The making of my own cookbook

[gfron1]

Fascinating process. The publisher provided their boilerplate contract to my agent. My agent then red inked it with her responses. A few interesting things are shared below. And I know there is at least one person who thinks I should share such stuff, but these are apparently standard clauses that my agent puts in all contracts, so I they are fair game and stuff that most of us wouldn't even think of. BTW, she also upped my percentage on the movie rights

 

Due to the celebrity-driven nature of this Work, Publisher agrees not to undertake manuscript revisions without the direct involvement of the Author or a party authorized by the author to do so

 

If someone steals content from the book and we sue:

First option for suit shall belong to the author.

 

 

 

I can't write a competing book for two years following publication..oh, don't worry about that kids.

 

Parties agree that meaningful consultation regarding the design elements of the book was a key factor in the Author selecting Publisher and such consultation is a material term of this agreement.

 

 

 

On copies sold by the Publisher through its own website, Publisher shall pay Author a royalty equal to the full applicable royalty rates.

[gfron1]

Can you believe how long this process takes?! But here it is. Its official!

[Shelby]

Bust out the champagne!!!  Congratulations!!!!

[IowaDee]

Boy there's just something about seeing those words in print that makes it all real....great news.  

[gfron1]

The only thing realer is the advance check

[kc2rock]

Congratulations!

This thread has been a fascinating read (I just found it this morning, and thus got far less done today than I might otherwise have done...!)

I'm looking forward to the finished product.

-k

[gfron1]

Publishers Marketplace is where it all gets real. No more secrets:

October 16, 2015 - ACORNS & CATTAILS by Rob Connoley

Non-fiction: Cooking

James Beard nominee chef Rob Connoley's ACORNS & CATTAILS: A MODERN COOKBOOK OF FOREST, FIELD & FARM, offering a vibrant palate of modern recipes for the home cook featuring foraged plants, hunted animals, and farmed vegetables, to Nicole Frailat Skyhorse, in a nice deal, for publication in Fall 2016, by Lilly Ghahremani at Full Circle Literary (World).

[Lisa Shock]

Grammar police here...shouldn't that be palette rather than palate?

[huiray]

Heh. I've seen "palette" used instead of "palate" so often all over the place (even on eG) that it's really funny to see the error inverted for once! I suppose, though, one could argue that leaving "palate" in there is sort-of evocative of how we will be engaged by the end result of all those recipes that Rob will be revealing to us, as a sly play on words? But I agree, it really should be "palette" in that sentence. :-) 

 

Congratulations, Rob.

[gfron1]

Well, let's not be sidetracked by what the marketing department puts out. I promise to use neither word in the book just to play it safe

[gfron1]

I have my first instructions from the publisher. Apparently what is most important for her is to get the sales catalog completed and quickly. I need to turn in my cover art ideas, a 200 word description of the book, and my author bio. I think this is fascinating since she hasn't even seen the manuscript yet. But she made it clear that the sales meeting for Fall 16 releases is coming very soon, and so that's top priority.

[vogelap]

I am planning to buy your book when it becomes available!

[gfron1]

I asked my agent what interaction she and I will have now that the publisher has reached out to me. Here's her answer:

 

The contract is squared away, so right now is time for the creative process with you and Nicole. I am on hand for second opinions and, generally, it's appreciated to keep us in touch (manuscript is done, 2 cover options, leaning to this one, etc.) This helps us track when payments are due to you, the publisher's progress, and of course to troubleshoot issues as they come up (sometimes if author and publisher are disagreeing about something, the agent can be helpful, taking on the practical matters so the author can focus on the art of writing the book, and so on).

 

Long story short, I hope you'll keep me posted from time to time on how progress is coming and any questions you have. We're here as a resource. Closer to the months before launch, I'd love to talk with you about some strategies to maximize sales and so on. 

 

Of course, if items come up before then on our side, we always reach out to you. But right now is a great opportunity for you to focus on the reason you're doing it all - to write the book!

[weinoo]

Awesome. 

 

Hopefully you'll get to come back to NYC for more cocktails the book signing - I should have some new dining options for you by then  .

[IowaDee]

My goodness, it is almost like bringing a child into the word but it takes even longer!    And the labor pains start now and won't end until the official launching (or birth?).  I think all of us here are feeling like honorary aunts and uncles at this point.   So much fun to watch this all take shape.  

[hummingbirdkiss]

you inspire me! Seriously always and still! Wow on all of this and ..well ..it all !!! you are amazing! 

[gfron1]

Today I received a 10 page packet of items that the publisher need from me for marketing purposes. I just want to know when they actually want the manuscript - ha! Seriously, like they haven't even seen it yet. What if its nothing like they expect and hate it. I know that won't happen, but the process seems crazy to me. I'm sure its just a timing thing and right now is all about finalizing the fall catalog. Just odd and just sharing. The delay is good from the standpoint of me adding recipes. Just added my foraged crawfish tacos.

[gfron1]

I continue to say...what a crazy process. Today's email:

I hope all is going well and your book is coming together nicely! I write because our distributor, Perseus, has asked for samples of all our upcoming books, and we need some materials from you to put them together.

 

I don’t need your entire manuscript at this time – I only need about ten pages of text/photos that we can arrange in five, two-page spreads. I also need a tentative table of contents. The distributor knows this is only a sample and things – content, artwork, interior design, etc. – may change.

 

In addition to that content, if you can send me a description of how you’ve envisioned the interior of your book to look, that would be great. If it’s easier to use samples to describe what you’re looking for, you can use Amazon’s Look Inside feature and send me links to book designs you like and tell me what you like about them (fonts, arrangement, chapter headers, colors, captions, etc). I’ll take bits and pieces of this and work with the typesetters to produce something similar.

 

If you can send me your sample text and artwork and ideas for interior design by Wednesday, December 16, that will give us time to get the sample spreads together for our distributor, who will then share them with potential buyers in hopes of gaining presales.

[Smithy]

That does sound crazy, as though they don't know you've put together a manuscript! Can you just send the Table of Contents and your favorite 10 pages from that? I'd suggest at least one page with a recipe, at least one with an essay, and at least 2 with photos. I'm sure it's difficult to pick 'favorites', but you must have at least a couple of 'children' who are your secret favorites. :-)

[gfron1]

I snipped her opening line which was an apology for the form letter quality of the message. She's still focused on wrapping up their catalog which is all of the books anticipated for fall '16 release.

[gfron1]

Here's what I sent her for my vision for the interior of the book

Description of my vision of interior of book

 

General: The book can be considered in three components. First, is the front matter (Introduction, essays) which should be photo intensive of nature shots. Second, are the essays embedded within the recipe section, each has its own corresponding photo. Third, are the recipes most of which will have a photo of the completed dish or a relevant ingredient or tool.

 

Suggested text font: Calibri (haven’t given thought to headline font)

 

Suggested color scheme: Weathered rich colors. For our photography we used junkyard car hoods and weathered wood as our backdrops in most instances.

                  Attachment reference:                   jay-photoshoot-setup01.jpg

                                                                        Jay-photoshoot-setup04.jpg

 

Preferred recipe layout: I hope to show both weights and measures.  See Momofuku Milk Bar for example of recipe layout, and the manuscript has been formatted as such: http://www.amazon.com/Momofuku-Milk-Bar-Christina-Tosi/dp/0307720497

 

Photos: I like full page photos (ideally bleed) versus photo boxes inset on pages, AND in a few select instances I like when the photo covers both pages with text overlay on just one page.

Attachment reference:                   20140213_101115x & 20140213_101031x Use of 2-page spread photos with text inlay from Chapter One: An Irish Food Story http://www.amazon.com/Chapter-One-Irish-Food-Story/dp/0717157873

 

TMTextonPhoto.jpg  Use of recipe introduction from Too Many Chiefs http://www.amazon.com/Too-Many-Cowboys-Only-Indian/dp/095589302X

 

Special consideration #1: A number of European design-focused cookbooks have begun using photos in their index.  See attachment reference: FLIndex.jpg  from Fluidita (http://www.le-sanctuaire.mybigcommerce.com/fluidita)

 

Special consideration #2: I like the use of graphics to track seasonality and sweet/savory as shown in image 6 of Too Many Chiefs (http://www.amazon.com/Too-Many-Cowboys-Only-Indian/dp/095589302X)

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Chapter One:  An Irish Food Story looks beautiful.  I just requested a copy on Interlibrary Loan.

 

For your book please be sure not to sacrifice legibility for artistry.  Some cookbooks set text over photographs, which then I can't read.

[gfron1]

Chapter One is one of my favorite books. I also have a real love affair (not for design reasons but the passion in it) for Black Pudding & Foie Gras. Many of my favorite books have been found on Amazon UK or FR instead of US.

[gfron1]

I received that last request yesterday. Since the manuscript and photos are complete, I packaged what she wanted and got it sent off to her today. My thought is that most authors have a bit of work to do before they send it and I want the graphics team to spend as much time as they can on mine. I'm guessing their catalog will have 50 new titles (I could go look at old ones, but haven't), so I want to be front of the line before the designers are fried.

[gfron1]

I love learning about this process. I wrote my agent saying "this is crazy," and her response:

 

Ah, welcome to phase 2 of "I can't believe this is how publishing works". This is why publishers buy nonfiction on the basis of a very businesslike book proposal. Even if we have the manuscript ready and finished (as you saw), they don't care - that's not how the business decision of whether to invest in a project is made.

 

Writing can be fixed and they bank on the author having enough presence and power to move books, whether or not it's exactly what they'd hoped for. This is why platform is so important and emphasized so much when we pitch. Thousands of brilliant, perfectly-written books sell only a few hundred copies. What moves books for publishers is some level of prestige, public connection, a topic people are interested in, and so on. Publishing isn't the heavy literary world it used to be, unfortunately! From the writing sample, they get a good taste of capability to deliver what's promised. But yes, they put their cart before horse, absolutely.