to grill steaks for a vegetarian magazine or Tea Houses of Tokyo for Edible Hudson Valley. Don’t suggest an article on Summer Fruit Soups if that topic was covered three months ago.

Examine every advertisement in your target publication so you have a clear picture of its readership profile: if the magazine ads lean towards costly jewels, wildly expensive perfume and luxury cars, an article on the joys of living on $5 a week won’t be a good fit.

Each magazine has its own distinctive style. Cook’s Illustrated is all about cooking techniques, Food & Wine is devoted to food and wine. It won’t be even mildly interested in homemade organic dog food or baby food.

You must decide what the magazine does and doesn’t do. Bon Ap doesn’t do food politics. Every May is devoted to foreign food. July is barbecue. Thanksgiving is, O.K. (November), you guessed correctly.

Once you have identified your desired partner, you must dance to its music and speak in its voice; formal or chatty, first person singular or the royal “we.”

Each page in each issue conforms to an established design. Don’t suggest a 3,500 word treatise on childhood obesity to a magazine that doesn’t customarily devote space to this or a similar advocacy topic. The publication won’t add another eight pages to accommodate your writing no matter how brilliant it is. It covers only predetermined departments.

So with all this information firmly in hand, make a copy for your files. Do not expect anyone to return your hard work.

Crafting the Query Letter

Remind yourself that the purpose of your query letter is to interest the food or features editor in your idea. Ready?

• Keep your query letter short.
• Introduce yourself: e.g., I am the executive chef at the White House.
• Explain your idea in one sentence: I will describe the food served at the President’s daughter’s wedding.
• Explain briefly the history of previous events you have covered: brunches for the bereaved, inaugural parties, cabinet meeting lunches.
• Offer six sample recipes and two writing samples

Mail your proposal to the appropriate editor. You will find her or his name on the masthead. It’s essential to spell the name correctly (I received a letter addressed to Ilona Chompers. I did not respond.)

Here’s a sample letter so you can see what I mean.

April 15th, 2012

Marta Stallforth
Food Editor
The Daily Blast
100 Paradise Lane
Utopia, KS 11111

Dear Ms. Stallforth:

I have been reading your magazine for several years, and I’ve noticed you are interested in celebrity functions. Last January, I was appointed to the position of White House executive chef.  Would you be in interested in an article about the food that will be served for 5,000 guests at the wedding of the President’s daughter?  I have obtained permission from the State Department to publish this information.

I have been a freelance writer for several years. My work has been published in XXX, XXX and XXX magazines. I am enclosing six recipes and two writing samples.

I will call you at 3 P.M. next Wednesday to see if you are interested in my proposal.

Yours sincerely,

Max Amillion

mmmgood@boilingpot.com.

Send it and the query letter by regular mail on beautiful stationery.

Make sure every word is spelled correctly. You may receive an almost immediate phone call saying, “YES PLEASE!”

If not, wait two weeks. Call the editor. If you are told she is not available, call again. If she is not available when you call again, don’t call again. You have already received the answer. It is “NO.”

Move on. Knock on another door. There is an editor who is looking for you.

Next Wednesday, I’ll write about that mysterious thing called Voice.

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This means keeping your eyes and ears open to everything that is happening around you. For example, today there is a lot of talk about salt.

Mark Kurlansky wrote an entire book on the subject of salt. Two handfuls of fleur de sel in a fancy container is selling for more than the steak. You may want to jump in and share your opinion about the heated discussion of reducing salt in processed foods and restaurant meals.

I think I could make a case to suggest that unless there is a compelling medical indication to reduce the quantity of salt we are eating, we should just be happy God gave us kidneys. (This kind of unsolicited opinion is sure to ruffle some indignant feathers.)

Food writers are rather like character actors. We must decide which role makes us most comfortable. Food science writers are hopeless about writing airy, fairy descriptions of the arrival of the first baby carrots of spring. Those who like facts and figures will have a difficult time writing an evocative restaurant review. Food humorists are impatient with the precision of recipe writing.

A single subject such as salt (or apples) can be handled in literally dozens of ways from the perspective of a nutritionist; a food historian; a fisherman; a chef; a food exporter or importer; a folklorist or a journalist. Each specialist approaches the subject from a different expertise.

Still stuck for inspiration? Read everything you can lay your hands on. Read the real estate section of the newspaper, for instance, and discover that city apartments in Manhattan are being offered without a kitchen. Ask yourself, why. Then write the answer.

Read on airline fare rates and you’ll discover that it costs way more to transport a dead body than a live one. Why?

How do restaurants get rid of young lovers whose hormones are baying at the moon after the clock has struck midnight?

Or, how about this? I’m sure you’ve been to restaurant with walls lined with autographed photographs of celebrities that send greetings and good wishes to the owner. How does this happen?

Did the star happen to have an 8″ x 10″ glossy photograph in his pocket in case he had a terrific lunch? Does the restaurateur beg for such recognition? Does the owner of the ‘Face on the Wall’ receive a free meal when he leaves an image of himself behind. As you see, there all sorts of possibilities  to be gleaned from a passing thought.

Next Wednesday: a word about writing a query letter to a magazine.

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I often try to think alphabetically as in Give Me an A! A is for — Apple. Yet A could also be for alligators; appetites; appetizers; aphrodisiacs; almonds — you get the picture. Sometimes food writing is simply about getting started.

If you want to be a food writer, an investigative food journalist like the New York Times’s Michael Moss, a food folklorist, a blogger at HuffPost Food, you must, a-hem, write!  And you must write regularly, be it for pleasure, be it for the purpose for making a living.

So I am going to challenge you: choose one topic from the list below, and write a 500-word article, a food memory, an analysis, a poem or three researched factoids  for a specific publication — today!

• Where apples grow: the life cycle of an apple from seed to harvest
• Johnny Appleseed
• How to bake an apple pie
• Cornell University repository of apple seeds
• The science of pomology
• Candy apples nutrition information
• How to make a dried apple doll
• Dunking for apples
• Toffee apples
• Old wives apple lore
• Varieties of apples
• Apples in art
• Apples in literature
• Apples in advertising
• Symbolism of apples in religion
• Apple’s logo
• origin of the Big Apple name for New York City
• Apple of my eye
• Apple pie bed
• Apple cider
• Calvados
• Tarte tatin
• Newton’s eureka apple moment
• McDonald’s apple dippers
• Apple cider
• Apple aromatherapy
• Apple picking
• An apple a day

… What have I missed?

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Courtesy of monicabhide.com

David Leite of Leite’s Culinaria asked several food editors what kind of writing they were looking for. With his permission, I’ll quote the answers he received.

John Willoughby of the New York Times (and formerly of Gourmet magazine) said, “What we’re all looking for is unusual new ideas. You can only find those by having a lot of food experiences, from cooking at home to traveling to Asia, and by reading —though not necessarily in the food field. I found my first food idea, about the diet of the Pima Indians, in an AIDS journal. So read everything.”

Pamela Kaufman of Food & Wine responded, “If you don’t have a lot of clips or food experience, start small. Write restaurant reviews for your local paper, write for a web site or start your own. Also, be an attentive reader — and eater.”

Margot True of Saveur suggested,”It’s very acceptable to send a spec piece, which is another avenue to take if a writer doesn’t have clips. If you’re interested in our front-of-the-book section, “Saveur Fare,” it’s easier if you write the piece and send it in. It gives our editors an idea of how well you understand that section.”

Victoria von Biel of Bon Appetit said, “We have a distinct split between editorial and recipe development. I don’t necessarily look for formal culinary training. But while you don’t need to be a trained chef, you do need to have a passion for this. Read the magazines, read the cookbooks and immerse yourself in the subject matter. It will show in your writing. I’m also a big believer in continuing education. Take cooking classes — and writing classes.”

As you see, these editors are looking for writers, who know what they are talking about.

You can’t fake it. But, in my opinion, this doesn’t mean you have a spend a fortune getting a degree in journalism and then occupy the next three years immersed in a professional culinary school.

R.W. Johnny Apple

The late R.W. “Johnny” Apple was a New York Times foreign correspondent who loved eating and drinking and became a prolific food writer. Like many successful writers he traveled extensively and had plenty to say.

You don’t have to follow any one else’s example, you can stay at home and, like Andy Rooney, simply comment on the passing scene. His ability to do this is unrivaled because he has nailed the profile of the CBS 60 Minutes viewer.

On a personal note, there are times when even the best of us total miss the mark in knowing our audience. Even moi! For several years, I was the keynote speaker at the annual IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals) Conferences. My talks were given at the end of lunch when the members were, (not to put too fine a point on it), — fairly sloshed, having suffered the lengthy and totally boring business session during which vast quantities of wine had been consumed. I delighted in poking fun at the food establishment in general and Martha the Magnificent in particular. It was a wonderfully receptive, though undeniably, tipsy audience.

One year I decided instead to talk about world hunger… Julia Child was seated at the head table. When I had finished, she said, “Irena dear, That was the boringest speech I’ve ever heard.” She was right of course. Wrong topic. Wrong time. Wrong audience.

More about honing your own unique voice and the right audience for your words next Wednesday.

Correction to Post Above:

I was remiss in not pointing out the article to which I refer was published in Writer’s Digest in 2004. This was an excellent review, and I believe the information to be as current and useful today as it was then. I should also add that Cara De Silva emailed to say “Margo True has been at Sunset Magazine for a long time now.”

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