Real Talk About Writing a Book, Episode 3

[Shared via LinkedIn May 27, 2026]

It’s been about 9 months since I last shared about writing my 📕 , now called FOOD WARS: INDUSTRIAL FOOD MARKETING & THE FIGHT FOR PEOPLE’S HEALTH (Oxford University Press). I have a tentative publication date (SPRING 2027!), and the final manuscript is due to the press next month (!).

This post is triggered by a question one of my kids asked me, innocently: What version am I on?

I don’t know how to answer that. When kids are taught to write, they learn there is an outline, a rough draft, and polished draft. But writing a whole book requires oh so many more drafts that are somewhere between rough and polished.

Here’s where I am:

• June 2025: I sent what I thought was a good full draft to a developmental editor. Reader, it was not a good (enough) draft. Thanks to terrific help from Tami Parr, I cut a couple of chapters and reorganized a few others.

• August 2025: Following revisions from the developmental edit, I sent off what I thought this time, actually, was a good, complete draft. I got great feedback from folks with distinct areas of expertise, including food studies, sociology, and the real food world, which is what I wanted to help ensure this book will be accessible and interesting to a broad range of readers. But their suggestions meant going back to the drawing board, again.

• November 2025: I sent off what I really, really thought, this time, was the final book to the press, as per my contract! But, since my contract had been issued following a proposal that included only 2 sample chapters, the full manuscript went out to reviewers. THANK YOU, anonymous kind experts who gave me encouraging, and also helpfully critical, feedback. And, there had been turnover at the press, so I had a brand-new editor to read the complete manuscript and share her thoughts (THANK YOU, Emma Hodgdon, for helping me make the book as good as it can be!).

• February 2026: Following reviewers’ and editor’s feedback, I reorganized (again) and did more substantive revision, and sent it off to a non-academic but well-read friend and to colleagues in our new Communication program, who brought super helpful insights from anthropology and post-colonial studies and really challenged me to defend a few propositions. (So hard, but wow, do I appreciate that feedback BEFORE publication!)

I have been revising and revising and revising and several chapters are out now or will be soon for review by folks close to the topic area (if you’ve read this far and want to review a chapter or two, please let me know!).

So, what version am I on? I don’t know, but I know it’s *not* the final version, because there is still typesetting and fact-checking and proofing.