Anthony Bourdain Will Publish But Not Pay You

So the ex-cook-who-tells-stories Anthony Bourdain is running a contest on his book's website, inviting people to submit a 500-word essay answering the question "Why cook well?" (or alternatively "What does it mean to cook food well?" It's a little confusing, they mean every so slightly different things.) The winner, selected by Bourdain, will get their words published as a new chapter in the upcoming paperback edition of his book Medium Raw. The pay: zero. Granted, getting your words published in Bourdain's book that may be read by hundreds of thousands of people is a pretty great honor, but now we're crowd-sourcing print media too? At least runners-up get a signed copy of the book!

Update: Bourdain wasn't pleased with the accusations above, and has pledged $10,000 of his own money to the winner of the contest, so long as Eater presents the check. Not too shabby.

· Bourdain Medium Raw [Official site via @NoReservations]
· Bourdain to Personally Pay $10K to "Exploited" Contest Winner [-E-]