Cookbooks

Want a Successful Cookbook Translation? Here’s How

November 23, 2021 by diannejacob Leave a Comment

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

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