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Useful Tips, Interviews, and Stories to Inspire Food Writers and Bloggers

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Literary Agents

What Bloggers Need for a Book Deal: Reader Relationships

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A guest post by Literary Agent Maria Ribas

When I was an editor, my publishing house did one of the first blog-to-book cookbooks. We were only allowed to do one, because obviously, we had to wait and see if this “blog” thing was going to blow over.

Now, every one of my authors is a blogger or vlogger (except the chefs). It still amazes me how blogging can build deep and lasting relationships. Yet, too often, I get that inescapable question: How many [Read more…] about What Bloggers Need for a Book Deal: Reader Relationships

What Can a Talent Agent Do For You?

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Jaimee-Constantine

An interview with Jaimee Constantine,  talent agency for the Lisa Ekus Group.

Some cookbook authors and bloggers use a talent agent to help them find good-paying gigs and opportunities. This is a different service than using a literary agent, whose primary job is to land you a book deal.

Do you wonder if you should have a talent agent? To find out what they do, I interviewed Jaimee Constantine, Culinary Talent Agent with The Lisa Ekus Group.

A graduate of The University of Massachussetts’s Amherst’s Hospitality and Tourism Management program, Jaimee joined The Lisa Ekus Group in June 2010. She leads the Culinary Talent division and manages all incoming contracts.

Q. What can a talent agent do for bloggers or cookbook authors?

A. A talent agent’s goal is to make it easier for you to work with companies. Talent agents respond to queries coming in about our clients. We evaluate [Read more…] about What Can a Talent Agent Do For You?

Strive for Audience Growth, Not a Number, says Agent

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Agent-Lori-Galvin

Lori Galvin edited books for over a decade for America’s Test Kitchen before becoming a literary agent specializing in cookbooks.

I met literary agent Lori Galvin five years ago when I discovered she read my blog, and we’ve stayed in touch. It’s a thrill to find out someone I respect reads my work.

Until recently, Lori was part of a team that produced more than 70 cookbooks for America’s Test Kitchen. They include the companions to public television shows America’s Test Kitchen and Cook’s Country, as well as the New York Times bestseller The Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook.

Lori has also edited cookbooks for Houghton Mifflin, cooked in restaurant kitchens, and she ran a bed-and-breakfast in Maine. [Read more…] about Strive for Audience Growth, Not a Number, says Agent

An Agent Answers: “What Should I Expect for a Cookbook Advance?”

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Literary Agent Sally Ekus represents cookbooks and food-based books.

Literary Agent Sally Ekus represents cookbooks and food-based books.

A guest post by Sally Ekus

Every time I talk with a new author or perspective client they ask the same question: “What can I expect for an advance?” I tell them $250,000. No wait, that was a dream I had last night. In reality, though, I can’t answer.

Spoiler alert: the answer to most everything in publishing is “It depends.” In the case of cookbooks, the answer depends on platform, proposal, and concept. And no agent will tell you an amount in advance. Let’s be real, if you were applying for a job and you were told your salary could be [Read more…] about An Agent Answers: “What Should I Expect for a Cookbook Advance?”

Agent Prefers First-Time Book Authors

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Danielle-Svetcov

Literary Agent Danielle Svetcov

Literary agents are notoriously coy about interviews. So it was a pleasure to meet Danielle Svetcov, a San Francisco-based cookbook agent who’s part of a New York agency, Levine Greenberg Rostan, who welcomed the opportunity.

Here’s what she has to say about why she became an agent, what she’s looking for in a new author, and what’s new in cookbook publishing:

Q. So you’re a journalist, a professionally-trained chef, and you have an MFA. How did this massive education lead to you becoming an agent?

An agent wears a lot of hats: editor, writer, reader, critic, life coach, translator, therapist, news-junkie, diplomat, lifeboat driver — you need a lot of degrees for those jobs!

Here’s the actual path: age 13, request Sunset Magazine subscription, discover bologna has a fancier cousin, prosciutto; 18, fancy self a journalist and [Read more…] about Agent Prefers First-Time Book Authors

5 Things Literary Agents Say When They Mean No

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Snagging a literary agent for your book proposal takes nerves of steel. You might have to send a query out to many agents, while telling yourself that it only takes one who’s excited about your book.

Most agents accept only one or two percent of the queries and book proposals they read. They spend a lot of time saying no. The problem is that they don’t have time to tell you why they don’t like your book idea or you, and often their responses don’t shed any light. On top of that, you’re not supposed to ask for clarification when you do get a response, because once they’ve said no, it’s no.

Possibly the most stressful thing of all is how long literary agents take to answer. Many take a month to six weeks to write two sentences back about [Read more…] about 5 Things Literary Agents Say When They Mean No

3 Issues to Consider in Negotiating Book Contracts

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Cookbook author Andrea Nguyen doesn’t have an agent and has never had one. “No one would take me on until Into the Vietnamese Kitchen was published in 2006. Then they said ‘I’ll work with you anytime.'”

Andrea discusses her book ideas and negotiates subsequent book contracts herself, developing trust by staying with the same publisher. “As long as I remain at Ten Speed (an imprint of Random House), I don’t feel that I need to use an agent because they deal with me fairly. If I have questions I email Aaron (Wehner, the publisher) or the attorney at Random House. I don’t feel like I need to give 15 percent to an agent forever.”

Negotiating her own contracts makes her feel empowered. “You enter into a contract because all parties want to be fairly dealt with. My mindset is, ‘What is the publisher going to [Read more…] about 3 Issues to Consider in Negotiating Book Contracts