PUBLISH AND SELL YOUR OWN COOKBOOK

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

For a really thorough discussion of this procedure—and of printing in general—I highly recommend Printing It by Clifford Burke (available for $4.95 plus 50¢ shipping and handling from Wingbow Press, Dept. TMEN, 2929 Fifth Street, Berkeley, California 94710).

FINDING A PRINTER

Before choosing a printer, talk to talks who've previously done business with such firms in your locale. Then get in touch with the companies that seem to give the best service and ask each of them for a written price quote for printing your book. You'll need to provide them with some basic information: the number of pages (and photos, if any), the size of the book, the kind of paper and cover stock, and the type of binding you desire.

The cost of paper will constitute a good portion of your total production expense, so shop around. Good FoodlGood Folks is printed on 60-pound cream-colored stock that I got at a discount because I picked it up from the paper supplier myself and paid for it in cash. Printers have hundreds of paper samples on hand to show you and often can offer you "mill specials" (certain stocks that wholesalers are pushing at a discount price).

Of the several kinds of bindings available, I prefer saddle stitching (stapling along the fold): It's a neat, economical way to hold a cookbook together, and this arrangement allows the volume to lie flat when opened.

SELL, SELL, SELL!

OK. Your cookbook has been bound and delivered . . . you've celebrated with a bottle of wine . . and sold ten copies to your friends. Now, it's time to learn the First Commandment of the self-publisher: "Thou shalt get out there and sell thy pants off!"

Naturally, you'll want to hit all the local gift shops and bookstores right away. (Unless you're a personal friend, a retailer will expect a standard 40% discount . . . along with a promise that you'll buy back any unsold copies after six months.)

Direct sales are the most profitable, of course, since you eliminate your middleman's "take". If you send review copies of your book to the food editors at nearby radio stations and newspapers, you'll often get free (and productive) publicity. And try to arrange for all the garden club—type speaking engagements you can. On one such occasion, I spoke for 20 minutes or so, whipped up some recipes, and afterward sold 50 books!

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print