Advice from the Experts

In my last blog post, I shared tips for starting up a cookbook business. Since I began my career in 1975 many things have changed. Amazingly, more things have changed in the last three years than the previous thirty-four. A HUGE dynamic of this change is the advent of the Internet and social media as marketing and communication tools.

Here are a few stats and facts:

• There were 18.4 BILLION searches conducted in March in the United States
• Google makes up 66.4% of the search market in the United States
• Facebook has roughly 900 Million active members
• Top 5 most visited sites are Google, Facebook, You Tube, Yahoo and Baidu

It’s simple…customers are using the Internet to find what you have to sell so you need to be there!

During our recent Cookbook University we invited two dynamic individuals as guest speakers.  Molly Hodgin is Director of New Media for Thomas Nelson Publishing and she had some fabulous tips. Adam Malone owns his own web site development company and also shared some good insight into the social media phenomenon.

I am going to break their tips up into two two blog posts. Here is part one:

Tip 1. You must have a website

• Give your cookbook prime real estate on the front page
• Capture e-mail addresses of prospects and customers via registration of some sort
• Create traffic - ads and social media should lead customers back to your website - SEO (search engine optimization)
• Track what works

Tip 2. Be Savvy with Social Media - Focus on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest

• DO create a fan page and Twitter handle for your cookbook.
• DO encourage your members to like the page, follow the Twitter feed, and post a link to the page and Twitter feed on their own time lines.
• DO assign someone from your organization to maintain the page and feed.
• DO post new content every day/every other day.
• DO encourage users to interact with your content.
• DO create a Pinterest account for your organization or cookbook
• DO assign multiple members of your organization to pin to your boards.
• DO follow all of the members of your organization and repin their content.
• DO track your re-pins and “likes” to see what your followers are responding to.

Watch for the next post where I'll share tips 3 and 4 from the experts.

Tips for a "Cookbook Start-Up"

When an individual or an organization decide to author a cookbook they are making a decision to launch a business. As with any new business there are guidelines to follow to ensure success.  Here are a few elements you need to think about when producing  a cookbook.

1.) A written business plan--who is your book going to target? What price will it be? In what formats will you offer the book? Where do you plan to sell it? What is your overriding goal in publishing this book?

These are just a few of the questions that must be answered before launching a book; otherwise there is no road map and you are likely to get lost along the way. During our Cookbook University we spend considerable time on the necessity for developing a business plan before you begin.

2.) Financing--almost all small businesses that fail do so because they were under capitalized. If your book is intended to operate for the first year on book sale revenue without anything else you will not make it.  Even though you can sell books year round there is no doubt that the fall months are the "biggies" when it comes to revenue generation. Plus, you have to utilize marketing dollars if you want the target market to know your book exists.

3.) Accounting--I have found in my business that the value of a good accountant and accounting system is of uppermost importance in knowing whether I  am making money or losing money. Do not launch a cookbook without this key position being filled. It doesn't matter if the accountant is a volunteer or a paid individual but it does matter that they know what they are doing.

4.)  Commitment--In my experience it always takes longer to get a project started and on track than expected. Without a strong commitment to the finish line you are likely to fail. No business can succeed without an extraordinary effort and commitment.

Rejuvenation

Easter is a season of renewal and rejuvenation--everything begins anew. How about taking some time to update and spruce up your cookbook marketing endeavors? Many of you Junior Leagues will be changing over to new committee chairs soon -has the successor been thoroughly trained? Is she coming to Cookbook University? Have you taken her through a session on what you would do differently if you had your term to do over?

How about those of you who are individual publishers? When was the last time you gave serious attention to your overall marketing plans? What marketing activities are not getting results and should be deleted in favor of new endeavors? Sometimes we fall into the trap of doing things over and over and expecting different results. It doesn't work.  How about considering a renewal of energy and ideas by attending Cookbook University in May?

A successful marketing plan is constantly ongoing and changing. Invest some time now to lay out your plan for the rest of the year but always be open to new ideas along the way.

A One Woman Show

It takes a lot to put together a cookbook.  At FRP, we hold an annual seminar called Cookbook University where we train our Publisher’s on both the development and marketing of a cookbook. The event is widely attended, and one thing we have learned over the years is that some attendees get overwhelmed with what it takes to be successful.

Over the next few weeks, I will be posting articles on single author individuals who had a story to tell with their recipes, cooking and entertaining ideas and yet didn’t have a huge organization behind them to conduct the sales and marketing efforts. You will read about Betty Sims, Patty Gomez, Debbye Dabs, Holly Clegg, and others. Today’s story, however, is unique because it centers on new technology and a young college graduate with a dream.

Julie Hoffman graduated from Auburn University after just 3 ½ years rather than the traditional 4 (or for most today 5) years.  With a full semester as a freebie and with no full time job in place Julie decided to write a cookbook.  Having learned to cook at a young age and also having always loved cooking she had been amazed by how few of her college friends knew how to cook and plan meals.  She had watched them “blow” their allowance for food well ahead of month’s end due to improper budgeting and planning. 

Julie simply decided to do something about it.  She wrote a manuscript titled College Cooking with Julie—having very little money to develop the book, she relied on a free lance photographer and designer to get the book ready to be printed.  That is about the time that I met Julie. 

She had just accepted a job in Brentwood, TN and wanted to get the book into print.  I met with her and quickly figured out that while she was close having it complete, the book still needed just a bit of editorial work.  Since Julie was on a “shoe string” budget she convinced her mom, Lorri, to do the editing.  Lorri and I quickly became phone friends and I led her through a 101 course on how to re-write the recipes into a consistent style.  She did a GREAT job and turned the manuscript back over to us a few short weeks later.  We then indexed the book, fixed a few of the files and dealt with the original designer to “release some of the high resolution images.” That is another story in and of itself.

 

Remember that Julie is a recent college graduate with a new full time job. She had little spare time to develop a marketing and sales plan for 5,000—10,000 copies. With the new digital technology however we were able to print 300 copies inexpensively for her to get started. Since the original printing we have been back to press a couple of additional times for small print runs. Julie has appeared twice on Talk of the Town in Nashville, TN and is a “star” in Auburn, AL, home of her alma mater.

While Julie hasn’t turned a profit on her book yet she has created an asset for herself that she will ultimately profit from and be able to sell for years to come. She may feel the need to update the book from time to time but we all know that young people will go off to college untrained in cooking skills, meal planning, budgets or money management. Thanks Julie for showing us that one person can make a difference to the entire community of college students.

The Development of a Community Cookbook

We have been discussing the merits of community cookbooks and how they create partnerships within the community as well as how they benefit the community as a whole. These books are being developed and sold across our great nation. I thought it might be interesting to discuss how one of these masterpieces comes together.

One thing I know for sure is that the process of developing a classic community cookbook involves a great deal more than just collecting a few good recipes. Although having quality recipes is important a great deal of additional content is needed and is important if one is to have a truly remarkable cookbook. Who better than one who has recently been heavily involved in the process to share her experience. I asked my good friend, Lori Sullivan, to share her thoughts on the experience that she had with Rochelle Darmon, fellow co-chair for JL of Greater Ft Lauderdale. 

In their professional lives these ladies are both involved in other non-profit organizations; Lori with Girl Scouts of the USA, and Rochelle with March of Dimes. Here is what they have to say.

 Paradise isn't truly a destination. You can't find it on a map or use credit card miles to get there.  After two years of concept, development, design and marketing - I can say with absolute certainty that paradise is a cookbook you adore and a group of women you love.

It began in February of 2007. In truth, I was in the throes of a postpartum realignment and ready to step back from the Junior League but a little voice in my head (and a much louder voice from my dear friend, Rochelle) said “Come on, let’s go!”

So, away we went! Rochelle and I spent five months of that year getting ready and getting to FRP’s “Cookbook U” in Nashville. Then in July, we met them; the 16 wonderful women of unparalleled talent and dedication who would take it all on with us and have a cookbook to show for it in just 18 short months. They all showed up at Rochelle’s house for brunch…and mimosas.

Having never met before, miraculously (magically!) we selected a title that first day, Paradise Served.  The title was designed to give a nod to the beautiful place we call home and the recipes to be eventually served from our book.  The title was also intended to be a celebration of our League’s rich history of service, advocacy and community activism.

We spent just four months on assembling an eclectic group of just over 500 recipes, as well as a volunteer team of 90 Leaguers to “alpha” test and photograph each of them.  Just after the holidays, in January 2008, 500 recipes were quickly tested a second and a third time (that phase exclusively completed by our committee) and after a process of elimination, we selected the top 244 recipes found in our book today.  At the same time, our spectacular South Florida winter set the backdrop for the cover photo shoot.

The 18 of us meet weekly (sometimes nightly, over take-out food) to make the March 15 deadline for our manuscript to travel to our friends at FRP.  Amazingly after all of that, a caravan of mini-vans and perfectly hysterical women drove to the main FedEx office to watch “our baby” leave us.

We cried that day in March. We cried the day our first mock-up arrived in May. We cried about chapter openers and Pantone colors. It was a long (soggy) summer; but we kept the traditions of monthly brunch committee meetings and kept each other sane. We drove pre-sales and gathered together in the driveway in November when the palettes were delivered to a top-secret location. We got dressed up and produced a first class launch for our cookbook in true Fort Lauderdale fashion. The night of November 14, Paradise Served premiered to a packed house and rave reviews.

Now each of us can serve as an official tour guide for the popular local attraction called “how to make a cookbook.” We all look back with great admiration and amazement. Better yet, we can thumb through the pages of our totally unique offering to the culinary world; born of collaboration and a lot of love. Our tour is an honest narrative. Sometimes the road to paradise can be dark and scary; and bumpy because the path is uncharted.  For our committee though, we found our path to paradise, and I don’t think we would have had it any other way.

Thanks Lori and Rochelle for sharing your story and truly expressing how gratifying this work is. Remember these ladies have created an asset for their organization and community that can benefit both for many years to come.