Thank you for this insightful post. As someone who aspires to write a cookbook this was sobering to read but also somehow, I still want to write it.
Someone once said to me to think of cookbooks, especially the small indie ones that have great stories as a history book. It’s preserving a moment in time for the author and you get an insight into their life with food being the medium. That’s still stuck with me.
For now I’m serialising my cookbook on Substack. I do want to leave a printed version for my grandkids though, even if it never sells more than 100 copies
I'm glad you're writing another book, Sue. The data and figures you reference above must be sobering for many authors, although perhaps won't come as a surprise to most, although I'm sure would shock many who are unfamiliar with the book trade.
Some of the very best books I ever worked on when I was in-house in independent publishing were those that sold the smallest volume. Most of my favourites never made it to reprint, and perhaps less than 25% ever rewarded their authors with a royalty payment after those first three advance payments.
My ex-publisher specialised in restaurant books, which was a model with a certain insurance 'built in' in that the restaurant would pre-order books, safe (not always, but often) in the knowledge that they would be able to sell copies through their establishment. My publisher was the first to start restaurant book publishing (back in the 1980s) and continued to do so very modestly successfully with care, passion and curation. Fast forward twenty-odd years and Twitter changed the landscape dramatically and many publishers were suddenly paying big advances for restaurants with a booming follower count. This was true of individuals too, of course.
Ref. your point about tiny advances: this was often, albeit not always so. I still hear stories today which shock me about what authors have been asked to do for so little in return (which can include all of the recipe testing, photography, styling etc). And I've seen publishers cut all sorts of corners on things which should never be compromised. Often the budget has run out by the time the book is published and there is little to no money with which to market the thing that everyone has invested so much time and money into. But publishing is a high-risk business, too. Each book could run up thousands and thousands of pounds in cost which could take years to get a return on, if a return did indeed ever come. It's also true that one huge success (we had a few!) could be the profit from which we were able to publish half a dozen smaller books the following year from authors who we might otherwise never have been able to put into print.
It's truly a shame that so many books never earn out their advance, but I can't recall one (actually, I think I can recall *just* one!) that I've not enjoyed seeing make it to print and which hasn't made its author feel great joy and satisfaction. Whenever I consult on the creation of books these days, I warn all new authors to do it not in the hope of making money -- unless there is a business model (restaurant, product etc) that can drive sales -- but because they have something to say and share and a passion to see it in print form. After 25 years, I'm still as excited by new ideas and new ways of presenting old ideas as I was when I started under the wing of the person who brought Keith Floyd out of his Bristol restaurant to the book-buying and TV-cook watching masses.
I am a Cookery Book Addict and still prefer a really great cookbook over recipes gleaned from the internet, though I sometimes use those too.
For me a good cookbook is one that is more than just a collection of recipes (no matter how good). I want wonderful food writing too! That could be insight into the food and culture of a place, it could be about the history of a given type of food, it could even be advice on how to grow my own ingredients to then use in the recipes.
Last year was one of very best for books I really loved, with favourites including The Nutmeg Trail, Cinnamon & Salt, Taste Tibet, Japaneasy Bowls & Bento... I truly love these titles!
Certainly, it makes me sad to think that so few of these gems sell in high volume, making it harder for authors of such books to get a deal, and harder for publishers to justify giving them one.
I shall remain an optimist though, and hope for many wonderful news cookbooks in the years to come! 😁
The best cookbooks are the ones you can tell are written with a joyous passion for the topic which is evident not just in the recipes but in the words that surround them. It’s unfortunate that these aren’t for the most part the best sellers or even ‘good’ sellers. I hope this doesn’t stop authors writing them - they bring a great deal of pleasure to lots of us. My copy of Cocoa is well thumbed, the banana, chocolate and tahini biscuits cookies a favourite. I look forward to your next book!
Dear Sue, remarkable that we published a similar newsletter today which tells me a lot of us are thinking deeply about the publishing landscape today. I've added your post to my reading tips at the end as it is a great place to go when people want to read about this further. I too am looking at all the wellness, slimming and diet books with eyes of sorrow. It is the same in Belgium. I can't but think these books pray on people's insecurities. Luckily there is Jamie in the bestseller list to compensate. Do write us another book, do it for yourself and we'll love it for sure! x Regula
Thank you for this insightful post. As someone who aspires to write a cookbook this was sobering to read but also somehow, I still want to write it.
Someone once said to me to think of cookbooks, especially the small indie ones that have great stories as a history book. It’s preserving a moment in time for the author and you get an insight into their life with food being the medium. That’s still stuck with me.
For now I’m serialising my cookbook on Substack. I do want to leave a printed version for my grandkids though, even if it never sells more than 100 copies
I'm glad you're writing another book, Sue. The data and figures you reference above must be sobering for many authors, although perhaps won't come as a surprise to most, although I'm sure would shock many who are unfamiliar with the book trade.
Some of the very best books I ever worked on when I was in-house in independent publishing were those that sold the smallest volume. Most of my favourites never made it to reprint, and perhaps less than 25% ever rewarded their authors with a royalty payment after those first three advance payments.
My ex-publisher specialised in restaurant books, which was a model with a certain insurance 'built in' in that the restaurant would pre-order books, safe (not always, but often) in the knowledge that they would be able to sell copies through their establishment. My publisher was the first to start restaurant book publishing (back in the 1980s) and continued to do so very modestly successfully with care, passion and curation. Fast forward twenty-odd years and Twitter changed the landscape dramatically and many publishers were suddenly paying big advances for restaurants with a booming follower count. This was true of individuals too, of course.
Ref. your point about tiny advances: this was often, albeit not always so. I still hear stories today which shock me about what authors have been asked to do for so little in return (which can include all of the recipe testing, photography, styling etc). And I've seen publishers cut all sorts of corners on things which should never be compromised. Often the budget has run out by the time the book is published and there is little to no money with which to market the thing that everyone has invested so much time and money into. But publishing is a high-risk business, too. Each book could run up thousands and thousands of pounds in cost which could take years to get a return on, if a return did indeed ever come. It's also true that one huge success (we had a few!) could be the profit from which we were able to publish half a dozen smaller books the following year from authors who we might otherwise never have been able to put into print.
It's truly a shame that so many books never earn out their advance, but I can't recall one (actually, I think I can recall *just* one!) that I've not enjoyed seeing make it to print and which hasn't made its author feel great joy and satisfaction. Whenever I consult on the creation of books these days, I warn all new authors to do it not in the hope of making money -- unless there is a business model (restaurant, product etc) that can drive sales -- but because they have something to say and share and a passion to see it in print form. After 25 years, I'm still as excited by new ideas and new ways of presenting old ideas as I was when I started under the wing of the person who brought Keith Floyd out of his Bristol restaurant to the book-buying and TV-cook watching masses.
Good luck with the new project. x
I am a Cookery Book Addict and still prefer a really great cookbook over recipes gleaned from the internet, though I sometimes use those too.
For me a good cookbook is one that is more than just a collection of recipes (no matter how good). I want wonderful food writing too! That could be insight into the food and culture of a place, it could be about the history of a given type of food, it could even be advice on how to grow my own ingredients to then use in the recipes.
Last year was one of very best for books I really loved, with favourites including The Nutmeg Trail, Cinnamon & Salt, Taste Tibet, Japaneasy Bowls & Bento... I truly love these titles!
Certainly, it makes me sad to think that so few of these gems sell in high volume, making it harder for authors of such books to get a deal, and harder for publishers to justify giving them one.
I shall remain an optimist though, and hope for many wonderful news cookbooks in the years to come! 😁
The best cookbooks are the ones you can tell are written with a joyous passion for the topic which is evident not just in the recipes but in the words that surround them. It’s unfortunate that these aren’t for the most part the best sellers or even ‘good’ sellers. I hope this doesn’t stop authors writing them - they bring a great deal of pleasure to lots of us. My copy of Cocoa is well thumbed, the banana, chocolate and tahini biscuits cookies a favourite. I look forward to your next book!
Dear Sue, remarkable that we published a similar newsletter today which tells me a lot of us are thinking deeply about the publishing landscape today. I've added your post to my reading tips at the end as it is a great place to go when people want to read about this further. I too am looking at all the wellness, slimming and diet books with eyes of sorrow. It is the same in Belgium. I can't but think these books pray on people's insecurities. Luckily there is Jamie in the bestseller list to compensate. Do write us another book, do it for yourself and we'll love it for sure! x Regula