Writing Your Own Cookbook For Fun And Profit
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Teresa_Cordell]Teresa Cordell

Putting together all those wonderful recipes that were handed down to you through generations of family can be a satisfying accomplishment.

There are several reasons for wanting to create a cookbook.

1. Passing on a bit of family history to future generations.

2. Giving your newly married children a feeling of home cooking.

3. Teaching your new college age children how to be self-sufficient and cook the foods they grew up with.

4. As a gift for family and friends.

5. To share (and show-off) your cooking specialties and expertise.

6. For Profit!

The first four reasons carry an emotional and sentimental cover to them. Wanting to share yourself with your loved ones. A labor of love.

Reasons 5 and 6 are a little more involved. The light-heartedness and sentimentality take the back-burner (so to speak).

These reasons involve the kind of research and preparation that the previous four did not in order to properly establish the steps needed to get your work published.

With these, you will need to:

1. Consider what degree of exposure you would like your book to have.

2. Determine if your work will be self-published and self-marketed.

3. Look for a publisher(s) to whom you can send book proposals.

4. Research publisher’s work ethics: Do they do any promotions on your behalf? Are their accounting practices solid? Can you get references from other authors if you are offered a contract? Can you communicate easily with them or are they difficult to reach?
New authors have a lot of questions, is your publisher/editor offering answers?

5. Consider POD- Print on Demand?

6. Consider a digital format, and ebook, instead of the traditional printed version.

7. Think about marketing strategies - blogs, website, advertisements, publicity, speaking engagements, cooking demonstrations, interviews, going on the road for book signings.

8. Prepare a budget that you can work with and keep track of all expenditures. If you are getting published, this wonderful hobby of yours now becomes a business.

There are indeed many things to think about before getting published.

Desire and determination (as well as a thick hide) play a major role in seeing your project to completion. Do not let the initial rejection slips, waning support, and editorial demands of re-writes dampen your spirit. If you have a dream of getting your cookbook published — GO FOR IT! But prepare yourself in all aspects of the process before taking each step and certainly before signing anything (like a contract).

Read, study and learn all you can prior to getting published. The more knowledgeable you make yourself, the better-informed decisions you can make.

If you can think it, you can do it. My best wishes to you.

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