Between Foodgawker, Tastespotting, Photograzing and This Is Why You’re Fat, you’d think there are more than enough food photo sites on the internet to satisfy everyone. But a recently launched food photo gallery has an added feature cookbook authors might like. With an emphasis “on recently published cookbooks and images associated with dishes made from those books”, CookbookKarma.com gives credit to the recipe source as well as the reviewing blogger.

Like other food photo galleries, the posts and food photos are submitted by the blogger, but the site automatically includes the cover for the book in question. Click on the cover’s thumbnail, and you’ll be taken to the cookbook’s page, which includes a picture of the cover, a description of the book and all related posts submitted to CookbookKarma.

The site is new and growing, so it’s hard to tell if this will become as big as its competitors, but CookbookKarma already has more than 12,000 cookbooks (from 2007 onward) in its database and hundreds of blog post submissions.

So what do you think? Is this just another site where bloggers provide free content? By aggregating the related posts is it giving away too much content? Or is this a much needed boost to the publishing industry?

Wondering what the picture is of? It’s an example of the code Google now requires for their Recipe Search feature. If you think it looks scary, you’re not alone. When Dianne Jacobs wrote about the issue on Will Write for Food, more than 100 comments poured in. The curious may read about it here.

In brief, Google’s new recipe search function sent many food bloggers into a tailspin since they weren’t told about the new requirements until the function went live. Meanwhile, the big name sites were given a year’s head start. What’s the issue? No matter how diligent you were with SEO, without the proper code your recipes wouldn’t show up on the recipe search. And for a lot of bloggers being ignored costs money.

Fortunately, programmers have quickly created a couple of  WordPress plugins* that will code the recipes for you. They’re quick to install and extremely easy to use. The add only a couple of minutes to entering a blog post. Best of all, they’re both free.

• RecipeSEO: Once you’ve entered your recipe using the plugin, instead of inserting text, it inserts an image. When you post, readers see the recipe text you entered, but the embedded image ensures you don’t mistakenly delete any code. If you need to amend your recipe, you can make edits using the plugin. While you can’t muck up the code, you cannot customize the recipe’s format either.

• hRecipe, on the other hand, allows you to customize the code. It also has a few more fields than RecipeSEO, such as tagging specialized diets and ethnic cuisine. However, if you need to edit your recipe, you do so in the post itself and can inadvertently remove code.

So, which one to use? It’s a matter of personal preference. They both do the coding for you, which will help your recipes appear in the new Google Recipe Search.

We only know about these two WordPress plugins. If you know about more WordPress recipe plugins or similar solutions for other platforms, such as Blogger, TypePad and MoveableType, please, let us know.

*Note: one reader says these plugins aren’t available on WordPress.com sites, which are not self-hosted.

Will Google Recipe Search Help or Hurt Us?

Written by Charmian Christie

Google has added a new search function, Google Recipe Search, that allows people to locate highly targeted recipes using a wide range of parameters. Want chicken curry without cardamom? Just click a few buttons. Got a time limit? Set that too. And don’t forget calorie counts. That’s another factor you can add to the search equation.

While it sounds like a great way to promote your expertise and drive traffic to your site, many bloggers might not think so.  According to Wired, there’s a bit of back end work to do if you want to rank anywhere on Google Recipe radar. Content may no longer be king. In this online world, code rules.

A quick search for an obscure recipe I have on my blog, which I know ranks well for a particular term, produced only two pages of recipes in Google Recipe — all from major recipe sites. My recipe was nowhere, not even buried deep in the results. According to Google Recipes, it just didn’t exist — despite all the back-end SEO work I’d done. Yet, when the exact same term was plugged into Google’s main search engine and Google’s Blog search, both times my recipes showed up and ranked well.

I already spend a lot of time writing an interesting post people will want to read, adding categories, tags and keywords, creating relevant internal and external links and taking original photos. Adding code for recipes, nutritional information and calculating prep time isn’t in my schedule. Yet without this work many bloggers won’t exist to recipe hunters.

How do you feel about Google’s newest advancement? Are you after the recipe hunters or is your target audience different? What are you willing to do or not to promote your cookbook / food career / platform? Or is this just a bump that will sort itself out with the next technological step?

While the black-and-white, non-illuminated Kindle hasn’t made much of a dent in the cookbook market, the shiny bright iPad might. It rivals print with crystal clear, full-colour graphics, video capabilities and a display large enough to allow two-page layouts.

Whether or not this attractive and user-friendly gadget is a real threat to the printed cookbook is anyone’s guess. But some web-based companies are embracing the technology. Rouxbe On-line Cooking School has ensured all their videos are iPad compatible and are geared to launch an iPad app in the near future.

The good news is, if the iPad revolutionizes how we read the way the iPod changed the way we listen to music, demand for written content will rise. But as the touch screen continues to evolve what form will readers expect that content to take? Will interactive step-by-step recipe instructions be the norm? With a culinary joystick in hand, will future readers be able to stir virtual batter? Flip a pancake? Learn to whisk egg whites?

With visuals and interactive features becoming as important as text, are you learning new technical skills as part of your food writing professional development? If so, what? Or do you think this trend will pass due to high development costs and users’ voracious appetites for ever-changing features? Or is simple text just too practical to go out of style?

Interviews, like so many things in life, often involve paperwork. Before your appearance, the media outlet may require some preliminary information. As one friend always says, “Enquiring minds got to know!”

The amount of pre-interview information varies depending on the type and length of the interview and the media outlet. For some stations, your original news release or media letter along with a copy of your cookbook, recipes, restaurant menu, cooking class schedule or product may be all that’s required.

With radio interviews, especially for first-time guests, a pre-interview may be requested. This interview may occur several days before your scheduled appearance, or you maybe asked to arrive early to meet with the producer or interviewer. In either case, it’s a good idea to have a few key points in mind and / or a number of recipes or menu items you’ d like to highlight.

Other media outlets may only request copies of the recipes you intend to prepare and your general theme, for example, a brunch for Mother’s Day.

With television, particularly if there are multiple segments, you may be asked to file a complete segment breakdown. This is common with some morning shows. Some stations will send you a form to complete before a deadline. No matter how repetitive it might seem, be sure to fill the paperwork out completely for each segment. The information most commonly requested is:

• The location of the event, if it is not to be conducted in network studio. The full name of who will be presenting the segment. This is particularly important if there is more than one presenter.
• A brief description of what the audience will see and hear.
• A website address, telephone number and any pertinent addresses which can be displayed for viewers at the end of each segment. If you are promoting a store, restaurant or food event, always supply the hours of operation. In the case of special events or cooking classes, include the dates. Always double check this information.

On rare occasions, some segment breakdowns can be more complex.  In addition to the information above, you may be asked to include the actual recipes, an outline of what you plan to discus in each segment, potential interview questions and the answers.

Once you have completed any pre-interview submissions, you are more than ready to take your interview to the next level — assembling everything for your presentation!

Photo © nerdcoregirl. Published under a Creative Commons License.

Promoting your message, business, product or cookbook on radio or television? While it’s exciting to know you’ll reach a large audience, the pressure to talk live can be daunting. Over the last dozen years or so I have made hundreds of visits to media outlets both in my home base of Edmonton and in other Alberta locations. Here are a few tips I would like to pass along to help make your media event a success and generates return visits.

Besides planning your presentation:

Be on time:

• If you are scheduled to appear before or after regular station business hours, ask if there is an after-hours telephone number you can call in case of emergency. In an after-hours scenario, find out how you get into the facility.
• Ask when the station would like you to arrive. Arrival time is particularly important in after-hours interviews. Somebody may have to let you into the station during a break in programming. Allow yourself ample time for set up.
• Know the route to the event location, especially in an unfamiliar city. Many live morning television shows, do their “hits” from locations other than their station.
• Ensure you leave with a full tank of gas if you’re driving. Taxiing? Book the cab ahead of time. Either way, allow ample time to get to your destination.

You may be asked to provide contact information for the public, recipes for website posting, a cookbook for reviewing and possibly promotional items for give-aways prior to your interview. So…

Be Prepared

• Double check your information to make sure it’s correct. An error in your telephone information can be costly as well as embarrassing.
• Bring additional copies of the information with you. If possible, pass the information onto the station receptionist since this is the person who answers all the calls from people who didn’t get the complete information on the air.
• Save one copy of the information for the interviewer, just in case their information is incomplete.
• Find out what equipment is available and functional. Never assume any kitchen set in a television station is fully equipped or functional.
• Double check when packing your gear. Do  you have everything you need for your presentation? If doing a cooking demonstration, include clean up items like garbage bags, hand sanitizer, paper towels and disposable gloves.
• Pack bottled water if at an all day or outdoor event.

Look Professional

• Make sure your hair, clothes (and make up if you wear it) are neat, professional, and suitable for the occasion — even if you’re going on the radio. Although the listening audience won’t see you, the interviewer and producer will get an eyeful. And some radio programs may be viewed on line these days.

I’ve outlined the basic check points for a media event. You’ll likely find variations between media outlets and appearances will require you to adjust accordingly. With limitless scenarios, do you have any tips you’d care to pass along?