Cookbooks

Why I Won’t Self-Publish a Cookbook Again

July 20, 2021 by diannejacob 7 Comments

A guest post by Sara Bir

I’ve written three cookbooks. The second two I did with traditional publishers, but the first one I self-published. Would I self-publish a cookbook again? That was the question I faced last year when I decided to do an expanded version of The Pocket Pawpaw Cookbook, my first book.

Pawpaws are a little-known fruit that grow in less than a third of the country and aren’t sold at grocery stores. They are in season for two months a year, max. I live in Ohio, where they grow abundantly, and I’m totally besotted with them.

So of course I thought this under-the-radar food deserved its own cookbook. But a pawpaw cookbook doesn’t exactly spark a bidding war among conventional publishers.

Still, I decided a slender cookbook devoted to pawpaws was a great idea for [Read more…] about Why I Won’t Self-Publish a Cookbook Again

New Book Editor Bryant Terry is Looking for Authors

June 8, 2021 by diannejacob 2 Comments

image of Bryant Terry, editor You know Bryant Terry as the author of several vegan cookbooks. He’s also a James Beard and NAACP Image Award-winning chef, and an educator known for his activism to create a healthy, just, and sustainable food system. And most recently, he became the editor-in-chief of a new Ten Speed book division called 4 Color Books. Now he’s looking for [Read more…] about New Book Editor Bryant Terry is Looking for Authors

Paula Forbes Likes Cookbooks that Treat Cooking as Part of Daily Life

May 25, 2021 by diannejacob 2 Comments

headshot of Paula Forbes Do you know about the enthusiastic cookbook newsletter called Stained Page News? Its author, Paula Forbes, worked at Eater and Epicurious as an editor. She reviewed cookbooks for around 10 years before she started the newsletter in 2018. She moved back to Texas to write a cookbook about Austin food.

Her newsletter has 10,000 subscribers, and comes out [Read more…] about Paula Forbes Likes Cookbooks that Treat Cooking as Part of Daily Life

7 Tips for Making a Cookbook — and Keeping Your Sanity

March 30, 2021 by diannejacob 6 Comments

By Jennifer Kurdyla and Abbey Rodriguez

Do you dream of turning your blog (or collection of index cards) into a cookbook? Or maybe you already have a publishing deal in place? Regardless, so much goes into making a cookbook that you won’t see in the finished product. But like recipes themselves, there are ways to make the process easier.

The two of us spent 2020 creating Root & Nourish, our new cookbook focused on herbalism for women’s health. The pandemic threw us some major curveballs, but even in normal times, making a cookbook reveals lots of gaps in preparation, knowledge, and experience. [Read more…] about 7 Tips for Making a Cookbook — and Keeping Your Sanity

Is 1/2 tablespoon the New Recipe Measurement?

February 2, 2021 by diannejacob 36 Comments

It doesn’t matter if they’re plastic, metal, round or rectangular. I need lots of measuring spoons when I cook and bake. And a few years ago, I bought my first set that included a 1/2 tablespoon measure.

Huh, I thought. I haven’t seen this before. The spoons have been pretty standard until recently: 1 tablespoon, 1 teaspoon, 1/2 teaspoon, 1/4 teaspoon, and sometimes 1/8 teaspoon. Then I got a second set that included 1/2 tablespoon measure. Something’s going on!

Up until now, I’ve changed recipes that call for that measurement, because we had no physical measure. Most recipe writers call for 1 1/2 teaspoons, which comes to 1/2 tablespoon. So I wondered whether there’s a revolt underway, at least from spoon manufacturers.

Should we start using this new measurement in recipes?

For an answer, I turned to copy editor Suzanne Fass, who has written for my blog in the past. She was of two minds. If a reader has a 1/2 tablespoon measure, it’s fine if the recipe calls for it. “But how prevalent is that measurement in sets?” asks Suzanne. “How long has it been available?”

“New cooks who have only just outfitted their kitchens might have one, but cooks who have been at it longer, with older equipment, may not. If that size is just gradually joining spoon sets and is not yet found everywhere, I’d guess that not very many readers will have it.

“”I fear that far too many folks don’t know that it equals 1 1/2 teaspoons,” she added. “You don’t want to force most readers to do math. And they’ll hate you for it, or get it wrong, or both.

“I guess my bottom line is: Don’t write 1/2 tablespoon.”

What about you? Do you have this newer measure? Have you been stating 1/2 tablespoon in your recipe ingredients list? Will you now? Let’s get it straightened out.

* * *

(Photo by Kara Eads on Unsplash)

4 Who Beat the Odds to Publish a Cookbook

November 10, 2020 by diannejacob 9 Comments

Since the pandemic, I’ve been teaching Zoom classes about how to publish a cookbook. Once I explain how difficult it is, some hopeful authors decide to self-publish, and others give up.

If you’re a prospective cookbook writer, you should know that there are always exceptions to the rule in traditional publishing. So here are the experiences of four authors who beat the odds to publish a cookbook or food-based book. (Two books are forthcoming, and another is a collection of essays with recipes).

I’ve asked the authors to talk about their experience in their own words. Their stories are refreshing, because there is so much pressure these days to build a big social media following, if you want a cookbook. But none of them had a big platform when they approached their publisher.

Here are 4 authors who beat the odds to publish a cookbook:

Recipes for Subversion: Women’s Suffrage Cookbooks Turn 100

September 1, 2020 by diannejacob 3 Comments

A guest post by Becky Libourel Diamond

The year 2020 commemorates 100 years since the passage of the 19th Amendment, which secured women’s constitutional right to vote. The U.S. suffrage movement began in 1848, when women demanded the vote at the first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, NY. The battle continued for 72 years. Women lobbied, marched, picketed, and protested for the right to cast their say.

While these demonstrations are well documented, there were other, more subversive ways to spread their message: women’s suffrage cookbooks. These cookbooks were compilations of recipes submitted by women devoted to [Read more…] about Recipes for Subversion: Women’s Suffrage Cookbooks Turn 100