Get Creative and Don't Forget Marketing

Happy Thanksgiving! I do hope you'll be enjoying good food and fellowship this holiday.

Book opportunitites abound. The opportunities are not determinded by the format--printed or electronic but rather on whether there is a market for the content. It is simply not true that a new book cannot be successful in today's world.

This was recently confirmed by our new Meet Me At imprint which was launched last year and is currently being expanded.  Our Meet Me At Opryland Hotel just placed a rush order for 2,000 more copies after going through an initial order of 5,000 books earlier in the year. And this re-order is just to get them through their immediate needs.

Another beautiful book in this series is Meet Me on Jekyll Island and projections say it will be in a reprint mode by May of 2012. 

Now, there are many books already on the market about Opryland Hotel and Jekyll Island. So why would someone publish another title? Because the Meet Me At books are in a creative format and design which also provides interesting information that appeals to consumers. These books are currently in a printed version but I can see a day in the not too distant future where there will be a niche for an electronic version as well.

Book selling is about creative content and a strong marketing effort. More books have failed due to a poor marketing plan than vice versa. If you decide that you have a good book idea by all means pursue it; just don't forget that if you want it to sell well you cannot scrimp on the marketing efforts.

E-Book Format Now Available

Southwestern Publishing Group and its imprints are happy to announce that we are now offering both print and e-book formats for our customers. Ebooks sales have soared and the book industry reports that e-books now outsell printed books in some categories. For the cooking category, e-books are just now making their entry and we have seen a very limited number of regional cookbooks available in this format so far.


Moving forward we see this as a growing segment of the publishing industry and therefore are making it available as a publishing strategy for our clients. For existing books that were originally produced using digital files rather than film the conversion cost and set up is inexpensive and fairly simple. We will convert the digital files to the various formats necessary for the different e-reader devices. The books will then be promoted on Apple, Amazon (Kindle) and B&N (Nook) as well as other major sellers of e-books.
For older titles that were developed and printed using film rather than digital files there is another step necessary that makes the conversion a bit more expensive. A solid marketing plan should be developed to justify the expense and create sales. This could include repackaging the book to include updated material, additional recipes and any other ideas that might bring additional value to an older book.

In terms of marketing it will be imperative that all steps in a promotional plan include the e-format availability. Neither time nor technological advances stand still. Even though today approximately 94% of consumers say they prefer a printed cookbook we can predict that the percentages will change as time moves on.

What are your thoughts on cookbooks in an e-format?

The Value of Early and Ongoing Marketing

These are interesting times in the publishing industry. There is a perception from some people that book publishing is dead. Nothing could be further from the truth. It isn't that consumers aren't buying books but rather how they are buying that has changed. Consumers are still buying books but they aren't walking into bookstores to make their purchases, they are turning to the Internet (e-readers, blogs, other forms of social media) to make their purchases.

To adjust to this shift, today's publishing strategy should include a number of activities even before a book is released. Once an "author" (this could include one individual or a group) has decided to publish a book they should start to develop a "community" of individuals who would be interested in knowing about the book, the purpose of the book, the target audience, etc. Facebook and Twitter are necessary tools to utilize and launch for an effort like this.

It is also important to keep this community engaged along the way with updates, photos, requests for recipes (if it is a cookbook) or short stories that might be included and are applicable.  Details such as the format, retail price, release date and how to order should be sprinkled in along the way.  In addition, you should be working to "grow" the community.  One tool to assist you would be to create a blog and ask your followers to spread the word as well as interact via comments. 

All of these strategies should continue through the life of the book because the marketing function never ceases. It is imperative for future sales that the life of the book be extended by aggressive and regular marketing efforts. I have witnessed more failed books due to a lack of marketing than due to bad content.

In my next post I'll discuss blending e-books into the mix. If you were thinking about publishing a book who is your audience and how could you reach them?

Regional Fare on Vacation--Conclusion

One of the great things about vacation is trying local or regional recipes.  If you've read my previous posts you are aware that my wife and I love the Florida Gulf Panhandle. We vacation in the San Destin area each October for several days and thoroughly love it. Between the beach, the tennis, the gorgeous weather and the food it is idyllic.

As in most years we hit a local family oriented restaurant Bayou Bill's. We started going to Bayou Bill's when our daughters were still in school and we had to fight the spring break crowds. In October, the place is busy but it is fairly easy to get seated quickly. Bayou Bill's burned down several years ago but they rebuilt and the restaurant is very nice and spacious. 

We like this restaurant because there are several meals we can split and still have plenty of food.  We usually get a Grouper meal to split but this year we went twice so we split one meal and had separate entrees the other.  As is the case with all of our favorites in the Panhandle the seafood is FRESH and purchased from local fishermen.  Patrick Matthews and his family do a great job at Bayou Bill's providing quality food which is consistently good.

We also found one new restaurant on this trip which we enjoyed in Baytowne Wharf called Acme Oyster House.  This restaurant is actually part of a small chain (about 5 locations) out of New Orleans. The original was started on Royal Street in the French Quarter in 1910.  We have tried several places in Baytowne Wharf but this was the best yet. It is a bit unusual for a chain to be this good but we will be going back annually because the food was great, the service excellent and the atmosphere fun. In fact, during my next trip to New Orleans I will visit the original store since I enjoyed the FL location so much.

Wherever you travel, try the local fare and also don't forget to seek out the local regional cookbooks which stocked full of regional recipes, and, more often than not, are better than trade cookbooks and raise funds for a local non-profit.

More Vacation Dining

Because regional cuisine in so important to the life of regional cookbooks I want to continue my features on  Florida restaurants that my family enjoyed on vacation.  The entire area around Destin is chock-full of great seafood and most are good at buying fresh seafood from the locals and featuring it on their menus.

This year, as is custom, we had one night at Cuvee Bistro which I posted recently. Another Kempf family tradition is a meal at Stinky's Fish Camp. Now most are probably reading this and saying, "no one would name a restaurant Stinky's". However that is exactly what Jim Richard did.

I have gotten to know Jim a little over the past few years and I describe him laughingly as a "left over Hippie Cajun". Jim is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet and totally ego free. With Jim, what you see is what you get and boy can he prepare seafood.

Jim's specialty is a meuniere sauce which is a type of buttery gravy that he uses over fish.  The word meuniere means "miller's wife" as the fish is dredged in flour and then sauteed in the sauce made of brown butter, lemon and chopped parsley. It is close to heaven for the taste buds. Jim's menu is not huge but everything is great to eat. If you go the Highway 30A near San Destin be sure to put Stinky's on your list. But get there early because the place is sure to be packed.

I still have a few more places to tell you about in the next blog post--I hope you will do yourself a favor and keep a note of these places in case you visit the area because you will not be disappointed.

BIG CHANGE--NEW NAME--SAME GREAT SERVICE

FRP originated out of an imprint launched in 1962 known as Favorite Recipes Press. The business model for our publishing services has grown and expanded steadily throughout the almost 50 years of business. The same is true of our client base. Because of our expansion into non-cookbook related publishing efforts we are changing our name. Favorite Recipes Press will remain a key imprint under our new Publishing umbrella but that imprint is only a part of the story.

We are now Southwestern Publishing Group, Inc. A bit of logic to this change is in the fact that one of our primary duties is to develop the content for The Southwestern Company's educational reference works. In addition to this work, our Beckon Book imprint has developed a great array of clients in the corporate history arena, as well as the cultural attraction industry. Recently, we purchased the Historic Hospitality product line from Providence House Publishers and have plans to expand rapidly.

Of course, Favorite Recipes Press also continues to serve the clients interested in developing community and branded cookbooks as well as distribute them into the trade. Our work with QVC in the cookbook arena has been successful and we expect to continue that relationship.
You will notice the title change in my blog header that reflects our new structure and I will endeavor to create posts that speak to other areas of custom publishing other than just cookbooks.

Our goal is to continue offering first class publishing and distribution services to a broad segment of the US in various specialty fields. In addition, to printed books we will soon be offering e-reader formats as a segment of each client's publishing strategy.

We hope that you will think of Southwestern Publishing Group, Inc. if you or someone you know is researching the idea of a specialty book publication. Please be on the lookout for other announcements as we make the move to expand the many specialty offerings of Southwestern Publishing Group, Inc.

Vacation Dining

While the emphasis for this blog is regional cookbooks I want to change direction today and mention a few great meals my wife and I enjoyed on vacation recently. When our daughters got out of high school, we changed our routine of vacationing during spring break to vacationing in October. For the last eight or nine years we have gone to the panhandle of Florida near Destin, FL each fall for a week or sometimes more.

Over that time we have identified several restaurants that we always return to. In addition, we try a couple of new ones each year hoping they will make our list of "must go to".  In the next several blog posts I want to talk about several of our favorites and a few we hope to add.

Number one on our list is always wherever Chef Tim Creehan is currently located.  Tim has successfully moved around through the years and his most recent restaurant is Cuvee Bistro. Tim and his partners Tim and Pam Wellborn took over Cuvee Beach a few years ago and they really have it going on there. Tim has made major renovations to the facility while upgrading the food and menu.

I was treated this year to my favorite fish, trigger fish. If you don't already know, trigger fish is not plentiful so it is seldom on a menu. However, Tim prides himself on buying the best local seafood, as well as vegetables. I lucked out on this particular night as trigger fish was a menu "special". Trigger fish is a mild, white fish and very firm in texture. He sauteed the fish with a light lemon (I declined the curry powder) and it was superb.  It was served with amazingly delicious cheese grits.

My daughter was with us and she tried the tuna steak, rare (her plate was completely clean when finished so I can only deduce it was great) with vegetables. My wife, Robin, ordered salmon with vegetables and salad.

I also ordered a beautiful veggie pizza as a appetizer. The pizza was crisp and warm and the perfect size to get the juices flowing. We topped the meal off with a dessert sampler--key lime pie, banana cream pie, tiramisu, chocolate cake and a few others that escape me right now--WOW!

In addition to the great food, the decor of Cuvee Bistro is stunning and the service is top notch. Most of Tim's staff has been with him for extended periods of time and each time I have visited they have made us feel right at home.

I should also mention that dinner guests can also purchase Tim's fabulous cookbook, The Simple Cuisine of Chef Tim Creehan right off of his menu. Tim knows a little bit about marketing and branding as evidenced by his investment in developing and selling his own cookbook. If you are ever in the Destin area be sure to mark Cuvee Bistro down as a "culinary must experience".