Collaboration Network

Find other substack food writers to collaborate with

by Elizabeth Pizzinato and Mira Dessy

As we embark on a new year, we thought it would be helpful to create a shared set of collaboration guidelines for the Mastermind for Food Writers community. This community has already created generous, creative, and high-impact collaborations. A special shout out to Betty Williams, Lisa McLean, and Annada D. Rathi for their fantastic efforts so far!

These guidelines are meant to support what’s working, respect our shared space, and help collaborations grow even more fruitful and sustainable over time. This is a living framework and will continue to evolve as we learn together.

They’re meant to apply only to collaborations organized within the Mastermind for Food Writers community. Outside of the Mastermind, you are always free to collaborate however and as often as you wish. These guidelines are intentionally limited to the Mastermind for Food Writers community space.

A Shared Intention

Within the Mastermind for Food Writers community, we want collaboration to feel:

• Generous, not transactional

• Energizing, not overwhelming

• Equitable, not repetitive

A light structure will help us make room for more voices, avoid fatigue, and keep collaboration meaningful for everyone involved.

Collaboration Rhythm (Within the Mastermind for Food Writers community)

To keep this community from becoming saturated with continuous requests:

• As a general guideline, we’re recommending limiting Mastermind-based roundups to no more than two per month.

• Members who lead a roundup or major collaboration are asked to wait two months before leading another. This rhythm helps create space for others to initiate collaborations and keeps participation feeling intentional rather than constant.

Participation, Visibility & Generosity

Because collaborations within the Mastermind for Food Writers community rely on shared trust and goodwill:

• Participants are asked to make their contributed content freely available (not behind a paywall) for an agreed-upon period of time (generally at least 30 days).

• All contributors should be clearly credited and linked, with care taken to share attention and visibility across participants.

• Participation is always optional, and we recognize that members have different capacities at different times.

What’s Next

We’ll be creating a shared calendar for upcoming Mastermind-based collaborations, along with a Collaboration Toolkit to support planning and communication. These resources —along with these guidelines — will live in the Community Resources section of the Mastermind for Food Writers page.

Thank you for the care, creativity, and generosity you bring to this community. We look forward to discussing these ideas with you at our upcoming Mastermind meet ups later this month!

From Rebecca Blackwell: Please leave any feedback and suggestions in the comments or over in the Mastermind for Food writers chat! You are also welcome to reach out directly to Elizabeth Pizzinato and Mira Dessy, who have generously volunteered to head up this effort. Thank you so much Elizabeth and Mira!!!