Dianne Jacob's Newsletter

Jan 15, 2025 | diannejacob.substack.com | Dianne Jacob

One morning, I opened my email and found a paid subscription from Emily Weinstein. I gasped! What a huge compliment. Emily is in charge of everything you see in the New York Times food section: recipes, reviews, features; and the NYT Cooking online database. She leads the team that assigns and edits freelance stories. She’s ultimately in charge of restaurant reviews and freelance stories, and writes the popular newsletter Five Weeknight Dishes.

Jan 8, 2025 | diannejacob.substack.com | Dianne Jacob

Hello and thank you for opening this email! I hope you’re having a gentle re-introduction to the workweek and your inbox. This is just a quick reminder that the last day to take $10 off the price of an annual subscription is Friday, January 10. So if you would like to invest in yourself, now is the time to save on an annual subscription. A paid subscription costs $40 per year. Right now it is $30.

Nov 15, 2024 | diannejacob.substack.com | Dianne Jacob

When legendary cookbook editor Maria Guarnaschelli retired, her publisher, Norton, needed a replacement. Maria mentored Melanie Tortoroli, who rose from editorial assistant to assistant editor. In 2012, Melanie left to become an editor at Viking/Penguin and then moved to Amazon in 2017 as a senior editor. Norton called her back that same year. In 2023, she became a vice president, and, in 2024, Norton promoted her to Executive Editor.

Nov 1, 2024 | diannejacob.substack.com | Dianne Jacob

Attending and teaching at the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) conference in Brooklyn was a blast. About 200 people came, and another 100 arrived, dressed in finery, for the awards ceremony later that day. The League of Kitchens taught optional cooking classes, and I taught the two optional writing workshops (Literary agent Jenni Ferrari-Adler co-taught the one about cookbook proposals, with a talk about cookbook trends by Stained Page News Publisher Paula Forbes.

Oct 15, 2024 | diannejacob.substack.com | Dianne Jacob

Cookbook author Rick Rodgers has been a name in our business for a long time. I met him at an International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) annual conference years ago. We meet when he comes to San Francisco’s East Bay, where he grew up. He always regales me with stories about his experiences in cookbook publishing. I’ve asked to interview him many times, and he finally said yes. Read on to see the full interview. There’s not much indiscreet stuff, however, because he’s a gentleman.