Cookbook Class

I'll be teaching a cookbook writing class in October through the NEISD Community Education. If you live in San Antonio and want to learn how
to write and publish a cookbook, this class is for you.

Recipe for a Cookbook

This class offers you all the ingredients you need
to write, publish, and promote your cookbook.
You'll be guided through creating all parts of your cookbook--choosing a theme and selecting a story line, creating a cover, coming up with a workable budget, writing, editing, and testing your recipes, laying out and typesetting your cookbook, finding the right publisher or self-publishing, and how to market your cookbook, both in bookstores and online.

Recipe for a Cookbook: How to Write, Publish, and Promote Your Cookbook will be available for purchase in class for $14.95 or you can buy it now by clicking on the link.

Churchill High School, Room A101, 12049 Blanco Road, San Antonio. Thursday, October 29th, 6:30 P.M. to 8:30 P.M. $27.00.

If you'd like to have a look at my newest cookbook, published in March, you can read the press release here. If you're hungry, please visit my foodie blog, Foods and Flavors of San Antonio for lots of Tex-Mex recipes.

Hope to see you in class! :)

If you're interested in learning how to write and publish a nonfiction book,
you might be interested in my writing workshops, taught through NEISD
in October.

Starting From Scratch

Practically everyone I've ever talked to who loves food and cooking has mentioned writing a cookbook. Chances are you've thought about it, too.

Writing a cookbook starts from scratch. It begins inside you with your desire to write a cookbook. If there's a cookbook simmering in your thoughts, maybe it's time to get your cookbook out of your mind and on to paper.

Before you begin writing your cookbook, gather the necessary ingredients: Why do you want to write a cookbook? Aside from sharing recipes, what do
you want to achieve from writing and publishing your cookbook? Write down your thoughts and feelings about the cookbook you want to write.

Clearly and thoroughly define the scope, theme, and focus of your cookbook. How do you want to shape it? What kind of recipes do you want to include?
Tie all these ingredients together with a theme and story line that weaves through your cookbook. What can you offer that's new, interesting, and different? What do you want to feed your readers? A cookbook isn't just
a collection of recipes; it's a culinary adventure that serves up lots of interesting tidbits that may or may not be food related. Offer more than recipes. Offer a cookbook that's interesting to read as well as cook from.

After you've gathered your thoughts and put them on paper, create an
outline for your cookbook. This is a road map that will guide you during
the construction of your cookbook and lead you on the path to making
your cookbook a reality. Think about the kind of cookbook you'd love to
write and then write that cookbook!

Writing Recipes

Two of the most important things about writing a recipe are clarity and consistency, with attention to detail. Another important item is to follow the rules of recipe writing, which is an art and a science unto itself. Clarity and consistency will make your recipes easy-to-read and easy-to-follow. Your readers will love you for it when they make your recipes.

I was going to post a detailed style sheet
for writing recipes, but since it's so lengthy (and is also covered in my book, Recipe for a Cookbook), I thought I'd refer you to an online style sheet produced by Ten Speed Press for their cookbook authors. It's very detailed and inclusive, and will answer many of your questions about styling your recipes.

While it's important to follow the rules, it's also important to put your personality in the pages. You want to make your reader feel as if he or
she is in the kitchen cooking with you, and that you're looking over his
or her shoulder, explaining how to make your recipe.

If you have any questions about writing recipes that aren't covered in Ten Speed's style sheet, just leave a comment with your question and I'll be
happy to answer it or offer suggestions.

Cookbook Giveaway

If you're writing a cookbook, chances are that you also love to read and collect cookbooks. Here's a
way you can acquire another cookbook--mine!

Would you like to win a copy of my new cookbook, Foods and Flavors of San Antonio? Head on over
to Foodie Giveaway for four chances to win. The giveaway is open until next Thursday; the winner will be announced on Friday, June 26th.

I'll also be giving away two San Antonio refrigerator magnets in conjunction with this giveaway... one to the cookbook winner and the other one to someone who leaves a comment on my giveaway post at Foods and Flavors of San Antonio.

Good luck. I hope you win and can add my cookbook to your collection. And
I hope it will inspire you to write your own cookbook and get it published.

Cookbook Ingredients

What goes into writing and publishing your cookbook? There are so many
ways to create a cookbook; your choices are practically unlimited. Here's
an essential ingredient list for writing and publishing a cookbook.

• 1 cookbook idea
• 200 or more kitchen-tested recipes
• Sprinkling of title ideas
• Dash of vision
• Plenty of creativity
• 6 months - 1 year of time
• Lots of publishing know-how

Combine your cookbook idea with an original theme and story line. Add delicious, home-tested recipes, stirred into a desktop publishing format. Sprinkle title ideas liberally through your mind. Mix in with a do-able dash
of vision and clarity, and lots of optimistic expectations tempered with realistic goals. Simmer with plenty of creativity. Let cook for as much
time as it takes. Add lots of publishing know-how to the mix.

Yield: One cookbook

These are just the basic ingredients; there's so much more to put into the mix depending on the kind of cookbook you're writing, what you want to achieve with it, and the decisions you make about how to publish and market it. I wrote my first cookbook, Really Good Recipes, ten years ago because I love to cook, wanted to share my recipes, and thought it would be an easy and fun thing to do. Creating a cookbook is an experience unto itself. I was totally wrong about the easy part; there's a lot of attention and detail that goes into creating a cookbook. But it is a really fun thing to write and publish a cookbook!

Cookbook Vision

Do you dream about writing a cookbook? Do
you think about what recipes you'll put into
your cookbook? Do you imagine what your
cookbook will look like?

Dreaming about writing a cookbook and musing on the possibility of really writing a cookbook are very important ingredients in actually creating a cookbook.

What's your vision for your cookbook? Can you imagine it in your mind? What does it look like when it's floating through your thoughts?

Put your cookbook vision on paper and see what happens.

Welcome...

I've created this blog to help you write and publish your cookbook. There
are so many aspects to writing and publishing a cookbook; these vary with
the type of cookbook you are writing, why you're writing it, and what you
want to achieve with it.

I had a website for Recipe for a Cookbook: How to Write, Publish, and Promote Your Cookbook. Since
a blog is interactive and encourages conversation,
I thought this would be the best way to provide information that will help you write your cookbook. When I created the website, I also created a blog, Cookbook Cuisine. Along the way, it turned into a foodie blog so I'll be bringing the cookbook-writing information from there over to here.

Please feel free to ask any questions you have about writing your cookbook. While this blog will provide general information, it will be so much more helpful to you, and other people who are writing a cookbook and may have the same question, if I can provide specific, detailed answers. Just leave a comment or send me an email.