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anyone ever write a cook book?

post #1 of 7
10/28/01 at 5:37am
Thread Starter 
i was curious if anyone has ever written a cook book and if so, what were some of the problems you ran into along the way and maybe if you can offer any advise to someone who was thinking of writing a cook book. thanks
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post #2 of 7
10/28/01 at 7:52pm
I kind of wrote a cookbook. I put together a privately published cookbook for a large company that was used for their corporate christmas gift.
There are many things to be aware of: what is your market? This will influence what kind of recipes you include and what level of instruction you provide.
You have to decide on the format of the recipes and what kind of mesurements you will use, and make sure these are consistent.
Get yourself good proof readers (probably provided by the publisher, which is another thing you need)
If you are unknowen to publishers you may have to basically write part or whole of the book and then shop it around. They don't normally give contracts or advances if you haven't done a succesful book before.
Have you been asked to write a book or do you just want to write one?
What are your ideas as to theme or content?
I'm interested to know your situation b/c there are so many different variables to different books.
write more, good luck.
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post #3 of 7
10/28/01 at 8:50pm
Is your restaurant such a success Isaac, that you're ready for a cookbook? ;)


In Pastry Art & Design, the August issue I think, there was an article, if I remember correctly, called So you want to write a cookbook. It might answer some of your questions.
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post #4 of 7
10/29/01 at 3:12am
Thread Starter 
i dont think that it really matters if your restaurant is a success or not if one wants to write a cook book.


yes, i have been asked to write a book on cooking. i was asked early this year and i started working on it and then stoped for a few months becasue of school. they want a cook book on technique..... and to convince the reader that cooking is not all about recipes but rather focusing on the basic technique (ie: grilling, sauting, ect).

i met with a lady here that did a quick simenar on how to write a cook book and i know that i need to write a proposal inwhich i will be working on in a few months. my culinary school now offers a writing class which i am going to try to take.

i wrote a lot of the cook book when i was on my externship but i wasent so clear what i needed to write about. i still have a long way to go. i am going to revise my outline of my book this week and go from there.
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post #5 of 7
10/29/01 at 5:14am
I read that article in P. A. & D. defineately look it up!
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post #6 of 7
10/29/01 at 7:16am
Isaac,

Are you pertaining to D. Custer? She conducts a cookbook writing class of some sort, if I remember it right. You'll learn a lot from her. I took a class from her back in '98.

Good luck!
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post #7 of 7
10/29/01 at 5:32pm
Thread Starter 
no, her name was nava. she lives pretty close to the CIA. she was pretty good.
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