What is the Downside of E-Books?

The statistics overwhelmingly support the fact that consumers are buying e-books. This past Christmas season saw a record number of e-readers sold with the introduction of the new Kindle Fire as well as other e-reading devices. And we know that there is now a Chef Stand and Stylus on the market that allows us take our readers into the kitchen and use an e-book without ever touching the tablet.

But you might be thinking, I have a lot of inventory of printed books that I need to sell first. My response is the two are not connected. People that don't have e-readers are not going to buy an e-book but those with e-readers are looking for content to use on their devices. The right strategy is to offer both formats.

There is no downside. It is too early in the game to quote any accurate statistics (even if you can find any; I haven't been able to) regarding how many cookbooks have been purchased in an e-format but that doesn't mean consumers won't buy if they are available. Plus, if your book is on Amazon.com and clearly marked as available in an e-format you target both demographics--those with an e-reader and those without or who just prefer a printed cookbook.

The way I see it you can't go wrong with promoting and offering both formats.

Keeping Your Content and Marketing Relevant

Even though these trends were published in a few years ago, I believe they are still relevant.  If you are developing a new book you would certainly want to be aware of these and make sure your content appeals to today's consumers.

If you already have a book, how can you adapt your marketing campaign to demonstrate that your content is appropriate for consumers who say these trends are important to them?

From www.marketwatch.com, here are some top 5 cooking at home trends.

Self Publishing--Easy?

There have been many articles written lately about the boom of self-publishing. The simple fact is that technology has made it much easier to publish a book, but in my experience the act of publishing is only one element of the equation.  Here are a few questions you might want to ask and answer before devoting a lot of time to a self-publishing venture:

Who is my audience?

What is my  platform?

How good is my content?

How will I distribute books?

Who will develop my marketing plan?

Who will implement the plan?

What will I consider success if I publish?


There are probably plenty more questions that need to be asked and answered, but if you can't answer these you should not delve into the arena until you can.  Authoring the book is the easy part. Selling it takes time and effort.

Who is Your Audience?

In my last post, I spent some time discussing the value of content in planning a cookbook.  Something else that must be considered when developing content is your audience. I say this for two very important reasons - content must appeal to those whom you want to purchase your book and you must have a way to reach this audience.

Let me give you some examples to illustrate.

If you decided to publish a cookbook for individuals afflicted with Celiac Disease you would obviously be narrowing the number of interested buyers to the Celiac population. At the same time you could be developing a database of Celiac sufferers within a certain region or area for social media efforts. Perhaps you would approach the medical community to assist in your marketing efforts--patient brochures, copies of books in allergist offices, finding medical blogs that deal with Celiac Disease to promote your title and so forth.

If, however you are generating a community cookbook targeted to raise funds within your town you would take a totally different approach in both content and marketing. You would start your book by involving your membership for recipes and orders, then work your way out for marketing purposes into the local media and distribution networks. Your might seek appearances on local cooking shows, promote to the Convention and Visitors bureau, hold book signings and tastings in local retail book or gift stores, for example.

You would also base your book order based on the universe your title would appeal to. I've never heard of an exact formula but you certainly wouldn't assume that everyone within your target audience would purchase, but rather you would agree on a reasonable percentage likely to buy over a 12-24 month period. The Melting Pot Restaurants based their first printing of Dip Into Something Different (15,000 copies) on a percentage of their preferred customer database and then ordered additional books as inventory was depleted. Their total print run now totals well over 50,000 copies.

This bit of legwork and planning up front might slow you down but will pay off in success if you develop the plan, identify the audience and then work the plan.

How Good is Your Content?

Are you considering developing a regional or specialty cookbook? Let me encourage you to invest some time in planning your content. There was a time in the not-so-distant past when an organization could reach out to its members and collect popular recipes of the day, rate and test the recipes and then use the ones selected for the book. Times have changed.

A successful regional cookbook today must carry a strong theme and this is where a bit of creativity comes in.  One of our most popular books over the last three years carries a fondue theme. Other popular themes I have noticed are seasonal, event driven, single food category, quick and easy, unique number (usually 4-5) number of ingredients, city or community driven. I'm certain that with a brainstorming session many of you can come up with even more creative or unique themes.

When it comes to selecting the recipes I think we can all agree that including recipes that are not in every other cookbook known to man is the right way to go. You will probably never find recipes that are not available elsewhere, however, you can come up with unique twists to the "tried and true". Another element that I personally recommend is to include a story about each recipe. Where did it come from? How has it been altered? What do guests say about it? Is there one ingredient that gives it a special oomph? Does it go with a particular dish? Do you have plating advice? and so on.

If you are going to develop a new cookbook and ask folks to pay for it or companies to sponsor it, you want to give them a great value. The way you accomplish this is to sell a lot of them (for the sponsors' benefit) and develop a book that is as fun and interesting to read as it is to cook from.

Idea for Marketing

As 2012 starts, if you are like most others, you are thinking about ideas to improve your quality of life and are making resolutions to change something about your life that will lead to those improvements. If you are reading this blog there is a better than average chance that you have some responsibility for the marketing success of a regional or specialty cookbook. Have you thought about what resolutions you are going to make in regards to improving your cookbook program this year?

Are you ready for an idea? Develop a written marketing plan that lays out monthly activities for marketing efforts on a number of fronts. The plan should include media, social media, special events, internal and external marketing, wholesale account activities, retail account activities and written goals for the results of each. Once your marketing plan is finished, share it with someone you respect and admire.

You will be amazed at the results you will achieve if you commit to a plan in writing and share it with someone you respect. We all want to look good in the eyes of those we respect so by simply sharing the plan you will more likely stick to it.