This is a really helpful look inside the process, thank you for sharing this! One thing that’s definitely under discussed is the emotional toll through the process. Timing is a huge component of publishing. Also, your comment about adding details to the marketing section of your proposal happens to be the subject of my upcoming Not So Secret Agent newsletter. I hope you’ll check it out this coming week and leave a comment to keep this discussion going. I’m tuning comments on for precisely this reason!
Thank you so much, Sally! That means a lot coming from you. I can’t wait to read your upcoming newsletter, I am definitely trying to educate myself as much as I can on that particular topic. I have also learned about cookbook marketing and so much more from Stephanie Moon.
Yes she’s great! It’s virtually impossible to learn it all but educating yourself along with living the process is the best we can do. Timing is a HUGE element as well.
Thank you for your bravery and transparency in writing this, Olia!! We need more discourse around the realities of cookbook writing. I received many rejections and ultimately came to peace with moving on before the one publisher that believed in me and my story came through. In those months of waiting I started to look at "rejection as redirection". How can I redirect this energy? What other format can I explore? If something is meant to be brought into the world, it will, but maybe the timing and format will look differently from what you initially expected. Thank you for continuing your work on Ukrainian cuisine and in the meantime, I'm excited for your Basque cheesecake cookbook!!
Thank you, Polina. Your support and encouragement means so much. I'm incredibly excited for your book and I'm so happy that an editor/publisher saw how important your story is. I believe your book will be the first Eastern European-American cookbook told from a first-gen author! I mean how incredible is that.
I love that mindset shift! A "no" is an opportunity to reinvent.
Great post. I'm not a cookbook author (just today I interviewed my favourite cookbook author on my Substack!) but I did publish a non-fiction book a few years ago with a traditional publisher. I agree with so many of the points you made here, and they are a big part of why I decided to leave non-fiction writing.
"Remember, publishers really truly seem to not want to have to do marketing, advertising, promoting, and all these other costly things" - this is 100% true and makes me frustrated. Because...it is...their job? That is literally their job. What else are publishers' (huge) marketing departments for, if not? I also think it is "unfair to the already overworked" *writers* to also be social media managers. Especially since, as you mention, 99% of the time we also have to do other things to make money and the incredibly time- and energy-consuming task of writing books is really just a side hustle for most, if that. I'm so proud of my book, but I do not care about social media and have no desire to have a "personal platform", and for these reasons I have chosen to leave non-fiction behind.
It's also so true that it takes years. I first sent my proposal around in 2015 and only got rejections. When I tried again in 2018, it took a while but I got two offers from publishers (with my non-existent social media following), just because the timing for the book was so much better.
Thank you for the shoutout. I have been coaching authors on cookbook proposals for almost 20 years and I appreciate all that you have said. It usually takes six months to get to the finish line, and the marketing section is almost always the hardest part for authors and often the weakest.
The past six months have made me realize I need to do a better job of preparing students and clients for the emotional rollercoaster that is publishing. There are some books out there that really should be published but aren’t because of market realities. Thanks for writing this and mentioning my resources. I hope you keep going!
Hi 👋 Kristin! You are so welcome! Thank you for creating all these resources, teaching, and sharing your knowledge. ❤️❤️❤️ If it wasn’t for you and the rest of the amazing Everything Cookbooks podcast I would have been even less prepared entering this industry, I’m sure this applies to many of us nowadays 😊
This is so great (and brave), Olga, and will be extremely useful for others going through this process. It's clear that you have learned a lot that will help you get this book (or whatever book it becomes as you incorporate your newfound understanding) over the finish line.
I wish I could share some useful advice for aspiring first-time authors myself, but I am almost ashamed to admit that my own experience getting a book sold was fairly straightforward. (Someday I will have lots to say about *making* the book, which has been anything but.)
Thank you, Andrew! I can’t wait to learn from your experience of making a cookbook!!!!!!!!!! I also can’t wait to read and bake from your book 📖. I appreciate you being transparent about your experience being straightforward, every experience is valid and important.
I know I have worked like mad to get to this point, but I am grateful that landing a book deal was so "easy"; much of it was pure serendipity, having had both an agent and a publisher who believed in the project before I set out to finalize the proposal.
I can't wait for you to see the book, Olga (but we'll both have to, lol, as it won't come out for another two years)!
Two years have a way of flying by these years, I’m still mentally in 2020. I think luck or timing do play a role, serendipity is a good word here, Andrew. An agent or editor might see an article or post etc someone wrote and that might be enough to catch their interest. You are so right tho, the work has to come first.
Thank you, Giulia! Thank you so much for reading the newsletter. I love your work so much and your support means the world. I know you have written several cookbooks and you have experience working with both Italian and American publishers. I would love to better understand how publishers in other parts of the world work. I know one publisher in Barcelona but they primarily publish chef and professional bakers cookbooks.
Thank you, Rachel! It’s so hard to remember that sometimes. It’s one of the main reasons I wanted to share my story so people know of at least one other person who went through this.
Perseverance is a gift! Knowledge is a gift. Love is a remarkable gift. In your Book, you have a "gift"...time is elusive so we must hope to be "in the moment"...stay in the "process"...I have faith in you and all connected with your purpose....I put that faith to a higher purpose...so we wait, the timing is not ours to claim but to have faith in.....you are doing the work, you are doing your part!
This is a really helpful look inside the process, thank you for sharing this! One thing that’s definitely under discussed is the emotional toll through the process. Timing is a huge component of publishing. Also, your comment about adding details to the marketing section of your proposal happens to be the subject of my upcoming Not So Secret Agent newsletter. I hope you’ll check it out this coming week and leave a comment to keep this discussion going. I’m tuning comments on for precisely this reason!
Thank you so much, Sally! That means a lot coming from you. I can’t wait to read your upcoming newsletter, I am definitely trying to educate myself as much as I can on that particular topic. I have also learned about cookbook marketing and so much more from Stephanie Moon.
Yes she’s great! It’s virtually impossible to learn it all but educating yourself along with living the process is the best we can do. Timing is a HUGE element as well.
Thank you for your bravery and transparency in writing this, Olia!! We need more discourse around the realities of cookbook writing. I received many rejections and ultimately came to peace with moving on before the one publisher that believed in me and my story came through. In those months of waiting I started to look at "rejection as redirection". How can I redirect this energy? What other format can I explore? If something is meant to be brought into the world, it will, but maybe the timing and format will look differently from what you initially expected. Thank you for continuing your work on Ukrainian cuisine and in the meantime, I'm excited for your Basque cheesecake cookbook!!
Thank you, Polina. Your support and encouragement means so much. I'm incredibly excited for your book and I'm so happy that an editor/publisher saw how important your story is. I believe your book will be the first Eastern European-American cookbook told from a first-gen author! I mean how incredible is that.
I love that mindset shift! A "no" is an opportunity to reinvent.
Great post. I'm not a cookbook author (just today I interviewed my favourite cookbook author on my Substack!) but I did publish a non-fiction book a few years ago with a traditional publisher. I agree with so many of the points you made here, and they are a big part of why I decided to leave non-fiction writing.
"Remember, publishers really truly seem to not want to have to do marketing, advertising, promoting, and all these other costly things" - this is 100% true and makes me frustrated. Because...it is...their job? That is literally their job. What else are publishers' (huge) marketing departments for, if not? I also think it is "unfair to the already overworked" *writers* to also be social media managers. Especially since, as you mention, 99% of the time we also have to do other things to make money and the incredibly time- and energy-consuming task of writing books is really just a side hustle for most, if that. I'm so proud of my book, but I do not care about social media and have no desire to have a "personal platform", and for these reasons I have chosen to leave non-fiction behind.
It's also so true that it takes years. I first sent my proposal around in 2015 and only got rejections. When I tried again in 2018, it took a while but I got two offers from publishers (with my non-existent social media following), just because the timing for the book was so much better.
Thank you for this thoughtful list of lessons! Much to take to heart here.
Thank you so much!
Thank you for the shoutout. I have been coaching authors on cookbook proposals for almost 20 years and I appreciate all that you have said. It usually takes six months to get to the finish line, and the marketing section is almost always the hardest part for authors and often the weakest.
And P.S. I just put this post into my June 1 newsletter. It will be useful for my readers.
Thank you, Dianne! That means a lot. I would have been completely lost without your book. I love my second edition ❤️
This is GOLD. And very wise. Thank you
The past six months have made me realize I need to do a better job of preparing students and clients for the emotional rollercoaster that is publishing. There are some books out there that really should be published but aren’t because of market realities. Thanks for writing this and mentioning my resources. I hope you keep going!
Hi 👋 Kristin! You are so welcome! Thank you for creating all these resources, teaching, and sharing your knowledge. ❤️❤️❤️ If it wasn’t for you and the rest of the amazing Everything Cookbooks podcast I would have been even less prepared entering this industry, I’m sure this applies to many of us nowadays 😊
This is so great (and brave), Olga, and will be extremely useful for others going through this process. It's clear that you have learned a lot that will help you get this book (or whatever book it becomes as you incorporate your newfound understanding) over the finish line.
I wish I could share some useful advice for aspiring first-time authors myself, but I am almost ashamed to admit that my own experience getting a book sold was fairly straightforward. (Someday I will have lots to say about *making* the book, which has been anything but.)
Thank you, Andrew! I can’t wait to learn from your experience of making a cookbook!!!!!!!!!! I also can’t wait to read and bake from your book 📖. I appreciate you being transparent about your experience being straightforward, every experience is valid and important.
I know I have worked like mad to get to this point, but I am grateful that landing a book deal was so "easy"; much of it was pure serendipity, having had both an agent and a publisher who believed in the project before I set out to finalize the proposal.
I can't wait for you to see the book, Olga (but we'll both have to, lol, as it won't come out for another two years)!
Two years have a way of flying by these years, I’m still mentally in 2020. I think luck or timing do play a role, serendipity is a good word here, Andrew. An agent or editor might see an article or post etc someone wrote and that might be enough to catch their interest. You are so right tho, the work has to come first.
Thank you for sharing such a honest account of your journey. There is so much to learn and think about.
Thank you, Giulia! Thank you so much for reading the newsletter. I love your work so much and your support means the world. I know you have written several cookbooks and you have experience working with both Italian and American publishers. I would love to better understand how publishers in other parts of the world work. I know one publisher in Barcelona but they primarily publish chef and professional bakers cookbooks.
So generous of you to write this. I wish I’d had it to read before 2020!
That’s so kind of you, Brian! Thank you!
Thank you so much for writing this - you are definitely not alone!!!
Thank you, Rachel! It’s so hard to remember that sometimes. It’s one of the main reasons I wanted to share my story so people know of at least one other person who went through this.
Perseverance is a gift! Knowledge is a gift. Love is a remarkable gift. In your Book, you have a "gift"...time is elusive so we must hope to be "in the moment"...stay in the "process"...I have faith in you and all connected with your purpose....I put that faith to a higher purpose...so we wait, the timing is not ours to claim but to have faith in.....you are doing the work, you are doing your part!
Thank you ❤️❤️❤️