Tuesday, July 31, 2012

A BIT OF HISTORY AND NOSTALGIA

Through the years I have heard and read several stories or accounts on the history of community cookbooks. There can be no doubt that community cookbooks have played an integral part in the fabric and history of the US. They have affected social issues, raised awareness for a variety of causes, raised needed funds for those same causes and generally contributed positively to many aspects of Americana.

As a "salute" to the history of community cookbooks I invite view this article that appeared recently on NPR's food blog, The Salt. I found it informative and fun to read. Making it even more enjoyable was reading the breadth of the comments that appear after the post. I hope you enjoy this trip through the past as much as I did.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Keeping Up with Today's Trends

It's not great revelation to anyone that the book industry has changed drastically over a very short time period. Publishers are now forced to offer their titles in both printed and electronic formats. Print runs for new books tend to be lower making the cost per book rise. Print on Demand is also a consideration and will possibly become a more integral part of book publishing as technology improves and costs come down.

For these reasons and others, companies that offer support services to self-publishers must adapt. At my company we are aggressively developing publishing programs for cookbook authors that offer lower prices on smaller print runs and flexibility on how we handle the development costs for our Publishers. We are also looking to expand some partnerships in logistical areas which offer the promise of greater distribution numbers in an effort  to get books out of the warehouse and into the hands of consumers.

Nothing ever stays the same but it is really fun staying ahead of the curve. We are adding strategies and publishing solutions for great regional cookbooks that provide a great value proposition for our Publishers. It is our goal to remain the industry leader in the custom publishing by offering the very best value proposition for our clients.

Don't be afraid to challenge your publishing partners by exploring all aspects of a publishing venture before signing a contract. If your vendors are stuck in the past I assure you there are options for companies that have been keeping up with the times.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

The Future of Regional Cookbooks - Part 5


I was recently made aware of a self-publishing business model that at first glance seemed very enticing. The concept was to pay a fixed dollar amount ($5,000 and above) for different levels of marketing support to a company. (I will let you research the names, but there are plenty out there.) The company then formats your book and makes it available for purchase online through their store and pays you a royalty for each book sold. Pretty interesting, I thought.

In trying to understand the concept I did some research by actually calling a few of the companies and getting all of their information. In addition, I developed a list of books that they were selling in their store and called or wrote to some of the authors to inquire how satisfied they were. I was very surprised that most told me they were so dissatisfied that they didn't want to even discuss it. This made me really curious, so I dug into the offerings a bit further.

The premise is built on accumulated sales to a "community" of potential buyers provided by the author at ridiculous price points. For example, a typical 64 page softcover or e-book cookbook was priced at $24.95. Realizing that I have been in this business for 30 years and have had many conversations with clients about the retail value of their books, I was shocked. While the value proposition does not require huge sums of investment dollars most authors get $0 return.

I realize that our own offering (as well as other good competitors I know and respect) requirea significantly greater investment and an element of risk, but it comes with a proven track record of authors actually making money and earning profits through their hard work. Through my career I have gone out of my way to speak highly of reputable competitors as it always sounds like sour grapes if one "knocks" the competition. However in this case, I have to say that these are not cookbook publishing companies-they are technology companies that take your money and give you very little in return.

There are so many success stories in the self-publishing world but in each case there is a great book that was produced. Having a technology company run a spell check is not editing. There are many benefits of a well executed self-publishing strategy including having a quality finished book and making a profit but one should be ready to invest time and money to reap the rewards. Taking the least expensive route, is in my opinion, simply inviting failure.

Friday, July 13, 2012

The Future of Regional Cookbooks Part 4.



Free content--WOW! This is one of the biggest hurdles for a regional cookbook to overcome. The good news is that with the proper planning in place a new title can be successful in spite of this obstacle .
Let me explain.

Many years ago popular regional cookbooks were simply a collection of regional recipes. As time went on the demand for more than just recipes in cookbooks grew. Photographs, historical information about the recipe, cooking tips and shortcuts all became popular and necessary for success. Today a successful regional cookbook must be well themed, have GREAT and unique recipes as well as beautiful photographs or illustrations.

There is no way to turn the clock back on the availability of free content. Today's cookbook author has to develop content that readers will be willing to pay for in either a print edition or electronic edition. The collection of content must be put together in a package that is entertaining and fun as well as one that works. Junior Leagues were really brilliant by insisting that their recipes be triple tested. They developed a reputation for offering community cookbooks that worked. This feature is even more important today.

If you are developing a new cookbook, do some research. Is your idea unique? What makes it so? If it isn't what can you do to adjust? Who is your target audience and how will you get to them? Planning and great execution is the key. Cookbooks are still one of the most popular gift ideas around. Gift giving isn't going away anytime soon, so you have an opportunity to sell thousands of copies of your cookbook if you will simply take a little time to develop a unique cookbook that works.

Friday, July 6, 2012

The Future of Regional Cookbooks - Part 3


Electronic publishing is here to stay!  With the advent of the tablet technology and the inexpensive cost of an electronic reader the move away from paperless is inevitable. Today, the most popular titles being published in electronic format are trade novels. I believe this genre will remain the undisputed number one for the foreseeable future. In addition, it makes sense to speculate that educational publishing will be the next big category moving to electronic formatting.

But what about cookbooks?  The trend for the present seems to be that a publisher should offer books in both formats. While some people enjoy the ability to pull a recipe from a book up on their electronic reader, at the store the huge demand for e-cookbooks hasn't hit. However, as today's youth ages and becomes the consumer for e-cookbooks, I believe the demand for e-cookbooks will increase significantly. Having spoken to many individuals since the advent of electronic readers I have heard countless times that today's consumers prefer a printed cookbook.

One big factor is cost. In shopping for electronic cookbooks consumers want more than just the recipes--they want enhanced content in the form of cooking videos which are expensive to develop. In addition to being costly on the front end most feel they shouldn't have to pay as much in retail for an electronic book and therefore profits are slimmer. The business model for electronic cookbooks being highly profitable is not quite there yet.

So, should you convert your existing book over to electronic, or if publishing a new title offer it in e-format? Absolutely. I say this because the cost is insignificant and making it available in whatever format the consumer is considering just makes sense. There will probably come a day when the only printed copies of cookbooks are print on demand; however, we aren't there yet.