Publish A Cookbook

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StirBlue

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Is there any money to be made in publishing a cookbook? Just as an unknown personality type person? Or someone here at DC?
 
I self-published a cookbook a couple of years ago to help with Chef scholarship fund raising and I've been able to present one $1,000.00 scholarship. That was without really 'selling' it, as I should have (or should do!) done.

I've found for myself, I'm a great cook and I can write a recipe, but boy, do I hate selling!!! Now that I'm a retired chef, I'm working on two more ideas for books, but....I'll let my husband sell them, not me!

Good luck with your venture.
 
You can take the lack of responses to this thread as a definite NO. OR the responses to How Many Cookbooks Do You Have? And ponder the situation.

I will compile my recipes for my family and maybe as a community contribution project. Pulling together the history of these times.
 
I personally, love to buy this type of cookbook. It's a shame that there isn't a better vehicle to get them advertised in a larger forum than friends, family and the community you are from.

Perhaps DC could have an area for sales; old cookbooks, self published cookbooks, pots, pans, untensils, small appliances, meatball rollers, ginzu knives :LOL: and other related 'stuff'.
 
It happens - Mollie Katzen was nobody when Ten Speed Press picked up the original Moosewood Cookbook in 1977 - but very rare. As you can see from the books which make it into print, the authors almost always have a marketing hook.

From your second post, it appears self-publishing might work for you. Consider Lulu.com. Not tried it myself, but bumped into it in my travels and, so, passing along FWIW. Or there's simple photocopying. Depends, in part, on how many copies you want. Also, how big it will be.
 
Half Baked said:
I personally, love to buy this type of cookbook. It's a shame that there isn't a better vehicle to get them advertised in a larger forum than friends, family and the community you are from.

Perhaps DC could have an area for sales; old cookbooks, self published cookbooks, pots, pans, untensils, small appliances, meatball rollers, ginzu knives :LOL: and other related 'stuff'.

We did have an area for this at some point but I don't think it did very well so they eliminated it.
 
I think that excellent picture's and verbage sells a lot of the books. Take the '"The Beautiful Series" beautiful photography and stories and in broad terms the recipes were just above average maybe. I have pondered traveling the highways, byways, and back roads of Mississippi searching out the best of each geographical areas finest examples. There is usually someone in each small town that is "famous" for something that they make. Where I live there were two such "famous" ladies. One for her brownies, the other for Chocolate pies. Those two recipes just can't be beat. Undertaking a project of this magnitude would take upwards of 2 years I would think. Collecting, testing etc. and at a great expense with no guarantee of any return. Oh well, just some thoughts.
 
Uncle Bob, What no return? What about the sheer enjoyment of visiting all those places and partaking of some scrumptious delectable delights and meeting those fascinating cooks? Maybe youwouldn't get your money back in sales but the experiences would be priceless!
 
jabbur said:
Uncle Bob, What no return? What about the sheer enjoyment of visiting all those places and partaking of some scrumptious delectable delights and meeting those fascinating cooks? Maybe youwouldn't get your money back in sales but the experiences would be priceless!

Gas...$4,178.45
Lodging....$7,866.89
Food....$2,654.13
Misc....$1,127.91

The Experience..Priceless!!
 
redkitty said:
UncleB, did you say chocolate PIE? mmmmmmmm, you know how much I love PIE!!!

Dear Miss Kitty...

I do know of your deep affection for the culinary delights of pie. I to share in that affection especially the chocolate varietys. Now I must hurry to the post office as I have a letter that must go out today.

Warm Regards...

Uncle Bob
 
Myself and two other writers are working on a cookbook now as part of a class. So far, we've found amazing results in reference to contacting folks who would like to share recipes. That part is sheer fun, and cooking up the dish - another positive.

Thus far, one positive result from an agent, one not so interested. It's been a lot of work and we're only in the beginning stages, but I'll keep ya'all posted as we make our progress.

Maybe us "regulars' can have a go at this after all!:-p
 
I've just recently begun putting together family recipes to make into a cookbook. I was not sure how I would publish it, but seeing as it was going to just be for family and friends as a gift, maybe I'll look into that lulu.com thing.

Anybody interested in a cookbook with mostly Irish and German recipes? :-p
 
Chipotle Tom said:
I've just recently begun putting together family recipes to make into a cookbook. I was not sure how I would publish it, but seeing as it was going to just be for family and friends as a gift, maybe I'll look into that lulu.com thing.

Anybody interested in a cookbook with mostly Irish and German recipes? :-p

Hey, Tom. Sounds like you're compiling a cookbook of recipes from my family.:LOL:
 
Oh, I have no idea how many pages yet, but my preliminary guess is about 100 pages. I will be making six copies so there are a few extra (my family is quite accident prone).
 
IMHO, for a project that size, Lulu isn't worth the trouble. In particular, there's quite a learning curve getting your material into a format they can handle automatically. I would just produce the book in a word processing program (you'd have to do that for Lulu anyway), print it and photocopy. Shop around; prices vary more than you might expect. Small privately owned shops sometimes will give you a bulk rate. The biggest question is how to put the book together. For something that size, I prefer to use 1/2 inch three ring binders, as they're sturdy and lay flat. Also, you can take out a page to stick on the fridge while cooking and/or replace if it gets splattered. Second choice would be wire spiral, third would be plastic comb (you can see samples of the various options at most copy shops).

A few other tips. I presume you're doing the book double-sided. Be sure to use a binding gutter, so the margin on the spine side is larger than the one on the outer edge. (In Word, I do this by setting the left margin half an inch wider than the right, then checking "mirror margins.") Also, use 24 lb paper rather than standard 20 lb, so the text on the flip side of the page doesn't bleed through to the other. And, if you take my suggestion to use binders, have the copy shop punch the holes (most 3-hole paper is only 20 lb), as they'll do it more precisely than you can with a hand punch.
 
Last edited:
PBear42 said:
Be sure to use a binding gutter, so the margin on the spine side is larger than the one on the outer edge. (In Word, I do this by setting the left margin half an inch wider than the right, then checking "mirror margins.")
Thanks PBear, I've never understood how to that before.
 

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