The Food Writers Business Lab is available through the paid subscription tier of Mastermind for Food Writers. An annual membership costs $150 and includes:
Unlimited access to every Part One instructional workshop throughout the year
The opportunity to register for optional Part Two working sessions for $50 each
A growing library of practical education created specifically for food writers, by food writers
The Food Writers Business Lab is self-funded. This means that the income generated through paid subscriptions directly supports the instructors who teach the classes. So, the number of classes scheduled are dependent on the number of paid subscriptions generated. New classes are added as funding is made available.
It’s just one more way we can support one another.
DIY Cookbook Proposals
Instructor: Kelsey Erin Shipman
Writing a cookbook proposal is different from writing a cookbook. It requires a different set of skills. But, they’re skills anyone can learn. Whether you’re a chef, recipe developer, food writer, content creator, or culinary professional, you can write a compelling cookbook proposal yourself. You just need to know what agents and editors are looking for and have a roadmap for getting there.
This class was taught live on August 7. Here is where you’ll find the recording. There is still time to register for part 2, on Friday, August 28.
Part 2: Implement. Whether you were able to join us for the live class or watched the recording, this is your chance to implement everything you learned in this class. Bring your homework, your questions, your roadblocks, and your challenges. Together, we’ll review what you’ve implemented, troubleshoot challenges, exchange ideas, and get thoughtful feedback from both the instructor and other food writers working toward similar goals.
When: Friday, August 28, 1:00pm-2:30pm EDT
Recording: DIY Cookbook Proposals
Writing a cookbook proposal is different from writing a cookbook. It requires a different set of skills. But they’re skills anyone can learn. Whether you’re a chef, recipe developer, food writer, content creator, or culinary professional, you can write a compelling cookbook proposal yourself
The Heart of Your Brand
Your business grows when your work becomes more honest, not more polished.
Every successful creator has a central idea that runs through everything they create. It’s there for you too, even if you haven’t found the words for it yet.
It’s the quality you bring to every word you write, recipe you develop, photograph you take, and story you tell. It’s present in every situation and relationship in your life, including the one you have with your readers. It’s so deeply woven into who you are that you couldn’t separate it from your work if you tried.
Whether your audience is thousands of people or five, this is what readers are responding to. The world doesn’t need another recipe or another food writer. Readers come back because of the way your work makes them feel.
They come back because they’ve connected with you. Once you understand what they’re responding to, and learn to communicate it clearly and consistently, you give the right readers a reason to recognize themselves in your work.
Your loyal readers aren’t there because of what you write. They are loyal because of how your recipes, stories, and words make them feel.
In this workshop, we’ll uncover the central idea that gives your work meaning and makes readers feel connected to it. You’ll learn how to identify the feeling that people return for, articulate why readers are naturally drawn to it, and create a strategy for clearly communicating that message across your entire brand.
Instructor: Rebecca Blackwell
Part 1: Learn. The first session will be a recorded instructional workshop with an in-depth homework assignment to help you put the material into practice.
When: August 13, 5:00pm - 6:30pm EST
Part 2: Implement. Bring your homework, your questions, your roadblocks, and your challenges. Together, we’ll review what you’ve implemented, troubleshoot challenges, exchange ideas, and get thoughtful feedback from both the instructor and other food writers working toward similar goals.
When: August 20, 5:00pm - 6:30pm EST
How To Build A Platform That Will Sell Your Book
You can be posting, showing up, and creating content consistently and still feel like your audience isn’t growing the way you expected. In many cases, the problem isn’t that you’re not doing enough. It’s that you’re focusing on only one piece of the puzzle.
In this class, Stephanie Moon will show you how readers move from discovering your work to trusting you to buying your book. You’ll learn the three essential stages of author platform growth: visibility, nurture, and conversion. You’ll learn why social media alone isn’t a full audience-building strategy, what it really takes to create lasting reader relationships, and how to spot the stage that’s missing in your own platform.
Instructor: Stephanie Moon
Part 1: Learn. The first session will be a recorded instructional workshop with an in-depth homework assignment to help you put the material into practice.
When: Thursday, September 17, 1:00pm-2:30pm EDT
Part 2: Implement. Bring your homework, your questions, your roadblocks, and your challenges. Together, we’ll review what you’ve implemented, troubleshoot challenges, exchange ideas, and get thoughtful feedback from both the instructor and other food writers working toward similar goals.
When: Thursday, September 24, 1:00pm-2:30pm EDT
SEO for Food Writers
In this hands-on workshop, food writers will learn to think about SEO not as a technical burden, but as a way of building bridges from their work to their readers. Because that’s exactly what good SEO is: paths that meet readers where they are and lead them back to you.
Instructor: Rebecca Blackwell
Part 1: Learn. The first session will be a recorded instructional workshop with an in-depth homework assignment to help you put the material into practice.
When: October 15, 12pm-1:30pm CST
Part 2: Implement. Bring your homework, your questions, your roadblocks, and your challenges. Together, we’ll review what you’ve implemented, troubleshoot challenges, exchange ideas, and get thoughtful feedback from both the instructor and other food writers working toward similar goals.
When: October 22, 12pm-1:30pm CST