3 Good Books for Food Bloggers

When I started writing Poor and Gluten Free at the beginning of 2012 I knew next to nothing about blogging. I hardly had a direction or plan for the blog, other than that I wanted a place to keep track of my recipes, connect with other people with allergies, and share my experiences with Oral Allergy Syndrome in the hope that others might find it useful in some way.

I've learned a lot since then. A lot of it was done the hard way, trial and error, and a big long, painful learning curve. I'm still learning, and there is still so much I don't know or understand.

However, in the last couple of years as my blog has expanded to include the publication of two cookbooks, Living with Oral Allergy Syndrome: A Gluten and Meat-Free Cookbook for Wheat, Soy, Nut, Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Allergies and  Recipes for Unusual Gluten Free Pasta: Pierogis, Dumplings, Desserts and More! I've taken the time to do a bit more research on food blogging and food photography, and since I know that many of my readers are also food bloggers, or aspiring bloggers, I thought I'd share three books that I've found extremely beneficial in case you find them helpful, too, or if you're thinking of starting a blog.  

Food Blogging For Dummies was the first book I bought about food blogging, and I actually wish I had read it before I even started blogging, although it came in very useful afterwards. There is a ton of info on the basics of conceptualizing a direction for your blog, setting it up, creating your own voice, developing content, food photography, marketing, social media, etc. This is sort of an all-inclusive book and I think it's wonderful for forcing you to think about the fundamentals of blogging.

I don't profess to do all the things in this book, but I should. Particularly when it comes to frequency and consistency. And yes, I do normally post on the weekend. This weekend the weather was beautiful and I sat on the terrace by the lake and drank GF beer yesterday instead of blogging.

Now if I followed the guidelines in this book, I would have a posting schedule and a blog post that would have magically appeared while I was enjoying a relaxing afternoon with my husband. Do as I say, not as I do and follow the suggestions in this book!

 

Plate to Pixel: Digital Food Photography & Styling is a detailed book about food photography written by a well-known food photographer. Let's face it, a successful food blog has to include a little bit of food porn. It has to make people want to eat the food you post. I am nowhere near the level of many other fantastic food bloggers, but if you'd seen my earlier blog posts (and I will show you some before and after photos soon, I promise. I'm working on a post on absolute basic food photography for bloggers), I think you'd have to agree there has been some major improvement. This book helps.

 

Will Write for Food: The Complete Guide to Writing Cookbooks, Blogs, Reviews, Memoir, and More 

I have to give a shout out at the folks at Food Bloggers of Canada for giving away this book. I'd wanted it for ages and, in a strange coincidence, this book was the first thing I ever won in a contest of any kind. Will Write for Food is a dense and information packed book that pertains to just about every way you can make money writing about food. It can really expand your horizons beyond just food blogging and open up possibilities you might not have considered.

Since I was knee deep in blogging when I finally got this book, I think I had a better appreciation for it than I might have when I first started. It might actually have overwhelmed me then. On the other hand, it might have helped me consider the bigger picture early on, and influenced how I do things in a positive way.


So there you have it. These three books have come in very handy for me in the last couple of years. There are certainly others out there, but I can personally recommend these three as being great resources.


Do you have a book that has been helpful or influential in your experience with blogging? I'd love to hear about it in the comments!

Have you checked out my gluten free pasta book  Recipes for Unusual Gluten Free Pasta: Pierogis, Dumplings, Desserts and More! ? Get yourself a copy and start making GF won tons, pierogis, dumplings, and orzo today :)  

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