Independence and disclosure
This website is independent in the sense that it is not financially sponsored by any entity or individual. This means that all opinions expressed on this site are my own and are, as far as this is humanly possible, balanced and unbiased.
On occasion, I might earn money from services such as advertising, recipe development, writing or photography. These relationships will not affect or dictate the content of the site. However, if mention a consumer of one of the abovementioned services on the website, I will clearly disclose this relationship.
I do not as a rule accept any content that I did not write myself, particularly not in the form of sponsored posts, so please do not approach me with offers of free or sponsored content – you will be turned down. I also do not post commercial videos or promotional material in my posts. If you have a product or service to advertise, please contact me and we can discuss my rates for buying advertising space on Cooksister.com.
I do not participate in link exchanges. And no, it’s not going to help to say “but we’ve already added a link to your site” or address me as “buddy”.
Reviewing products, places and events
I have excellent traffic stats (available upon request) and a strong social media following and I am open to receiving products for review, going on press trips, attending media events, reviewing recipe books etc. However, free trips, meals or samples will not guarantee a good review. All views expressed in review posts are my own and I do not allow any product sponsor or PR agency to see my review post before posting it live to my blog. I also reserve the right NOT to write about samples and events/trips. When a product, trip or event is sponsored or complimentary I will always clearly disclose this in the text of the post. Where there is no disclosure notice in a review, you may assume that I paid for this meal or trip myself.
Anybody who has read one of my restaurant reviews will know that it is more of a detailed narrative with pictures than a formal review; and that I tend to err on the side of kindness rather than unkindness. I aim to have readers live the moment with me and then decide for themselves whether they might like to visit the same place as I did.
