Customer Reviews

You Can Write a Cookbook

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J. Kevin "Doc" Wolfe is the author of three cookbooks, host of a radio food show, and a lecturer and consultant on cooking.

Mr. Wolfe firmly believes that cookbook writing should be first-rate. It is a given, he says, that you must provide your audience with excellent recipes. But beyond that, what really makes a cookbook special is when you as author put "something of yourself in your recipes."

He has certainly followed his own advice in creating this how-to on cookbook writing. A breezy, personal tone spices up his writing, making this guide as entertaining as it is informative.

The following topics are covered thoroughly in You Can Write a Cookbook: the purpose of a cookbook, types of cookbooks, the ingredients of a good cookbook, how to write a recipe, finding a theme for your cookbook, organizing the recipes in your cookbook, creating an appealing layout for your cookbook, selling your book to a publisher, going the self-publishing route, and promoting your book. There is an excellent index and multiple appendices, including: recommended books, promotion, media etiquette, media connections, and a glossary of publishing terms.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who has ever thought of writing a cookbook for any reason, whether as a fundraiser for your local church or civic group or with the hope of becoming the next Julia Child. Cooking hobbyists like myself, who gleefully putter about devising their own recipes, will find this book very useful, too. After reading Mr. Wolfe's advice, I have gotten a lot better about recording the exact measurements of the various ingredients of my grand experiments--a big help when you are trying to figure out what worked and what didn't in a new recipe. In addition, I believe this book will intrigue people who, though having no desire to write cookbook themselves, get a lot of pleasure out of reading and using them. They may be very interested to hear the many careful steps involved in the creation of their favorite cookbooks.

Write a bestseller! Mr. Wolfe is an author of four cookbooks, this includes at least one bestseller. Follow his lead. Write your own cookbook to preserve your favorite recipes, raise money for your club, or to make your own bestselling cookbook. Step-by-step instructions guide you through every step, from selecting what kind of cookbook to make, designing the cover, what illusrations to use, assembling the recipes, to the distribution and promotion. And much more.

What a great help this is! You Can Write A Cookbook is a resource for writers that can be utilized by many organizations. So often women's clubs and charities publish cookbooks with little to attract buyers. Using the suggestions in Wolfe's book can mean a real "Book" rather than just a collection of recipes. It offers the opportunity to present an appealing offering, likely to be in demand.

I have been considering writing a cookbook for a while. I read this book, and now believe I can do it.

Despite the fact that a lot of the information is common knowledge. I think I actually needed to read that I needed to, for example, index in a certain way.

The information on how to approach publishers is priceless.

If you are considering in writing your own cookbook, then pick up this book first. It is a must-have!

This is very well written book that explains the writing and publishing process in simple and easy to understand language. Mr. Wolfe do not want his reders to have the misconception that publishing a cook book is an easy process. But at the same time he helps you understand the process step by step, and encourages you evey step of the way. One of the best books I have read on publishing.

My friend and I are in the middle of producing/writing a shrimp cookbook, and we found this little book to be a great help. It gave us some good ideas on different directions to go, and also some ideas about getting our book out to the right people for publicity. I would have appreciated a glossary of terms for cooking, although the media terms and connections were well presented. We had always heard that every cookbook had been written but Kevin made us realize that the market, and the audience, are out there waiting for our culinary masterpieces. If nothing else, we are having fun cooking up the recipes, taking photos, and of course, the best part, we are making some tasty, healthy meals. Some one has to eat them! Happy cooking...