Cookbooks

How to Write Award-Winning Cookbooks

March 22, 2022 by diannejacob 3 Comments

A guest post by Barbara Abdeni Massaad

When I decided to write and photograph my first book, Man’oushé: Inside the Street Corner Lebanese Bakery, I had no experience in writing books or taking professional food and location photos to document my journey. I come from a kitchen background. My cooking career started in the 1980s in a family-owned restaurant in Fort, Lauderdale, Florida, called Kebabs & Things.

Serving and cooking for customers was an important experience in my life. Years later, I would go on to train in restaurants in Beirut, Lebanon, where I moved a few years later. Now, I am the author of five cookbooks, many of which have won awards.

image for post on winning cookbook awards

Accepting my award for Man’oushé, my first cookbook, from the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in 2015. I did both the writing and the photography.

Here are my insights on how to write award-winning cookbooks:

1. Don’t ever let anyone undermine your dreams.

The idea to write about food started with an obsession: living through a journey in Italy and learning about pizza-making. Upon deep reflection, I took a [Read more…] about How to Write Award-Winning Cookbooks

What to Expect When You Finish Writing A Cookbook

January 31, 2022 by diannejacob

A guest post by Alice Medrich

My publisher, Artisan Books, brought us the bestseller What to Expect When You’re Expecting. Now that’s a book that will never go out of style, right?

The reader hangs on every word for nine months. Month-by-month it tells the pregnant one what she may or may not be feeling. Way to hedge a bet! Yet, somehow I never felt like throwing that book out the window, rather than just throwing up. Years ago, when I was pregnant, I kept reading and [Read more…] about What to Expect When You Finish Writing A Cookbook

Want a Successful Cookbook Translation? Here’s How

November 23, 2021 by diannejacob Leave a Comment

A guest post by Pili Rodríguez Deus

Do you dream of your cookbook reaching audiences around the world? Priming your cookbook or food narrative for translation will make it more desirable to publishers abroad. A successful cookbook translation depends on the publisher and translator. But you can help.

But first, do you know how foreign publishers work? Usually your publisher holds the rights. A foreign rights buyer contacts your [Read more…] about Want a Successful Cookbook Translation? Here’s How

Before Writing a Cookbook, Ask Yourself These 5 Questions

October 19, 2021 by diannejacob 2 Comments

A guest post by Kate Leahy

Before writing a cookbook, I didn’t know exactly how my finished book would look. But I knew a cookbook was the right vehicle for sharing a restaurant’s inner world with the outside world.

For my first cookbook, A16 Food + Wine, I could envision how the recipes, wine descriptions, and restaurant stories would be layered into a physical book. Since then, I’ve grown to understand that not all ideas about food, restaurants, or home cooking make sense within the structures of a cookbook. There are many other ways ways to tell a story. Today’s technology makes it easier than ever to explore other forms of media, from videos to podcasts and e-newsletters and many things between.

But if cookbooks are only one way to approach food storytelling and recipe sharing, how do you know if pursuing a cookbook is right for you? (I’m talking about a traditional publishing route. For self-publishing, it’s somewhat different, though much of what I say below will still apply.)

Are Work-for-Hire Cookbooks Worth It?

August 3, 2021 by diannejacob Leave a Comment

By Amelia Levin

Should you accept assignments for work-for-hire cookbooks?

Therein lies a key question in the cookbook publishing world. Work-for-hire cookbooks straddle the middle ground between traditional and self-publishing. Publishers use algorithms and other research to determine what’s hot and what’s selling now. Then they find authors to write the book for [Read more…] about Are Work-for-Hire Cookbooks Worth It?

Why I Won’t Self-Publish a Cookbook Again

July 20, 2021 by diannejacob 11 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