Marcy Goldman on self-publishing "When Baker's Cook"; and Should Your Self-Published Cookbook Include Illustrations?

Marcy Goldman's guest-post appears on Dianne Jacob's excellent blog Will Write for Food. I heartily recommend checking out all of Dianne's writing, as she has an incredible wealth of knowledge and experience when it comes to food writing.

One of the most interesting articles I've read so far about self-publishing a cookbook is by Marcy Goldman, who began self-publishing with When Bakers Cook after 25 years of traditional publishing. You can read the full article here: I Self-Published a Cookbook, Despite it All.

Goldman gives a great pep-talk for those considering the self-publishing route, and a bit of an insight into just how long it can take.

So if you want to publish, whether you’re rife with talent or no one has dared tell you you’re not, do it. If you are traditionally published and even established, but have a book your current publisher won’t consider, do it.

As is often the case with blogs about self-publishing, some of the most interesting material is in the comments, which act as an unofficial Q&A session with the writer. About two thirds of the way down, an aspiring author called Pailin asks Goldman about her book's photographs, to which Goldman replies that her book doesn't include any pictures and "It doesn't seem to have hurt sales". (A quick look at the Amazon page for When Bakers Cook shows only three reviewers who were unhappy about the lack of photos - and her sales ranking indicates the book is still going strong two years after publication).

So Should Your Self-Published Cookbook Include Illustrations?

Illustrations can be a vexing question for self-published food writers. Most cookbooks these days are heavily illustrated with beautifully styled food photography. Assuming that you're not a food stylist married to an award winning photographer, there are two ways that producing this type of cookbook could be prohibitively expensive for a self-publisher.

The first is in actually producing the photographs. Either you can invest a massive amount of time and money into buying the necessary equipment and learning how to use it, or you can hire professionals. Either way, (at least from what I've read) you're unlikely to make back the money you spent, at least on your first book.

The second cost comes in producing an image-heavy book through print-on-demand (which is currently the most popular printing method for self-publishers). Goldman reveals in the comments that she has self-published a more image-heavy cookbook, and had to set the price at $50 to cover the cost of production. Particularly if you aren't a well-known author, a price this high could prevent people from taking a chance of your book.

At the moment, I am considering illustrating my historical cookbook with out-of-copyright images of food from the time period I write about. But I am not sure this is an adequate substitute for colour photographs of the dishes in the book.

How have you dealt with the costs associated with illustrating your self-published cookbook?

Let's Write a Cookbook!

Hello, fellow self-publishing cooks.

My name is Harriet Avery, and I'm currently working towards self-publishing my first cookbook. After much deliberation, I've decided to self-publish.

Let's be clear - all the available evidence points to self-publishing (at least when done properly) is just as labour-intensive as traditional publishing. And while you do retain full creative control of the project, this can be a double-edged sword, particularly if you are inexperienced in the publishing industry. But is also seems that self-publishing offers some great opportunities, if you make an informed choice to self-publish and do so in a professional manner.

My motivation for self-publishing, rather than seeking a traditional publisher, lies in the niche nature of my project. As the Colonial Cook, I scour 19th century Australian newspapers for recipes to test and research. I think any topic that involves things as disparate as fish swim bladders and unexpected clarinets is absolutely fascinating, but I'm not too far gone to realise that colonial cooking might not appeal to everyone. So while I might (might) be able to interest a publisher in the project, there is no way a book on this topic could find its audience in the year or so it is likely to be in print. With self-publishing, my quirky work can malinger on Amazon, Smashwords and Blurb for decades, hopefully picking up a few readers along the way.

While the internet is awash with information about self-publishing your novel, information about self-publishing a non-fiction work is thinner on the ground. Info on self-pubbing a cookbook or food-related work is even scarcer. This blog, a well as chronicling my own hits and misses, will link to self-publishing stats and stories relevant to food writing from around the web.

I'd love it if you joined me on this journey, and helped to build a community of self-published food writers, by commenting with your experiences or letting me know if there's a resource I should link to.

Let's do this.