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Betty Williams's avatar

Hi there Mastermind foodie fam! I'm putting together a Holiday Pie-palooza post and would love to include your pie recipe! As you know, readers in Q4 (last quarter of the year) are looking for holiday treats. Some of the highest-read posts last year were for holiday goodies.

The Goal: Get more eyeballs on ALL of our newsletters and help potential subscribers find us.

How to Participate: DM me the link to one pie recipe on your Substack newsletter. I will put the link and pie photo in the Pie-palooza post. It would be optimal if that post is free and not paywalled, but you're an adult so you can do what you want.

Deadline: Monday, October 27. Yes, this is a long lead time, but if you don't yet have a pie recipe, this gives you a chance to test and publish a pie recipe between now and the deadline.

Pie-palooza Publish Date: Saturday, November 1.

Then the marathon (I mean MAGIC, lol) begins! All of us restacking the Pie-palooza post multiple times during the months of November and December - just when peeps are looking for pie recipes - is hopefully going to *actually* be magic.

Why RESTACKING is important: We all write about food and may have some audience overlap, but the majority of our audiences are in our own spheres of influence and interest. You reach peeps I never could and vice versa. That simple restack (and/or shoutout in your newsletter) will have a ripple effect for everyone. Win-win!

Please consider joining in the Holiday Pie-palooza! DM me with any questions.

Giovanna Solimando's avatar

Thank you for this, Betty. I don’t have any pies on my calendar, as pies aren’t really a thing in my region. I suppose I could come up with a Puglia-inspired pie ahah. Any chance you would consider other holiday treats too? I wonder if other writers might have the same issue.

Lisa McLean's avatar

Hi Giovanna, I think pie might be bigger as a culinary thing in the US than globally. Having said that, the one person pie is very big in Australia.

Rebecca Blackwell's avatar

So interesting that individual pies are a big thing in Australia. As luck would have it, my contribution to this event is going to be mini 6-inch pies!

Lisa McLean's avatar

Well you are set for a breakin to the Australian market Rebecca, big time. We love a little pie. In fact there is a thing called party pies. Tiny pies, generally out of the freezer section, big at office parties.

I think a good party pie could potentially save the world. Put that in your pie palooza Betty.

Rebecca Blackwell's avatar

I mean… if there’s even a chance that pie could save the world, we gotta try it, right?

Lisa McLean's avatar

Definitely, it’s the only right thing to do. Send them to the Nobel committee today.

Giovanna Solimando's avatar

What’s a one person pie? The little ones? Did you see the apple pie I had over the weekend? Maybe the one person pie is like that. We make crostata which is a similar concept but they aren’t fully covered like a pie, if you know what I mean.

Betty Williams's avatar

It’s just pies for the Pie-palooza! If you read the details, the deadline to submit is October 27 so you have some time to publish a pie if you don’t have one already posted!

Giovanna Solimando's avatar

Ok yeah. I thought I’d check, in case there was room for changing it/expanding it. I don’t think I’ll have a pie recipe. It just doesn’t fit with my content. Next time :)

Mira Dessy's avatar

Getting excited! November 1 is just around the corner!

Betty Williams's avatar

Me too! There are already some great pie recipes people have submitted. It’s going to be a fun list!

Mira Dessy's avatar

Hi Betty, Thank you for doing this!!

I have two pie recipes. One is for canned apple pie filling which is great for when you want to get most of the work out of the way. The other is for a gluten free dumpling crust pot pie. Neither is on Substack yet but will be in time for Pie-Palooza. Which one would you prefer?

And, having never participated in a Substack Restack Fest, will you have instructions on how/how often/when to share the magic?

Betty Williams's avatar

That's great that you will be publishing these pies! Honestly, it's up to you on what you'd like to submit. I'm not opposed to including a savory pie, lol. As for Restacks, it's basically restacking whenever you like and what fits into your Notes schedule. No rules on that one, just hit the restack button, and add a note with it if you want. Fingers crossed that we all do this and it reaches to the outer edges of our reader universe!

Lisa McLean's avatar

I left a message in November announcing a collab with Annada. I have asked her to post a note about it today, as time is drawing close. I think the note may have been posted to general notes, so I'm copying it here as this is the group we are inviting collaboration from.

It's a Curry night. Here's Annada's Note.

Lisa McLean and I are unleashing the “Curry Night” in January 2026. It will be the most enviable collection of curry recipes from around the world.

Everyone is welcome to submit their curry post for inclusion in this master post and repost event. Curries of any cuisine are welcome; we will probably set it up by cuisines or ingredients. We encourage you to include the accompaniment for the curry, but a single curry recipe will be good too.

Details

Post needs to be public for the month of January 2026 (needs to be live at least a week before the deadline of Jan 12th)

Can be any cuisine

Can include a menu for accompanying dishes

Submission deadline Monday 12th Jan 2026

Published the week of 19th Jan 2026

Submission of post to include a short headnote (about 150 words) along with the recipe.

Submission of posts to either Annada D. Rathi or Lisa McLean

Are you excited or are you excited?

Maggie J's avatar
3dEdited

Hi friends! I’d like to host a recipe round-up post à la the curry one done around the holidays. This time we’ll be talking condiments!

If interested in participating, please create a post with your favorite condiment. This could be a salad dressing, mayo-based somethingor other, chutney, homemade teriyaki, etc. I’m open to anything that can be used to enhance a dish! I mean, isn’t most food just a vehicle to get a good sauce into our mouths easier??

Here are details to consider if participating:

·      Post needs to be public for the month of May 2026*

·      Post needs to be on Substack

·      Can be any cuisine

·      Can include a menu for accompanying dishes

·      Submission deadline Tuesday, April 28, 2026

·      Post will be published Tuesday, May 5, 2026

·      Submission of post to include a short headnote (about 150 words) along with the recipe.

·      Submission of posts to Maggie Joos (This Is The Real Good Life)

*I don’t have a paid section of my site, so this post will stay free for perpetuity. I would suggest you leave your included post open to the public for all 2026 but appreciate that might be too much to ask.

Please let me know if you have any questions! Thank you for considering!!

Rebecca Blackwell's avatar

This is fantastic, Maggie! Thank you for doing this!

Maggie J's avatar

Anything for a good sauce!

Kelsey Erin Shipman's avatar

Hi everyone! I'd love to collaborate with this fabulous group.

Who I am:

Kelsey Shipman, cofounder of Write Up, an online community for writers pursuing traditional publishing for their first book. I’m also a ghostwriter and collaborator on cookbooks and memoirs, and I write satirical, food-meets-politics recipes on Substack.

What I’d love to do:

-Be a guest on a podcast about writing, publishing, storytelling, living abroad, ghostwriting, cookbook writing, or community building

-Write a guest post (or be interviewed) for a newsletter or Substack

-Do a short shout-out or promo swap with another aligned community

-Teach a practical class or workshop on literary citizenship, ghostwriting, book proposals, cookbook writing, or online community building

What I can offer in return:

-An interview or feature inside the Write Up Circle community

-A guest post or feature on my food/political satire Substack

-A teaching opportunity for you inside Write Up

-A discount or special invitation for your audience to join Write Up or Debut Author Club

Who my audience is:

Writers pursuing traditional publishing for their first book, plus readers who love sharp food writing and political satire.

Audience size:

-120 members in my Circle community

-50 Substack subscribers (doubled in the past month)

-Significant presence on Instagram and LinkedIn

I’d love to collaborate!

Lori Olson White's avatar

Hey all! Firstly, if you have a favorite potato salad recipe, story or both, I’d love to include it in my free and downloadable ebook - which btw, contributors are free to share with their readers. I also link to contributing Substacks (and stories if they’ve been published) in the ebook. Thanks!

And secondly, I’m always excited to work with others in my lane. So, if you’re interesting in anything having to do with the intersection of food and family stories, I’m your gal. 😉

Lori Olson White's avatar

Oh me, @Judy! I’d love to add it to my potato salad recipe book here in Substack!

Giovanna Solimando's avatar

Hi! Just followed you earlier today and coincidentally found your comment here now. I just joined Substack so I haven’t posted much, and I’m still trying to figure out how much and when to post. In summary, I share what I cook and grow from my kitchen and garden in California, with an Apulian (I’m from Puglia, Italy) lens. I also write micro-essays (flash non-fiction), and on my Substack I will most likely share the ones about the intersection between food and family, identity and tradition ..

Lori Olson White's avatar

Thanks and welcome! I can’t wait for to read your take on culinary + family history themes!

Judie Davis Glick's avatar

I’ve got a classic ps receipe that was in both cookbooks I co-published. Who wants it?

Giovanna Solimando's avatar

Thanks. I should have added that I’ve been looking for food writers who share recipes alongside family+food stories (as that’s what I’d like to do here), but I haven’t had any luck. It seems that it’s either or. Glad to have come across your account.