KSherer

Some foodie publications are best known for their features writing (Saveur, for example), while others position themselves as monthly recipe collections, intellectually fortified with a column here and there (Bon Appetit comes to mind). But funny, isn't it: there doesn't seem to be much correlation between recipe quality and a magazine's content mix. A survey, then, for those of us who actually cook from magazines: Which titles have you come to count on for failproof recipes? And which publications' test kitchen staffs seem to be asleep at the stove? Kris Sherer

Geoff, thanks very much for the kind words about Flavor. Whatever people may think about Rocco's career decisions, there is no doubt that he is an amazingly talented chef, and a real culinary pioneer to boot. Of course, by the time Flavor came out in the fall of 2003, Rocco's reputation had morphed from that of a culinary wunderkind to cheesy reality TV sell-out. Quelle dommage. I had served time as Rocco's admin assistant before he began his book project; the relationship was there. I was the only unknown writer on his short list of potential collaborators, so I decided to aggressively undersell the competition to secure the gig. It worked. The flat fee I received amounted to less than 8% of his big fat advance. I wouldn't prostitute my services like that again, but it's what I chose to do to get my name on the title page of a major cookbook that went on to win a James Beard award. I've been involved now in a few of these cookbook collaborations, and each project is completely different. Flavor took a ton of time: I had to sit with Rocco to get down on paper and then make home-cook-friendly each of the book's 120 recipes, plus material for the other sections. I also kitchen tested about 75% of the book's recipes (my ingredient costs were reimbursed). Though I got little sleep for a year, it was a thrilling collaborative process, and boy, did I learn a lot from him. The book I'm ghostwriting now is much easier, comparatively: the author has supplied me with edit-ready recipes in MasterChef form, and the front matter is light. Another young chef relied on me to turn his exotic food and rambling thoughts into a sellable concept. That didn't work so well. Each chef-author needs something different from his or her collaborator. You've asked an interesting question about the compensation that might go to sous and pastry chefs for their contributions to these books. If the recipes are in your head (or notebook, or computer) and not as of yet known to the chef-author, then you're in a good position to negotiate. On the other hand, if it's more a situation where your recipes have been appearing on your restaurant's menus for years, and the lines of ownership are a bit blurry, well... that might be tough. There is probably some branch of law that covers whether employee-supplied ideas become the property of their employers. Any business attorneys out there? Kris Sherer

Hi Pam, I was Rocco DiSpirito's cookbook collaborator on his first, Beard award-winning book, Flavor, and am now "deep ghostwriting" a book for a major hospitality company. Here's what I can share: Cookbook writing--all stages of it--is a blast. As many in this thread have said, most cookbooks are not big money makers for their authors. This depressing situation is exacerbated by the fact that after years of record numbers of all kinds, the cookbook market is now in a bit of a slump. My agent has told me we're in a difficult selling environment, with publishers being much, much pickier about which projects they sign. The restaurant/celebrity chef category has been particularly hard hit. Invest time researching competing titles. What will be unique about your cookbook? The competitive analysis of your proposal should be really tight. Must you use a literary agent? If you want an audience with the big publishers, then yes, absolutely. But many middle-sized to smaller publishers happily review unsolicited manuscripts: you may want to try them first. A good first step is to visit a bookstore, identify which publishers seem to put out books like yours, then research and, if you deem it worth the effort, approach those publishers. Good luck to you! Kris Sherer