Recording and notes from the January 21 meeting
Pitching to magazines + organizing a writing schedule + collaboration opportunities!
A HUGE thank you to this month’s mini-masterclass teachers Halona Black and Amie McGraham, and to Mira Dessy and Elizabeth Pizzinato who are working to create collaboration opportunities for interested members of this group!
If you weren’t able to join us this week, you’ll find the recording below and it’s packed with great information!
Halona started us off with a meaty class about what it takes to successfully pitch articles to magazines and other publications. Then Amie showed us how she organizes her schedule to write TWO substacks, a book, freelance projects, and still take time off every week.
Here’s where you’ll find the recording for this month’s meeting.
If prompted, enter this passcode: e=k+!?5q
Additional Resources
Halona has generously shared this great resource with us, 5 Successful Magazine Pitches. I just downloaded this document and it’s incredibly informative. Halona shared 5 actual pitches that were accepted along with and links to the finished articles. It’s fantastic. Thank you so much Halona!
Amie shared the slide deck she used for her mini-masterclass plus this great list of resources! Thank you so much Amie!
Coming soon: Collaboration opportunities!
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!
Collaboration Network
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.
Coming soon: Book club!
Liza Debevec, who hosts the monthly mastermind meeting for food writers in Europe, Africa and Asia Pacific time zone, asked this question in the Mastermind Chat earlier this week:
Would members of mastermind be interested in doing a book club? I’m an avid/voracious reader (and eater) and I particularly like food related books, not just cookbook a recipe box, but also food memoirs or fiction books that feature food as an important component. I would love to organize a book club around a food book. If you are interested, drop your name in the comments or send me a direct message. The idea is to read books in a way that is relaxed and doesn’t add to people stress but increases our collective appreciation for good food and good writing.
A lot of you responded to Liza’s question with enthusiasm and Linda Naylor volunteered to co-lead the group! If you’re interested, let Liza and Linda know and then stay tuned for more information!
One more resource: Write Up!
For those of you looking for more resources, tips, and insight into pitching articles to magazines and landing freelance food writing projects, I want to recommend the Write Up! community.
Write Up! was created by Kelsey Erin Shipman and Hannah Howard. You might remember Kelsey from the December meeting, where she taught a 90-minute masterclass about How to Write a Cookbook Proposal. (You can access that recording here.)
Among a host of other resources, you’ll find monthly events on a variety of topics, including How to Write Better Recipes, happening this Friday, taught by myself (Rebecca Blackwell) and Betty Williams!
Create a free account, poke around, and maybe even sign up to join Betty and I for this Friday’s workshop. :-)
More about this month’s masterclass teachers:
Halona Black is a food, travel, and wellness writer who has lived in 10 countries since 2018. Her work explores food as culture, care, and lived experience, and she has written personal essays, lifestyle features, and chef interviews for publications including AARP The Magazine, Sisters From AARP, and Business Insider. In addition to her editorial work, Halona has ghostwritten cookbooks, developed recipes, and taught healthy cooking to children through after-school programs in Brooklyn and at Whole Foods Market. She currently lives in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, where she continues to write about food, creativity, and building a sustainable writing life.
Amie McGraham is a food and travel writer who grew up on an island in Maine among a family of writers and artists. As a kid, her career goal was to be a famous novelist. Life happened; the writing did not. After twenty years of wandering the fjords of Norway and partying on every beach in Southern California, she earned a degree in English and landed a career in insurance sales and marketing. After 25 years in the corporate world, Amie stepped down to care for her mom. And suddenly, the words poured out. Today, Amie writes and shares how the two worlds she inhabits—island and desert—have shaped her writing roots. Amie’s work has won awards in literary publications, including HerStry and Intrepid Times, and appeared in anthologies and literary magazines including Brevity, Short Reads, Maine Magazine, Maine Sunday Telegram and Exposition Review.
As always, please let me know if you have questions or suggestions!
So many wonderful things this month. I'm deeply grateful to be part of this group. Thank you for all you do for all of us Rebecca.
Thank you for the shout out, Rebecca! We'd love to have a few more Masterminders in Write Up.