How to Write a Cookbook: Ideas
Brainstorm Well-Defined Cookbook Ideas That Reflect Who You Are
Apr 4, 2008
So many people with a passion for food and cooking dream about writing and publishing a cookbook. Turning the dream into reality, however, takes hard work and dedication. There's stiff competition. Cookbooks published each year number in the hundreds rather than the thousands. And that's just a fraction of the many proposals that cross cookbook editors' desks every week.
Don't be discouraged, though. You can increase the chance that you'll find a publisher. The trick is to write the cookbook that only you could write.
Think of your favorite cookbook and its author. What makes both special? Is it Julia Child's exhaustive but always reassuringly down-to-earth approach to French cuisine? Martha Stewart's flair for lavish, imaginative presentations and ability to make cooking part of a complete lifestyle? Rachael Ray's perky, anyone-can-do-it attitude?
Each of these authors offers more than just collections of recipes. Each of their books has grown from its author's unique experience. No one else could write a French cookbook like Julia Child. Nobody entertains like Martha Stewart.
Your Own Personal Food History
Your own experience can give your cookbook its winning edge. That sounds like a simple enough solution, but the real challenge lies in being honest with yourself about what your life as a food lover qualifies you to write about.
Imagine a cookbook editor being told by an aspiring author that his or her book is " a collection of my favorite recipes." That's not going to excite anyone to give you a contract. But when you think about your own personal relationship with food, clearer themes will likely emerge.
Jot down some brief answers to the following questions:
- What are your earliest food memories?
- What sorts of things did your parents or grandparents cook?
- What were their best dishes, those that make your mouth water even now as you remember them?
- Were there any special family dining traditions—holiday meals or unusual foods that none of your friends ate in their homes?
- When did you start to cook and what did you make?
- How and what do you cook now?
- Do you follow any special diets–low-fat, sugar-free, gluten-free, no red meat, vegetarian, vegan, and so on?
- Where do you like to eat out?
- What are your favorite ways to entertain with food?
- Do you explore food on your travels?
That may seem like a storm of questions. That's the point. Brainstorm. Have fun with this exercise.
Then, look over your notes. You'll probably see some patterns emerging.
Personal Cookbook Themes
Consider the details of your food history. What particular themes stand out? Each could become a cookbook:
- Someone from the Pacific Northwest may have grown up in the kitchen with Mom and Grandma, making marvelous pies from the region's wild berries. How about a cookbook of pies and other baked desserts featuring seasonal fruit?
- A woman whose husband has had a heart attack is learning to cook delicious low-fat versions of traditional Jewish dishes. Her idea: a Jewish light cookbook.
- An African-American food lover may have wonderful memories of summer trips to family reunions in the deep South, but avoids such foods now because they're too fattening. Well, how about a "nouvelle" soul food cookbook?
- A young single guy who has traveled all over Asia and Latin America has learned to cook authentic ethnic recipes in quantities serving one or two. If you loved ethnic cooking and live on your own, wouldn't you want that cookbook?
All of those ideas could be great cookbooks. They're tightly focused. You can clearly imagine the books they'd become. For that reason, they're more likely to excite cookbook editors.
Think of a cookbook editor as Uncle Scrooge McDuck in the old Donald Duck cartoons and comics. When he got a great idea, above his head appeared a thought bubble, filled with dollar signs.
Your cookbook idea has to have that same effect on an editor. Publishing is a business, and the editor—as well as the sales and marketing people who also have to approve your concept—has to believe your book can make money. The more individual your cookbook concept is from the start, the more individual your actual book will be, and the more likely it will be to connect with other people and to sell. That's the kind of edge the best cookbooks have.
To make your cookbook unique, all you have to do is come up with a concept that is uniquely yours—a cookbook nobody else but you could write. (For guidelines on how to write recipes for your cookbook, see "How to Write a Cookbook: Recipes." To find out how to write an effective book proposal, see "How to Write a Cookbook: Proposals." For tips on how to find the right publisher, see "Writing a Cookbook: Publishers.")
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