Aquafaba intrigued Rebecca Coleman, a food blogger and social media instructor who got a cookbook deal. A few years ago, she began experimenting with the garbanzo bean water, which vegans use as an egg replacer, in recipes.
But she never even considered writing a cookbook about this trendy new food. Yet she got a contract, just by asking a question.
She did not build her online expertise and followers first. That is the usual way to get a cookbook deal. This story is an exception. Perhaps it is easier to get a book deal if you know about a hot new trend and have experimented with the ingredient. That way the publisher can get a book out quickly.
While Rebecca was not a recognized expert, she was one of the first to suggest a book. And she became an aquafaba expert over the course of writing the book. She said she tested one obstinate recipe for macarons 50 times!
Rebecca had no plans to become a cookbook author. Here’s her new book.
Here’s how Rebecca wrote a sentence that became a cookbook:
Q. How long ago did you notice that aquafaba was a trend?
A. In 2015. A girlfriend turned me onto a vegan Facebook group on Aquafaba. I joined and immediately broke out my food processor, bought a can of chickpeas, and started messing around with bean water. I wrote my first blog post on aquafaba that year.
Q. Did you have any intention of writing a book about aquafaba?
A. Never. I had no aspirations to write a cookbook! My blog is based on recipes I find online, and then modify in some way. Up until that point, I had done very little recipe development.
Q. How did the aquafaba book idea come about?
A. I met Robert Dees of Bob Rose at the International Food Blogger Conference, where I was a panelist. He asked if I’d ever thought of writing a cookbook. I told him no. He gave me his card and told me to contact him if I had ideas.
Later I pitched him on a book about how to manage interfood relationships, such as one between a carnivore parent with a vegan child. Then one day I sent him a one-line email that said, “If you don’t already have a book in the works about aquafaba, you should. It’s very hot right now.”
His response was, “Why don’t you write it?”
Q. Wow. Did you feel qualified?
A. No. I’d been working with aquafaba and I thought it was really cool. But I wasn’t a vegan, and I certainly didn’t feel like an expert on it.
But then one day a friend said, “Someone is going to write this book. Why not you?” So I decided to go for it, despite my doubts and fears. I had never written a cookbook before. I had no idea what I was doing.
Q. What did the publisher think about your lack of platform on this subject?
A. There was very little else out there. One publisher had a cookbook scheduled to come out a few months before mine. But not a lot of people (especially outside of the vegan community) were writing about aquafaba in print. Since then, some big articles in large publications have come out.
Q. Was the schedule very fast?
A. Yes. I signed the contract in June, though I was already working on the manuscript by then. My deadline was October 1, and the book came out at the end of April. It was less than a year from conception to publication.
The book has about 125 recipes, and I wrote most of them during the summer, when I take time off from my job teaching social media at a local university.
Q. How do you feel about being a sudden expert on aquafaba?
A. I love helping people, and this ingredient helps people. It opens up a world that was previously closed. I lurk in Facebook groups and Twitter, sharing aquafaba recipes and advice all the time.
Q. Any advice to tentative cookbook authors?
A. I was terrified. I had a ton of doubts. It was a really challenging experience, but I’m glad I did it, and now I’m a published cookbook author. It’s pretty cool to be able to say that!
What a terrific and inspiring story Rebecca! Congratulations and Very Best Wishes!
Thank you for sharing Dianne.
My pleasure, Peggy. Thanks for the comment.
Thanks, Peggy! It was a bucket-list wish item I didn’t even know I had! 😉
Thank you for this post! As someone who wants to write a cookbook but is lacking in the “platform” arena, it’s very inspirational!
I mean, just go for it! The great thing about the internet is that you don’t actually have to wait for publishers to come knocking… if you really want to write a cookbook, you can do it! 😀
Yes, true. You can self publish anything. Selling it is a different matter.
You are most welcome, Ashley. It’s also very rare. Please keep that in mind!
Congratulations Rebecca! The rest of us are saying “Why didn’t we think of doing it ourselves!” Great to hear an IFBC connection led to your success and that simple communication can work.
I just wondering, what did you do with all the leftover garbanzo beans?
Just in case you don’t hear back from her, Rosemary, I believe she proposed a chapter on bean recipes, to use them up.
I made A LOT of hummus… my freezer is still full of them. Want some??? 😉
Yes, there is a chapter in the book devoted to bean recipes.
As a fellow Robert Rose author, I must point out that she must have met Bob Dees, of Robert Rose, at the conference. Congratulations!
Oh gosh, you are right! I will change it. Thanks Robin.
Great interview! I actually wrote a story about aquafaba for the Washington Post in October 2015 and people kept saying to me that I should propose a cookbook — but I didn’t have time to pursue immediately and then there were two books quickly in production, including Rebecca’s, which is a great book!
Oh yes I read that, Kristen. That was a great piece! Now you know — if you want to jump on a trend, probably a publisher is interested.
Trends are the starting point for a lot of cookbooks. Recently the spiralizer led to a number of books. Years ago I did a cookbook featuring (the then new) fast rising yeast; the short delivery time was a killer, btw! One of the best-selling trend cookbooks of all times was the first crock pot cookbook by Mabel Hoffman, also done on a super-tight deadline. I’d suggest that if some new ingredient or piece of equipment strikes your fancy and appears to have legs, start establishing yourself as the expert on it instantly. Also look at what publishers do trend cookbooks (not all do) and start pitching.
Thanks for this perspective, Nancy. Of course you need to be someone who has fallen in love with the Instapot or whatever and lives to experiment with it. That is what happened for Rebecca. And that was enough for the publisher.
And then you will be known as the Instapot expert for a long time, which is also part of the package. So it has to be a good fit. Years ago I worked with someone who did a book on a certain subject and then resented going on talk shows to promote it, because it was a side business. She wanted to promote her main business and be known for that. Too bad!
OK, I love this story (and aquafaba too) because I too met Bob Dees from Robert Rose Publishing when a colleague introduced me to him because he was looking for someone to write a book on Chinese medicine remedies (I am an acupuncturist in Portland, Oregon). I was flattered but said, “that’s not my book.” He suggested I write a book on Chinese medicine for the lay person. I said, “that’s not my book and there are plenty of good ones on the subject out there. However, I said my book is on the power of nutritional healing using the principles of Chinese medicine. Why this topic? For decades I have taught people about the potential and power of food from a Chinese medicine point of view and I wanted to spread the good news and help everyday people apply the principles of Chinese medicine in their kitchens, no matter what culture they hailed from. He was intrigued and the conversation began.
I wrote a proposal, sample pages, some recipes and the conversation continued. I signed my first book contract! I hired a collaborator on recipes and we created a book that is really 2 books in one; first part Chinese medicine and Chinese nutritional therapy, second part over 175 recipes organized by the season. I wrote the book! What an incredible journey and process. It is at the printer and available for pre-order on Amazon. Soon, it will be available and hopefully delight and inspire others of the power of delicious food, to heal and build health.
So, Rebecca Coleman; congratulations. Maybe we will meet one day.
Congratulations on your book, Ellen. Robert Dees must get around, meeting people and quickly deciding what would be a good book idea to fit the person. I’ll have to interview him for the blog soon.
I’d love to meet you! Next time I’m in PDX!
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