The Business of Food Writing with Rachel de Thample

If you're interested in writing about food or want to broaden your remit, Rachel de Thample is a great source to draw on for knowledge. Not only has she written five books published under her own name (with two being written as we speak), she's also written books for ethical brands and food stalwarts such as Abel & Cole and Borough Market. She's contributed to many books too, such as Miranda York's Food Almanac. 

In this engaging 1.5 hour session she'll highlight her route into food writing and offer practical advice on not only how to write a cookbook proposal. She'll tell you what publishers seek in a proposal, how the process works, and how to structure writing the book start to finish.

The course will also cover other avenues of food writing, such as the more obvious magazines, newspapers and online content, but also things like curating copy to link in with TV productions (Rachel worked with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall on the lasted River Cottage TV series) and writing content for food brands.

You'll also learn how to use social media to help support your food writing ambitions. Rachel is very candid and open. This session will offer a true behind-the-scenes insight into the life of a successful food writer.

RACHEL DE THAMPLE is an award-winning author who has worked in food, health and sustainability for more than 20 years. She the author of five published books under her own name, including the River Cottage Fermentation Handbook which won a Guild of Food Writer’s Award and the best-selling Tonics & Teas.

She has two more books in progress and has also edited and contributed to several other books including The Borough Market Book: From Roots to Renaissance and How to Eat Brilliantly Everyday, published by Ebury for Abel & Cole, where Rachel was Head of Food for a decade. Rachel trained as a journalist at Emerson College in Boston, where she worked in television as a field producer.

On coming to the UK, she moved into newspapers, magazines and online content editing and writing. She’s written for The Times, Locavore, is a regular contributor The Simple Things magazine and was the Commissioning Editor of Waitrose Magazine.