A guest post by Martha LordenI love cookbooks, so it’s only natural that I hunger for a way to share my interest and enthusiasm. As a result, I write cookbook reviews for Publishers Weekly (PW), a professional trade magazine designed for the folks who purchase books for libraries and bookstores.
PW reviews the latest and hottest cookbooks in 220-word reviews. It’s no easy feat to craft a succinct review of that size that is accurate and fair. In fact, it is maddeningly challenging.
A good review must do more than examine recipes. Readers of PW cookbook reviews want a feel for the cookbook as a whole, plus a sense of its form, function and style. One thing specific to this publisher is that there is no budget for recipe testing, so I can’t speak to that part of a review. Nor is it seen as necessary, as a professional reviewer can size up a cookbook using key parameters.
Here are 5 tips on how to ace cookbook reviews:
1. Describe the author’s background and authority.
Introduce the author to readers and comment on his or her experience and expertise. Is the author a renown chef, restaurant owner, respected cookbook author, or celebrity? Or is the cookbook a product of a brand, restaurant chain, television show, or manufacturer of cooking equipment looking to promote? Consider whether recipes are a new take on classic dishes. Compare the book to others written by the author, or to similar popular cookbooks.
2. Identify the intended audience.
Who would find this cookbook enjoyable and useful? Was it written for fans (or would-be fans) of a particular food, national cuisine, cooking technique, or eating style such as veganism or clean eating? Does it succeed in addressing that audience? To whom would you recommend or not recommend this cookbook?
3. Write in the style appropriate to the publication.
Reviewing for the publishing industry is not the same as writing in a personal blog or for a magazine or newspaper. Bloggers invariably include sample recipes and lots of photos. Magazines and newspapers may expect recipe testing—at your expense! Anonymous reviewers who write for professional trade magazines like PW must adhere to strict guidelines and can expect their 220-word pieces to be edited by no fewer than three copy editors.
4. Evaluate the cookbook’s mission and accessibility.
The cookbook’s title and introduction indicate what the author hopes to accomplish. Reviewers comment on design features that facilitate using the cookbook: Is it easy to navigate, find recipes, or follow the recipe format? Are cooking directions, header notes, and sidebars clear and helpful? Photographs and illustrations (especially when demonstrating technique) can make or break a modern cookbook. Weigh style versus substance. If a cookbook is more aspirational than useful, say so.
5. Be honest in your cookbook reviews.
My editor at PW says that a cookbook review should be about 80% description and 20% evaluation. Remember that one negative comment can go a long way, so avoid being heavy handed. Most importantly, back up your critique with specific examples and quotations from the content. Do not quote from or appropriate content from book jacket blurbs, promotional materials provided by the publisher, or from other reviews. Provide page citations for any quotes, and check your facts.
While professional cookbook reviewing can be a bit formulaic, creative approaches abound. And so do opportunities. You’d be surprised. My first paid, steady gig was for our local food co-op’s monthly magazine, reviewing cookbooks sold in its store. I admired the collection but thought few people knew about it. All it took was a phone call to the magazine’s editor.
You can learn more about reviewing cookbooks at conferences, workshops, and events related to food writing or cookbook publishing where networking opportunities abound. Join a culinary history organization, take cooking classes, or attend lectures by cookbook authors. Presenters are more than willing to offer guidance. I met the senior editor from PW who hired me at a food writing conference nearly a decade ago, and I’m still part of the review team, happily.
If you are passionate about cookbooks and enjoy a writing challenge, you might enjoy becoming a cookbook reviewer. You’ll never get rich, but your collection of cookbooks will explode. That’s because you get to keep the books. With every review I write, I add another treasured book to my library. There’s great satisfaction in thinking critically about a cookbook and putting those thoughts into words.
* * *
Martha Esersky Lorden is a book reviewer who specializes in cookbooks and culinary history. In addition to reviewing, she has published interviews with notable authors including Yotam Ottolenghi, Diana Henry, David Lebovitz, and Mimi Sheraton. For examples of her reviews, see her blog, Outtathekitchen.com.
You might also like:
- For a Cookbook Review, is Testing Recipes Essential?
- You got a free cookbook! Now what?
- Who Buys Cookbooks and Why?
(Top photo by Dan Gold on Unsplash.)
This is “inside baseball” for cookbook reviewers! A helpful checklist for reviewers, influencers, or collectors who analyze books to advise others.
Oh good. I wonder if she will review self-published cookbooks? You should ask her.
ps. thanks DJ & Martha!
You are most welcome! Thanks for reading the post. –ML
Dear Dianne, my job and life got extremely busy in the past year and I only now managed to catch up with the 2019 posts of your blog. I write because I’m so much ** impressed** by this particular post. I’m a cookbooks collector and passionate reader (and a cook of course: -) and I read a lot of reviews to inform my book ordering. I also write occasionally cookbook reviews for friends. But never before I saw such a roadmap for achieving an excellent review. My hat is off for the level of explicitness, precision, and clarity. Being a scientist myself, I’m stunned at the scientific rigor I see in the checklist described above. Well, it is not an explicit checklist, but any careful reader will clearly see the following critical components of a great review (I do professional reviews of scientific books and teachers’ textbooks and take a similar approach):
1) Feel as a whole
2) Form
3) Function
4) Style
5) Author’s background, possible comparison to previously published works
6) Stakeholders: Perfect-for audience?
7) Recipes and photos
8) Mission and accessibility: an honest evaluation on how this is achieved; ease of use; plus, the trade-off of style versus substance
9) Fact-checking
This post is so inspiring that makes me want to join a volunteers’ cookbook review club in my community…
Thank you so much!!
Welcome back! Nice to hear from you.
Thank you for such an effusive comment and I’m so pleased that this post inspired you. I really can’t take much credit, other than editing this post. It all goes to Martha, who is clearly a pro.