diff --git a/Project.toml b/Project.toml
index 7f05ca7..ee04731 100644
--- a/Project.toml
+++ b/Project.toml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 name = "LoggingExtras"
 uuid = "e6f89c97-d47a-5376-807f-9c37f3926c36"
 authors = ["Lyndon White <oxinabox@ucc.asn.au>"]
-version = "0.4.7"
+version = "0.4.8"
 
 [deps]
 Dates = "ade2ca70-3891-5945-98fb-dc099432e06a"
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9824a6a..a38a557 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -281,6 +281,9 @@ It is really simple.
 The resulting file format is similar to that which is shown in the REPL.
 (Not identical, but similar)
 
+**NOTE**: To print to the file in a specific format, e.g. to create a JSON log, use
+`FormatLogger` instead.
+
 ### Demo: `TeeLogger` and `FileLogger`
 We are going to log info and above to one file,
 and warnings and above to another.
@@ -349,6 +352,9 @@ in the constructor. See `FormatLogger` for the requirements on the formatter fun
 The `FormatLogger` is a sink that formats the message and prints to a wrapped IO.
 Formatting is done by providing a function `f(io::IO, log_args::NamedTuple)`.
 
+`FormatLogger` can take as its second argument either a writeable `IO` or a filepath. The `append::Bool` keyword
+argument determines whether the file is opened in append mode (`"a"`) or truncate mode (`"w"`).
+
 ```julia
 julia> using LoggingExtras
 
@@ -356,6 +362,10 @@ julia> logger = FormatLogger() do io, args
            println(io, args._module, " | ", "[", args.level, "] ", args.message)
        end;
 
+julia> logger = FormatLogger("out.log"; append=true) do io, args
+            println(io, args._module, " | ", "[", args.level, "] ", args.message)
+        end;
+
 julia> with_logger(logger) do
            @info "This is an informational message."
            @warn "This is a warning, should take a look."
diff --git a/src/filelogger.jl b/src/filelogger.jl
index f0dd1a8..1a19a9b 100644
--- a/src/filelogger.jl
+++ b/src/filelogger.jl
@@ -9,6 +9,11 @@ end
 Create a logger sink that write messages to a file specified with `path`.
 To append to the file (rather than truncating the file first), use `append=true`.
 If `always_flush=true` the stream is flushed after every handled log message.
+
+!!! note
+    `FileLogger` uses the same output formatting as `SimpleLogger`. Use a `FormatLogger`
+    instead of a `FileLogger` to control the output formatting.
+
 """
 function FileLogger(path; append=false, kwargs...)
     filehandle = open(path, append ? "a" : "w")
@@ -22,6 +27,11 @@ Create a logger sink that write messages to the `io::IOStream`. The stream
 is expected to be open and writeable.
 If `always_flush=true` the stream is flushed after every handled log message.
 
+!!! note
+    `FileLogger` uses the same output formatting as `SimpleLogger`. Use a `FormatLogger`
+    instead of a `FileLogger` to control the output formatting.
+
+
 # Examples
 ```julia
 io = open("path/to/file.log", "a") # append to the file
diff --git a/src/formatlogger.jl b/src/formatlogger.jl
index 992d9b4..a69c654 100644
--- a/src/formatlogger.jl
+++ b/src/formatlogger.jl
@@ -34,6 +34,20 @@ function FormatLogger(f::Function, io::IO=stderr; always_flush=true)
     return FormatLogger(f, io, always_flush)
 end
 
+"""
+    FormatLogger(f::Function, path::AbstractString; append=false, always_flush=true)
+
+Logger sink that formats the message and writes it to the file at `path`.  This is similar
+to `FileLogger` except that it allows specifying the printing format.
+
+To append to the file (rather than truncating the file first), use `append=true`.
+If `always_flush=true` the stream is flushed after every handled log message.
+"""
+function FormatLogger(f::Function, path::AbstractString; append::Bool=false, kw...)
+    io = open(path, append ? "a" : "w")
+    return FormatLogger(f, io; kw...)
+end
+
 function handle_message(logger::FormatLogger, args...; kwargs...)
     log_args = handle_message_args(args...; kwargs...)
     # We help the user by passing an IOBuffer to the formatting function
diff --git a/test/runtests.jl b/test/runtests.jl
index eca0776..ffb8ef2 100644
--- a/test/runtests.jl
+++ b/test/runtests.jl
@@ -221,6 +221,22 @@ end
     logger = FormatLogger(x -> x; always_flush=false)
     @test logger.stream === stderr
     @test !logger.always_flush
+
+    # test file arguments
+    mktempdir() do dir
+        f = joinpath(dir, "test.log")
+
+        logger = FormatLogger(f) do io, args
+            println(io, "log message")
+        end
+
+        with_logger(logger) do
+            @info "test message"
+        end
+
+        l = read(f, String)
+        @test startswith(l, "log message")
+    end
 end
 
 @testset "Deprecations" begin