Dear writers,
How is August treating you?
Among my many calls for feedback, one of the suggestions received was to tailor the newsletter to a theme. This week’s paid edition is an attempt to put that in practice.
In January this year, I conducted a virtual session (the Pitch Club II) on food writing featuring Vidya Balachander, and Anisha Rachel Oommen of The Goya Journal. Should any of you be interested in viewing a recording, I can offer it at a discounted rate. They spoke about different aspects of food writing, what makes for a good food pitch, how to be inclusive when writing about food, etc, and they shared successful pitches too.
The paid newsletter, out tomorrow, will feature an interview with Jonathan Nunn of the fantastic food publication/ newsletter Vittles; writer Anubhuti Krishna shares pointers on what its like to be a food writer; there’s a curated list of people to follow for those seeking to polish their food-writing skills; a guide to publications that take food pitches; food writing prompts for those struggling with ideas, and more.
As I’ve mentioned earlier, I have closed yearly subscriptions to IAW (I am unable to change that on Substack). If interested, I can offer one month, three months or six months only.
Want to subscribe? Email itsallwrite@outlook.in or reply here.
The free version of the newsletter is below. I’ve shared a reading guide, some part of the Pocket Guide, and some advice…all about food, of course.
Ready, let’s begin.
READING GUIDE
Kim Severson’s talks about using food as a lens to enter any issue of importance.
Dianne Jacob, the author of Will Write for Food: The Complete Guide to Writing Cookbooks, Blogs, Reviews, Memoir, and More, shares some handy tips on writing about food.
Content writer Kanchan Bugga shares 12 tips on How to write a mouth-watering piece on food.
In this fascinating piece, Jon Bonné applies a critical lens to restaurants and discusses how some high-end American restaurants that more or less cosplay a mid-century notion of masculinity.
POCKET GUIDE
(Writing resources & more)
I. Food newsletters
Food and Wine put together a guide of some interesting newsletter
Food writer Shirin Mehrotra’s Deep Fry (she takes pitches too)
II. Writing prompts
These aren’t just ideas for stories, but also will help you polish your writing skills.
What’s your favourite cooking/food show right now? What do you like about it?
If you could eat dinner anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
Write down 10 of your favourite food words. Turn them into sentences. Turn each sentence into a blog post idea.
What’s the most important tool/appliance/gadget in your kitchen?
What food trend do you absolutely hate?
What’s one ingredient that you’ve seen in the grocery store or market, but have been too scared to purchase?
What is your most memorable meal?
ADVICE
Some pointers for pitching food stories:
Add a personal element: even if it isn’t a personal essay, bringing yourself in the pitch can make it stronger.
Always link to related stories; change your bio to reflect your expertise in the subject/ region mentioned in the pitch.
Read/ follow other writers. I learn a lot — about the topic and about how to write a good story — from reading other food writers.
If pitching internationally, go basic. What may seem ‘normal’ for us may be completely novel for them. Case in point: the sudden interest in panta bhaat after it featured in MasterChef Australia finale. I’ve written about Goa sausages, and bombil and I’ve read stories about vada pav, tadkas, and hing.
Try and showcase some kind of diversity in your stories. I admit that many of my stories on Goan food are very narrow — I write from a Goan Catholic perspective, but, I have been trying to change that.
Stuck for ideas? Go to Google News and check what’s trending in the food space globally. There you will find studies, research articles and more that are bound to ignite the spark of an idea.
SUBSCRIBER SPEAK
A big thank you to everyone who wrote in telling me the loveliest things about IAW and how it has helped them, and writing me testimonials. You can read them all, here.
From subscriber, Faye Remedois.
“You had helped me with a pitch as part of the one-year subscription offer you had. This was a piece on eating with your hands. I was initially looking to publish this in an international publication but when I didn't find takers, I tried pitching Indian ones, and Deccan Herald gave it a thumbs up.”
Published link
Here’s another reminder to please add this email id to your inbox, so the newsletter doesn’t go into spam. Get in touch if you want to subscribe.
I also welcome suggestions on what else you would like to see in this newsletter. The next edition will likely be about food, too!
Until next time, stay safe, be kind to yourself, and don’t waste time dealing with right-wingers.
Regards,
Joanna