Dianne Jacob's Blog, page 10

Update: Yes, You Can Still Write Off Business Meals

In a 2018 blog post, I interviewed Steve Hoffman, a tax preparer and food writer, about tax issues, freelancing, and how the new tax law might affect people in our industry. Of most concern was whether we food writers could still write off business meals.

First there was bad news, but now there’s good news.  Steve said he didn’t think the IRS would let us write off business meals anymore. But later in the year, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) clarified the new law, to our advantage.

Here’s how Steve puts it: “The new tax law eliminated any deductions for entertainment, which most tax preparers originally interpreted to mean both meals and entertainment. Under the prior law, sole proprietors and small businesses could deduct 50% of the cost of business related meals (such as restaurants, bars, and cafes) and entertainment (such as theater and sporting events). Most of us preparers thought businesses and self-employed people had lost all of those deductions with the arrival of this new law.”

“In August, however, the IRS issued some new rulings and procedures, and it now appears that, while entertainment is still eliminated as a deduction, business related meals are allowed.”

So, fabulous, right? Keep this in mind, though. Steve says those meals must still have a clear business purpose. Typical examples might include:

Taking a client to lunch to discuss future projects
Meeting with a colleague who gives you advice on how to up your social media game
Meeting over a meal to interview a chef for a story
Meals while travelling for business purposes, such as attending a conference or class directly related to your business
Eating 20 kinds of pie at restaurants for a pie cookbook you are under contract to write.

I hope you kept those 2018 receipts or credit card statements. And that you documented those meals in your 2018 planner or calendar. The key word is “substantiation,” says Steve. That’s what the IRS likes.

“All in all this is good news for our profession, which is so dependent on eating, dining, food, drink, and hospitality,” he concludes.

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(Canadian readers, please read this blog post from the Food Bloggers of Canada about what food bloggers can expense.)

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In other news: If you subscribe to my blog posts by email, you might have noticed that your email looked slightly different. I’m using a new service. If you like it better or you’re having any problems with delivery, please let me know. Email me at dj AT diannej DOT com.

(Photo by Jay Wennington on Unsplash.)

The post Update: Yes, You Can Still Write Off Business Meals appeared first on Dianne Jacob, Will Write For Food.

Smitten Kitchen Shows You 100 Ways to Promote Recipes

One of the things food writers struggle with most is how to promote recipes in a way that sounds authentic and not too braggy. You know your recipe is “the best,” but you can’t keep saying that for every one you write.

So what can you do to improve your blog posts, recipe headnotes, and social media blurbs? First, I went back to my most visited post: 100 Verbs for Recipes, from Julia Child. Who else could I research, I wondered, who would give me a similar list of fabulous terms?

I found inspiration on Smitten Kitchen’s Instagram feed. Deb Perelman is a master of promoting her recipes in a way that sounds effortless, fun, and full of personality.

Incredibly, there was no repetition of her phrases in the 100+ pitches I reviewed. I could probably give you 200 pitches. But I think you will get the point of how to pitch recipes with this list.

Here’s a sample of Deb’s prowess:”For mornings when only a fried egg with bacon and cheese on a roll will do, here’s my favorite kind, with a Salade Lyonnaise-y spin. 2019, we are so ready for you [ahem, after coffee and some crispy, salty carbs]. [Fried Egg Sandwich with Bacon and Blue Cheese on smittenkitchen.com or linked in profile].”

Of course, writing a salesy pitch is not all there is to getting readers excited about your cooking and baking. Deb also describes her foods sensuously in every post. You need that combo. (See caption above for an example.)
How to promote recipes? Deb Perelman shows you 100 ways:

Always a good idea
Resistance is futile
You definitely don’t want to miss it
Draws a crowd
Easily one of my desert island foods
One of the best dinners I’ve made this year
Designed to be eaten on laps, sitting outside. (Hooray.)
What I want every big weekend meal to taste like, and has become a family staple around here
If you can resist eating them all before you leave the apartment, you’re going to make so many friends with these
Keeps perfectly for lunches all week
I only wish I had them around more often
It’s basically impossible not to like
You can totally eat them for breakfast. Or dessert. Or just because.
Even more wildly delicious than it looks
Ridiculously good/easy
Will make you ridiculously welcome wherever you potluck/picnic/barbecue next
Welcome wherever you take it; this is a potluck favorite
Keep the recipe in your back pocket for the next time life is busy but you don’t want to compromise on dinner
I think you’re really going to like this
Nothing short of a dream
Clinically proven to righten the path of any weekend morning
Maximum weekend dinner luxury
I have made this every summer for a decade now
Basically every summer dessert worth eating in one place
Trust me, we’re going to be so happy about this
You’re going to immediately wonder why you don’t make this more often
Keeps in the fridge — as long as you keep us away from them
Obviously, this is exactly what we have to cook next
We make this all the time and think you should too
Smells heavenly
Be the Ina Garten/Martha Stewart of your party with this
It causes a frenzy
A surprising win in the Weeknight Dinners For Everyone category
These deserve to be a rest-of-summer habit
I want to eat it every day and every weekend all summer
Make your home smell eloquently September-ish, even if you (ahem: me) are kicking and screaming about it
Doesn’t get much better than this
My go-to forever favorite
Did they break into a happy dance? If they didn’t, well, more for you
I cannot wait to have it for dinner tonight
So popular around here, I have all but stopped asking my family what they want for dinner because they only ever request this
Like no other
They’re totally unforgettable
Everybody needs this
It’s the only thing I want to eat
Extremely addicting forever favorite
Always causes a commotion
Dinner bliss
100% guaranteed to improve all the days that they last
It’s unforgettable, and it only gets better as it rests — make it today!
If you do not fall in love, I promise to come and rid you of your leftovers
Gets better the longer it lasts
Have a way of not making it out of the kitchen
I have never regretted making two
Impossible not to make over and over again
The indisputable champion
Something I hope I’m never too old, smart or refined to eat
I don’t think you’ll find an easier or prettier…
Should any survive until the next day
The result definitely wants to come with you this weekend
Put it in your weekly rotation
Everyone will demand you make it again and again
We always wonder why we don’t make it more often
Delicious in a totally unforgettable way
Exactly what I want
This version is one of the best I know
My favorite dessert on earth
One of the most distractingly delicious things I’ve ever made
You don’t have to go another day without experiencing…
The leftovers are outstanding
It also makes glorious leftovers for lunch tomorrow; future you thanks you
I always wish I’d double the recipe so we’d have leftovers — don’t let it happen to you
What I want to eat all weekend for breakfast, lunch, or dinner
Almost instant gratification
It makes everyone happy
I can’t stop making this dish
Has the best of everything
Exactly what our Friday afternoons should taste like, don’t you think
I think you’re going to obsess over it too
I am obsessed with how good this is
Your friends thank you, in advance
it’s the FIRST THING TO GO every time
Trust me, this is the … of champions
This is the best I’ve ever had. What sets it apart? Butter. (I can’t believe you even had to ask.)
Ridiculously easy
Doesn’t require a special occasion to bake
Astoundingly easy to make
The ingredient list couldn’t be less complicated
This preparation converts everyone
Looks and tastes fancy and took about 12 minutes to make
Have it in the oven 15 minutes later
Who likes meals you can make in 15 minutes? Me me me!
You could be eating this in 20 minutes
Take all of 30 minutes to make
A cinch to throw together
Turns out to be comically quick and easy to make
Welcoming of adaptations
Leaving you more time for doing other things
What to make when you’re short on time or long on things you’d rather do than cook
Quick to make, even more quick to disappear.

Read it and learn: “This soup is beige, contains cabbage, and is almost as thick as a stew, so believe me, I know you’re probably running in the other direction by now. Yet it’s absolutely wonderful, and I’m so glad I listened when dozens of random internet strangers talked it up. It’s the coziest, warmest, most filling thing, and the exact soup I needed to kick 2019 off with. I hope you agree. [Cozy Cabbage and Farro Soup on smittenkitchen.com or linked in profile]”

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You might also like:

7 Most Common Recipe Writing Errors
7 More Most Common Recipe Writing Errors
The Top 10 Terms to Avoid in Recipes
What’s the Right Length for a Recipe?

(Photo of Deb Perelman by Christine Han)

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5 Ways To Boost Productivity When Writing About Food on the Side

A guest post by Sarah Burchard Barbecue sauce turned me into a writer. After 12 years of working in restaurant kitchens, I entered the world of entrepreneurship, launching a line of barbecue sauces and spice blends with a partner. At the same time, I started writing about food on the side with my blog about barbecue, […]

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Teaching Food Memoir in France

Bonjour! It’s your jetlagged friend, just back from France, where I was teaching in Chinon with Jamie Schler and vacationing with my husband in Paris. Both of us have written essays for years (and blog posts, which, by default, are personal essays). Usually I stick to food writing basics like writing cookbooks and recipes, writing […]

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5 Editor Pet Peeves About Cookbook Manuscripts

A guest post by Jennifer Kurdyia Every editor is different, but as a cookbook editor for The Experiment Publishing, I’ve read enough proposals and cookbook drafts to have developed a few editor pet peeves. I know where the most common shortcomings among my writers lie.   Avoiding them requires a simple but challenging mindset that […]

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What I Learned by Starting a Blog Interview Series

A guest post by Lisa Johnson A few years ago, I started a food interview series called “You Pick Six.” To my surprise, I have now completed 21 interviews of local food bloggers, food publicists, authors, news anchors, food entrepreneurs and others. When I started blogging in 2006, I wrote at least one weekly post. […]

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Enroll in Food Blogger Pro to Grow Your Blog

It’s time to up your game and enroll in Food Blogger Pro (FBP), a membership organization to help you grow and monetize your blog. For just one week, from today until November 15, you can enroll in Food Blogger Pro and start learning. If you sign up later, you’ll be on a waiting list until […]

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Enter the IACP Awards for Free until Nov. 14

You like to win awards, right? Then you’ll be interested in this special blog post about the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) annual awards. Following on the heels of the James Beard Foundation awards in offering free entry to some awards for two weeks, IACP offers two big changes that affect food writers and self-published authors: […]

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What I Learned Writing a Cookbook as a Late Bloomer

A guest post by Sara Bir My whole life I’ve dreamed of writing a cookbook. But even with formal culinary chops and years of experience as a writer, it seemed like no one in the publishing industry took me seriously. So I guess you could say I’m a late bloomer. It probably didn’t help that […]

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Enter the James Beard Awards for Free! Now.

It’s time to enter the James Beard Awards. And there’s good news: There will be no charge to enter for two weeks: October 15-30, 2018. First-time entrants in the journalism awards may submit work for free anytime. This is a change to the usual entrance fees, which cost $150 per entry (or $100 if you’re a member […]

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