A guest post by Nancy Bagget
Selling a gift shop cookbook can work with many culinary subjects and venues, from gourmet tea, coffee, cheese, wine and spirits to spa cuisine and country inn cooking. Almost every product or topic has a supporting trade or members’ organization. And they tend to be receptive to participation by writers in their field.
I didn’t set out to write a gift shop cookbook. Eventually I realized that if I self-published, gift shops could be an excellent way to reach and sell to a key audience.
A few years ago, I began experimenting with culinary lavender when I wrote Simply Sensational Cookies. I was bowled over by how it enhanced so many fruit and berry buttercreams. Later I realized it was versatile in both sweet and savory dishes. Now I’m amazed that it isn’t in every cook’s repertoire.
Public interest in lavender was on the upswing. More and more American lavender farms were springing up. Yet there were few appealing lavender cookbooks. It was a seemingly perfect scenario. But when my proposal hit editors’ desks, some said they loved The Art of Cooking with Lavender, but all eventually passed. The niche and sales potential were just too small, they said.
While I was confident I could create a quality cookbook, the marketing and distribution demands gave me pause. Traditional publishers have a sales force and promotion department to get authors’ works into stores and sold. But when you self-publish, it’s DIY. Once you’re selling on Amazon, where else can you go?
Then I realized there were several hundred independent lavender gift shops across the country. If they stocked the book, I’d reach a steady stream of potential customers. As an active member of the U. S. Lavender Growers Association, I entered the chat room and informed colleagues about my upcoming gift shop cookbook by occasionally posting recipes and photos. I even informally test marketed my two sample covers. Doing so providing valuable pre-promotion and feedback, while giving my potential wholesale customers a perceived stake in the project.
I tested two covers with growers. The reaction was split, with some growers saying they liked the one with the above colors, but most saying the orange-lavender cover was more eye-catching and unusual. Some also thought the final cover was more contemporary. That was another reason I chose it, to set it apart from the dated-looking alternatives
My strategy is succeeding. In the first four months I’ve sold almost 200 books though the usual channels: Amazon, book signings, and other events. Around 35 lavender farmers have already purchased more than 500 copies through my e-commerce portal. And other growers say they’ll buy when their shops re-open in summer.
If you’re considering a gift shop cookbook, here are five useful tips:
1. Focus on the needs of gift shop owners or proprietors.
Celebrate the subject and help them inform and educate their customers. They’re particularly receptive to a book they can pair with core products. They warm to a genuinely enthusiastic tone. (Which is fine, because why take on a subject you aren’t excited about anyway?)
2. Discriminating, high-end gift shops and their customers will reject anything less than first rate.
A polished presentation is vital if you’re selling in a boutique setting. Unless your photography is professional quality, hire a pro to provide a top-quality cover image. Hire a designer both for the cover and interior. Clinch the deal with an aesthetically pleasing layout.
3. Gift store proprietors require a book that can be marked up yet still be affordable for customers.
I minimized per copy costs so I could offer wholesale discounts. First I limited the number of pages to 136 and the book dimensions to 7 ½ by 8 ½ inches. This size provided enough room for more than 70 photos and 80 recipes. It yielded a gift shop cookbook that looked fairly substantial. Yet, it could retail for well under $20. Choosing a paperback format kept the weight to less than 1 pound per book, which helped control my shipping costs.
Because I wanted full color throughout, I choose a printer who charged based on book dimensions, paper quality, number of pages, and print run size. To find the right one, I went through a broker, Global Interprint. Cookbook author and friend Kitty Morse recommended it. As a result, my book is even more attractive than I’d hoped.
4. Position your book as a pleasing souvenir.
Especially in destination gift shops, browsers are often seeking mementos. Convey a strong sense of place. In the case of lavender farms, the breathtaking fields are the highlight. So I made sure to include lots of lush lavender landscapes and gardens. I also used lavendar as a prop in studio recipe shots, with pretty sprigs, bunches, jars of buds and lavender arrangements. They underscore the connection between the blooming fields and the flavor and aroma of lavender in cooking.
5. Neither gift shop owners nor their customers are necessarily cooks. Offer recipes and photos that look appetizing, varied, and stylish, yet are mostly doable by newbie cooks. Keep the number of ingredients reasonable, minimize complicated techniques, and include lots of friendly tips and hand-holders throughout.
By following this approach it’s possible to get a title in front of a targeted, motivated audience you couldn’t reach otherwise. Your gift book may just what browsers are looking for—a win for them, shop owners and you.
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Nancy Baggett is an award-winning cookbook author of nearly 20 cookbooks, including All-American Cookie Cookbook, Kneadlessly Simple–Fuss-Free No-Kneads, The International Chocolate Cookbook (a Best Baking Book winner), and Simply Sensational Cookies (a Best Baking Book nominee). She has written on baking, gardening and cooking with herbs for many top magazines and newspapers. She has also appeared on national radio shows, including NPR’s All Things Considered and and Good Morning America.
(Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.)
Thanks for running my story, Dianne. I didn’t mention it in the piece, but I did my own photography for the book. I spent about 6 years learning to adequately style, prop, shoot and post process, so I’d be able to provide all the photos need. Besides being cost effective, it has been an extremely gratifying experience.
My pleasure, Nancy. That is a long-tail approach, to up your skills over so many years. But it gives you pleasure and saves money — and third, it seems like just being a good food writer is not enough these days!
Loving this non-traditional approach, it’s good to know there are other avenues to self-publishing other than Amazon! I like how Nancy was proactive about going into chatrooms and speaking directly with vendors and growers and cut out any middlemen. Can I ask which e-commerce portal she used on her website? Is it plugin?
I have a website builder who I think partly used Woo, then added various plug-ins she picked after looking around. The payment field is a plug-in she found and we customized, but I don’t know the name. I will ask her and see if I can be more helpful.
Dianne, thanks for a terrific newsletter!
Bravo Nancy! Your cover looks great. I knew you would be happy with Global Interprint. I have used them twice. They did a wonderful job on my own book, Mint Tea and Minarets: a banquet of Moroccan memories.
I find marketing my books an enjoyable challenge. You meet so many wonderful store owners. And yes, you HAVE to think outside the box! Keep on selling!
Thanks, Kitty Morse. I would use GlobalInterprint again. I, too, have enjoyed getting to know the lavender farmers and shop owners–wonderful peeps!
I really enjoyed T he Art of Cooking with Lavender. When I saw it, I really couldn’t believe it wasn’t publishing house produced. The photos are lush and the quality of production compares well with any cookbook on my shelf. I’m not surprised this is selling and her points about targeting the price point and the suitability as a memento are well stated. So many self-published cookbooks are limited to the plastic binder, cheap paper, no picture combos that look like PTA projects. I grow lavender myself and I’m looking forward to trying some of these recipes.
Pearl, thanks so much for the generous compliments. I attribute the good quality of the book partly to hiring a talented pro book designer and polishing my photography skills a long time. Of course, I learned all the writing and recipe developing skills needed over several decades of working with publishers on cookbooks.
I love all of these alternative tips for selling your self published book! This is an audience that not a lot of people even think about when writing a cookbook. This is all part of the marketing process that should be planned well before the book is written. Very exciting!
Glad you enjoyed my piece. Yes, it’s important to think ahead about who might buy the book before you write it. Publishers do this when they decide whether to take on a project. As you learned, lots of my publishing decisions were affected by who I hoped my audience would be. I think it’s exciting, too!
Thanks Nancy and Dianne for this article, Congratulations Nancy I am sure you will sell a lot in years to come, such a nice cover. I have had the same success selling a couple of my self published cookbook s in Gift and souvenir shop. I self published cookbooks on 4 regions of Quebec and one on maple both in French and English. (A Taste of Maple/ l’Erable,son histoire, sa cuisine) as well as a title Traditional Quebec cooking. The books were sold in bookstore but I sold more of these cookbooks in Gift shop. Many of my books were sold to Quebecers, Europeans and Americans (US). That said I now retired from self publishing ( my age need parti retirement ..). I enjoy very much the contact with my customers. I even wrote and self published cookbooks asked by two buyers of major stores in Quebec. They wanted books (Délices Traditionnels du Québec and my book on maple) because tourists were asking for these books and there were not any on the market. Délices was a small book with 45 recipes a few color pictures and the one on maple has everything a tourist would want history, old and new style recipes) I wrote cookbooks also with publisher and actually 2 were published last year with a publisher. Quite a retirement! Anyway it is a passion that is not to stop for now.
This sounds just great! Your approach seems similar to mine in a number of ways. Seek out a niche market with a feasible distribution channel, such as tourist or gift shops with customers interested in your topic (yours being maple). I see you also decided to limit book size–it makes the price lower, enabling far more retail customers to buy.
I certainly understand your passion. I feel the same way.