Talking with your readers

[CathyL]

John, it’s wonderful to have you here. I’ve read all your books (including Home Body), I treasure your newsletter and I enjoy visiting your web site. Any eGulleteer who hasn’t should – it’s a gold mine. (Okay, I'm a groupie. )

Has your web presence expanded and/or changed your audience? Does the ease of electronic communication bring you more contact with readers than in the past? If so, how has the interaction affected your perspective on food and writing?

[John Thorne]

A difficult question to answer. Well, in one way, not difficult: yes, the ability to reach readers over the Internet (plus, I should add, the concommitant ability to process credit card charges) has been a terrific boon for us, because for over a decade now food letters have been relegated to the status of no-interest so far as newspapers and food magazines are concerned. In fact, on the whole, I would say that food writing as an art and not a device for captioning photographs has lost considerable ground since I began writing, and especially as television has gained such an audience for food shows. One of the great things about the Internet -- as it currently is constituted -- is that is a surprisingly print-oriented medium and also, obviously, friendly to self-publication. One way of looking at Simple Cooking, I suppose, is as a blog before its time. Also, the ease of e-mail makes it easier for readers to be in touch, although we have always gotten a lot of mail. Whether that aspect of things has actually increased, though, I don't know. There's only so much you can say to people you don't know, no matter how much you admire their work. This fact has always stymied my responding to questions about which famous people I'd like to invite to dinner. "Gee, you've written some really neat poems, Mr. Keats." Silence. Generally, a majority of communications are of the "where is my issue?" sort, with "do you have a recipe for...." following in close pursuit.