In my varied writing life, this blog is the one place where I completely control content. Everything I write is here because it is a story I want to tell based on my experiences. I do not write posts for money or in exchange for goods; my words here cannot be bought. Any advertising will be clearly marked as such.
I recommend products, restaurants and places based on my experiences. Those experiences may come about because I am sent samples, invited to restaurants, or sent on press trips. In other words, product and experiences are given to me in hopes that I might want to share them with readers, and sometimes I do– because I think they are worth knowing about. If you are a public relations person and send me a product, invite me to a restaurant, or fly me to the moon, I might have glowing things to say, but you are also taking the risk that I will write something negative — or not write at all.
I am often paid by companies and organizations to provide them with content, expertise or representation in public. If and when I write about those companies or their products on my blog, I make it clear to readers that there is a financial relationship. It is part of telling the story of my life in food to talk about these projects. For example, I may choose to tell a story that came about because my husband was hired by a marshmallow company. (Hmmm, maybe about how I gained 6 pounds while he developed recipes? ) If there is a story to tell, I might, but the marshmallow company probably won’t know it is coming.
When companies and organizations with products I like approach me to work with them, I may be happy to do so. But my arrangement with that company has parameters: I am paid for a specific job (such as cooking with their product on television) but that in no way influences whether I write about the product on this blog or anywhere else. If I write a story about, say, the television appearance, I will not go out of my way to omit the product name (that would be silly and distracting), but I will not include it for the sake of promotion. And while I may choose to tell readers of this blog about the product if it is something I really love, the company has no say in what I write, and I do not do sponsored posts. My words here cannot be bought.
