Jump to content

  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Do my work for me . . .

Fat Guy

By Fat Guy
in Cookbooks & References

 Share

Recommended Posts

Fat Guy

Fat Guy

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

If you give me a list of pretty chefs I'll visit them in order to evaluate their potential for inclusion in the volume.

Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, sshaw@egstaff.org
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Bux

Bux

Posted
Posted
Bux, the reason I'm not posting my list is because I haven't started making it. Read the title of the thread!
I've given this one quite a bit of effort and I hope it will find an audience.

Robert Buxbaum

WorldTable

Recent WorldTable posts include: comments about reporting on Michelin stars in The NY Times, the NJ proposal to ban foie gras, Michael Ruhlman's comments in blogs about the NJ proposal and Bill Buford's New Yorker article on the Food Network.

My mailbox is full. You may contact me via worldtable.com.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Jinmyo

Jinmyo

Posted
Posted
If you give me a list of pretty chefs I'll visit them in order to evaluate their potential for inclusion in the volume.

Jacques Pepin.

"I've caught you Richardson, stuffing spit-backs in your vile maw. 'Let tomorrow's omelets go empty,' is that your fucking attitude?" -E. B. Farnum

"Behold, I teach you the ubermunch. The ubermunch is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the ubermunch shall be the meaning of the earth!" -Fritzy N.

"It's okay to like celery more than yogurt, but it's not okay to think that batter is yogurt."

Serving fine and fresh gratuitous comments since Oct 5 2001, 09:53 PM

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Fat Guy

Fat Guy

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
will your book include any wine list or wine director references?

There are some references but it's not the focus. I did try to propose that book but all the publishers I queried rejected it.

Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, sshaw@egstaff.org
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Fat Guy

Fat Guy

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

I haven't written the acknowledgments yet, but if you play your cards right maybe we'll get you in there.

Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, sshaw@egstaff.org
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Fat Guy

Fat Guy

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

Actually two thirds of the book is devoted to reproducing the stupid ugly translated-from-the-original-Vulcan postcards I get from ADNY every few weeks. "I love Olive," baby.

Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, sshaw@egstaff.org
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Fat Guy

Fat Guy

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

They're the most interesting, I think you mean, because they produce the most snorts and giggles. "Olive Oil is a mysterious continent we explore with the tip of a spoon."

Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, sshaw@egstaff.org
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Aurora

Aurora

Posted
Posted
The cover looks great for the US market.  I am sure it will do exceptionally well

BUT

They are not really going to release the book in December are they FG?

Why not just put all the copies in the basement of a bookshop in the dodgiest neighbourhood in the Bronx in a box marked "beware herpes"  the resulting sales would be the same?

December is the month where good books go to die.  The boxes don't get unpacked as all the staff are running around making sure they have enough copies of The Grinch etc etc and they usually come upon them in January at the back of the good in dept and put them straight into returns.

I hope they keep it back to Jan.  They are a smart publisher, so I am sure they will have it all worked out anyway.

S

Steven - congratulations on your book! If I can be of any assistance, please let me know.

As as a former bookseller of many years, I agree that a December release is a little late, but I must disagree with the points made about the books not getting unpacked during Christmas. December is not the month of death, it is the month of frenzied activity. If that were not so, publishers would not spend millions on the development of their Christmas catalogs that they ram down the throats of booksellers every year.

The Christmas season is prime-time for all of retail. Typically, the amount of money that is made in the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas are equivalent to what is made in the remaining months of the year. That is also true in books, and my store was no exception.

There is a tremendously low profit margin on books, and storage space in any bookstore is always small. The idea is to get as many books out on the floor as possible as quickly as possible. To do otherwise translates into lost revenue. The Christmas rush is the time when the money is made. Booksellers know that, and they are usually quite good at meeting the challenge.

To the contrary, the time of year when a box of books would be most likely to sit idle begins the day after Christmas until about mid-February. That's when the spending frenzy falls off dramatically and doesn't get another boost until Valentine's day.

Steve, I would argue strongly and loudly for a November release. It has been my experience that January is a highly unusual time for a publisher to release a book. That is the deadest time of the year. That was always the time when I would take my vacations, because there were never any authors turing at that time--no events to plan. If the publisher does has any thoughts about doing that I would fight to have the book held over until February or early spring.

Was there any reason given for why a December release was planned? In terms of promotion, that really puts everyone in a time crunch to get the word out. Is the publisher doing a good bit of pre-promotion? It is not uncommon to see advertisments for books in book reviews weeks prior to their release. It's a common practice that is designed to generate interest.

Ten Speed Press generally conducts excellent, thorough promotion. They're also very nice people to work with.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Fat Guy

Fat Guy

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

It wouldn't be appropriate for me to speak too much about my relationship with my publisher, and it would be for Ten Speed to reveal its exact plans not me. What I can say is that the book was scheduled for October release but has been held up for various reasons and it therefore seems that it will be released whenever it is ready. When that will be, I don't know, but given where the book is on the pre-publication timeline it surely can't happen by November. And of course, as anybody in the book business knows, my opinion is completely irrelevant to any determination of how the process will unfold.

Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, sshaw@egstaff.org
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Aurora

Aurora

Posted
Posted
And of course, as anybody in the book business knows, my opinion is completely irrelevant to any determination of how the process will unfold.

Well, that's not always true, but I get your point. No, not everyone can have the type of control that J.K. Rowling enjoys, but don't sell your importance to the process--or your input--short. :smile:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
pjs

pjs

Posted
Posted

Steven,

Despite the fact that l currently live in the 6th borough--Florida--I look forward to paying full retail for your new book.

PJ

"Epater les bourgeois."

--Lester Bangs via Bruce Sterling

(Dori Bangs)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 3 weeks later...
ajay

ajay

Posted
Posted

I think I'll actually add restaurants that have opened recently that sound promising, though not yet sampled:

1. Atleir --I believe Wilfrid has posted on it.

2. Aix, Didier Virot's latest venture. Not yet sampled; i'm waiting for them to work out their new restaurant blues.

3. Industry (Food)--I've heard mixed reviews again wilfrid posted on it, that is once he finally found it.

4. Patricia Yeo's new mediterranean place. Again there has been some discussion on the board.

5. Alex Urea (sp?) left Blue Hill and Marseilles. I've been put off by the less than stellar reviews.

A methdological question: how do you treat restaurants where chefs changed or culiary focus radically shifted?

Well, since I haven't eaten at any of these places, I'm not sure I've been of any help, but hey, I tried.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...