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What Is Freelance Food Writing
If you have a good appetite and a way with words, food writing may be a career option to consider. Not only is doing research for food writing one of the more enjoyable tasks in freelance writing, but you'll never be short of restaurant recommendations and potential free meals -- though you may run short of well-fitting pants.
To become a successful freelance food writer, you'll need to know how to describe food well. The key to description, at least in traditional literature, is to make focused, concrete comparisons. To see why, ask yourself which sentence you find more appealing: "It was the tastiest shrimp I've ever eaten," or "The lime-pressed garlic shrimp, grilled over applewood, had a texture between the crunch of caramelized sugar and the soft resistance of a medium-rare salmon filet"?
The fundamental law of food writing is to make your reader wish that he or she had some of whatever delicious dish you're writing about, to make the reader personally invested in the food. And there's a strange quirk in the human mind: whenever we think about an object or activity, we activate the parts of our brain that turn on whenever we're interacting with that object or engaged in that activity. In other words: if we think about throwing a baseball, the nerves in our arm twitch. Or, if we think about eating a thick steak, our stomach grumbles and our mouth waters. When you're writing about food, you want to activate those same parts of the brain to make your reader feel that he or she is sharing in the experience of eating it. Words like "tasty," "delicious," or, worst of all, "really good," won't do anything for your reader's emotions. Only words related to food -- or words and images with strong emotional connotations -- will really get your readers' mouths watering.
Once you've written your articles, where do you market your food writing? If you live in a large city, you can write for a local newspaper or an alternative paper (i.e. the LA Weekly, the Austin Chronicle, etc.). Millions of people read these papers daily or weekly, and a good portion of those millions read the food section. When anyone in a major city needs to make restaurant reservations for a date, business dinner, party, or other social engagement, they look in the food section of the local paper for hot new restaurant reviews. Stay on top of restaurant openings and closings in your city. New restaurant openings can be your bread and butter. Local newspapers and online city guides are always wanting to print new restaurant reviews.
If you have a favorite local hangout that not many people know about, write an article on it. Submit your article with a proper query letter to a local newspaper. You might be the first one to write about the place, throwing needed business their way. In the end, you collect a decent paycheck from the newspaper, along with a published clip, a byline, and hopefully more work and referrals.
Another option is to write for magazines dedicated to food, dining, city nightlife, general lifestyles, or for the tourist market. If you plan to write for magazines, your choice of what to write about becomes much broader. You can write how-to articles, interview pieces, cookware reviews, and so on. If you plan to write for local tourism guides, your best bet is to write restaurant reviews. Tourists may not know about any of the well-known restaurants or diners in the area. Tourism guides provide insight and guidance to whats hot and whats not in the area. This means that there's a steady flow of potential readers for your restaurant reviews and other food writing.
If you don't live in a large city, it's much more difficult to become a food writer. The mom n' pop cafe downtown may have some of the best omelets you've ever tasted, but how are you supposed to sell an article if everyone in town already eats at that cafe every Friday night? Consider selling your articles to regional magazines. The Department of Transportation in several US states often publishes a monthly magazine about regional news. The editors of these magazines often look at local restaurant reviews as a source of human interest, or a way of boosting out-of-state tourism to non-traditional destinations.
Additionally, you might try writing sample copy for cookbooks, press releases for food suppliers, or ads for food companies. Companies and book publishers hire good food writers to help market anything from new varieties of pasta sauce to gourmet steak dishes. Even a nearby supermarket might be willing to pay for copy in weekly ad flyers.
Unfortunately for rural types, full-time food writing is more often than not an urban game. For urban types, food is one of the products that won't ever stop being popular, especially when it's offered as part of a good restaurant experience. Thus food writing means job security, and more importantly than that: it's just outright enjoyable writing. So get to it!
BONUS : What Is Freelance Ghostwriting?
Becoming a successful ghostwriter demands two things: discretion and the ability to work quickly based on someone else's outline. Ghostwriting may not be the most creatively satisfying opportunity in the general field of freelance writing. Many writers dont like slapping someone else's name on their words; however, freelance ghostwriting can pay well, and can provide you with some much needed income and networking contacts during lean phases of your writing career.
Being a successful ghostwriter means sacrificing some of your own creative principles and work ethics in favor of the work. A client will sometimes come to you with nothing more than a topic idea and title, or may come to you with full chapter outlines and a directive to mimic the style of a well-known writer. This is where the question of ethics comes in. Ghostwriting is inherently on shaky ethical ground, at least in the publics eye, because the author whose name is on the book or article may not have written a single word. Readers may feel duped if they found out. However you look at it, the essence of ghostwriting is a contract: you're trading your writing ability and your agreement not to claim credit on a work for money, usually a decent amount.
If you're willing to do ghostwriting work, you need to make sure that you're not compromising any of your principles. How would you feel about writing 200 pages "in the style of Hemingway" or working on a project that involves too much research, all with someone else's name on it? If you disagree with any part of a project, then you should pass it up and find projects better suited for you.
Of course, there's always a balancing act: if you stick to your principles and refuse too many ghostwriting contracts, you may not be able to succeed financially as a ghostwriter. You could also miss some good writing contacts. If your "writing partner" is established in the literary field, or he has worked with other ghostwriters in the past, he can possibly connect you with some future assignments or throw well-paying work your way. It's up to you to think about what you will and will not do, and accept or reject offers accordingly.
Whatever the project, though, under no circumstances should you work for free (or for promises of "future royalties"). This is true for freelance writing in general, but doubly true with ghostwriting. If you're doing magazine articles under your own name for free (or for "spec," as it's called), then you have at least some leverage for collecting promised future payments if the magazine turns a profit. Your byline is on the material -- and you own it.
If you're not writing under your own name -- if you are, in fact, selling the copyright to your own work, which ghostwriting often amounts to -- you need to ask the client to pay you in advance, anywhere between 25 and 50% of the total project. Asking for payment in advance is a good sign to many clients that you're serious about your work, and a warning to anyone who's considering ripping you off. If a prospective client isn't willing to pay you a percentage up front, ask why. If you don't like the answer, then dont take the project.
If you decide not to collect an advanced payment, then you stand almost no chance of getting paid for work you've done if the client fleeces you. There are many shady businesses and individuals who use online freelancing services or post classified ads asking young, inexperienced writers to write them a book for free. These bogus classified ads promise payment somewhere down the road (as well as promises of a published background, valuable experience, and the like). It's never a good idea to ghostwrite for free. Use your valuable time to ghostwrite for money and always collect an advanced payment before you begin any ghostwriting assignment.
After you have collected an advanced payment for a ghostwriting assignment, you need to adhere to all deadlines and get the work done. Ghostwriting often has short deadlines and strict requirements about content and voice, plus the veto power of the "writing partner" (whose name is going on it, after all.) If you want to avoid rewrites, be scrupulous about sticking to whatever materials the client gives you. If the client doesn't give you anything more than a general directive, you'll have to do a bit more work, but you also have more creative freedom to put more of yourself into the writing.
At its best, ghostwriting is not only one of the more potentially lucrative fields of freelance writing, but one with an unusual degree of freedom, and a chance to get out of your own writing "skin" and experiment. If you keep your head about you, choose your clients carefully, write creatively and professionally, and follow close directions, then you can succeed as a freelance ghostwriter.
Becoming a successful ghostwriter demands two things: discretion and the ability to work quickly based on someone else's outline. Ghostwriting may not be the most creatively satisfying opportunity in the general field of freelance writing. Many writers dont like slapping someone else's name on their words; however, freelance ghostwriting can pay well, and can provide you with some much needed income and networking contacts during lean phases of your writing career.
Being a successful ghostwriter means sacrificing some of your own creative principles and work ethics in favor of the work. A client will sometimes come to you with nothing more than a topic idea and title, or may come to you with full chapter outlines and a directive to mimic the style of a well-known writer. This is where the question of ethics comes in. Ghostwriting is inherently on shaky ethical ground, at least in the publics eye, because the author whose name is on the book or article may not have written a single word. Readers may feel duped if they found out. However you look at it, the essence of ghostwriting is a contract: you're trading your writing ability and your agreement not to claim credit on a work for money, usually a decent amount.
If you're willing to do ghostwriting work, you need to make sure that you're not compromising any of your principles. How would you feel about writing 200 pages "in the style of Hemingway" or working on a project that involves too much research, all with someone else's name on it? If you disagree with any part of a project, then you should pass it up and find projects better suited for you.
Of course, there's always a balancing act: if you stick to your principles and refuse too many ghostwriting contracts, you may not be able to succeed financially as a ghostwriter. You could also miss some good writing contacts. If your "writing partner" is established in the literary field, or he has worked with other ghostwriters in the past, he can possibly connect you with some future assignments or throw well-paying work your way. It's up to you to think about what you will and will not do, and accept or reject offers accordingly.
Whatever the project, though, under no circumstances should you work for free (or for promises of "future royalties"). This is true for freelance writing in general, but doubly true with ghostwriting. If you're doing magazine articles under your own name for free (or for "spec," as it's called), then you have at least some leverage for collecting promised future payments if the magazine turns a profit. Your byline is on the material -- and you own it.
If you're not writing under your own name -- if you are, in fact, selling the copyright to your own work, which ghostwriting often amounts to -- you need to ask the client to pay you in advance, anywhere between 25 and 50% of the total project. Asking for payment in advance is a good sign to many clients that you're serious about your work, and a warning to anyone who's considering ripping you off. If a prospective client isn't willing to pay you a percentage up front, ask why. If you don't like the answer, then dont take the project.
If you decide not to collect an advanced payment, then you stand almost no chance of getting paid for work you've done if the client fleeces you. There are many shady businesses and individuals who use online freelancing services or post classified ads asking young, inexperienced writers to write them a book for free. These bogus classified ads promise payment somewhere down the road (as well as promises of a published background, valuable experience, and the like). It's never a good idea to ghostwrite for free. Use your valuable time to ghostwrite for money and always collect an advanced payment before you begin any ghostwriting assignment.
After you have collected an advanced payment for a ghostwriting assignment, you need to adhere to all deadlines and get the work done. Ghostwriting often has short deadlines and strict requirements about content and voice, plus the veto power of the "writing partner" (whose name is going on it, after all.) If you want to avoid rewrites, be scrupulous about sticking to whatever materials the client gives you. If the client doesn't give you anything more than a general directive, you'll have to do a bit more work, but you also have more creative freedom to put more of yourself into the writing.
At its best, ghostwriting is not only one of the more potentially lucrative fields of freelance writing, but one with an unusual degree of freedom, and a chance to get out of your own writing "skin" and experiment. If you keep your head about you, choose your clients carefully, write creatively and professionally, and follow close directions, then you can succeed as a freelance ghostwriter.
